《Harem In The Intergalactic Apocalypse》
Chapter 1 No Other Choice
I had to do it; there was no other choice.
I pushed the girl out of the way that night, and thest thing I saw was the bright lights of the truck, and my world went ck.
"Dan! Check the breaker! I don''t know what''s up, but my phone is off as well!" Darius, my boss, called right after all the lights went out.
"I don''t think it is a breaker. My phone is out as well. Did you look outside?" I asked as I made my way to the front of the book store.
"Looks like everyone''s power is out, but it''s already five-thirty. You should get heading home, and I will lock up. I don''t need you in till after lunch tomorrow; we are getting a load of books in the morning. I will price and sort them, and then I will need your help putting them away in the afternoon. Anya will be watching the front in the morning," Darius told me, and I nodded.
"Thank you, I will see you then, Mr. Holdt," I said and walked over to the rack where my ck and white winter coat was hanging.
My walk would take over an hour to get home, but it was nice to be outside. I lived alone in a single-room bachelor apartment, and I was able to make due, so the walk was a small sacrifice.
"I wonder what is causing this? Strange that even our phones are off, right?" Darius said, and I nodded as I pulled my phone back out.
It was still dead, but not like I was missing much. The social media tforms were all just distractions from my reading.
"I don''t really know something that could do this, but maybe a strong sr re?" I asked, and Darius gave me a strained look and then waved me off.
"Just get going so I can lock up. Looks like cars are still working, so I could give you a ride back if you want?" Darius asked me, but I shook my head.
"I prefer the walk. Plus, I am in no rush to get back to a dark ce," I said with a smile as I pulled on my coat and headed out of the store, saying, "Have a good night!"
I left the shop and turned the corner, starting on my long walk home. I almost pulled out my earbuds, but remember, it was pointless.
I zipped my coat up and looked around the small town, but the ce looked strange without the lights. This part of the city was pretty quiet, so I didn''t think there would be many idents, but I was concerned about downtown.
Nothing I could do about it, and about a half an hour into my walk, it started to snow heavily. It waste November now, but this was only the second snowfall we had, and it wasing down hard.
I pulled up my hood, tipped my head down to keep the snow out of my face, and started walking up the long hill that was close to my apartment. The snow was reallying down now, but I was almost at the top of the hill.
"Excuse me! Can you help me? My phone isn''t working, and I don''t know where I am!" A woman''s voice called from the other side of the street.
I turned to look in the direction of the voice, and there was a woman in a pink parka and she was starting to walk across the road. That was the exact moment that light peaked, over the hill, barely visible, and time seemed to slow down for me.
I had a split second to decide what to do; the woman was already in the middle of thene, but there was never really a choice for me.
I dashed forward and pushed the woman back, and the lights in my peripheral started getting very bright. I knew I wouldn''t make it, but at least she would have a chance to make it home.
My head turned to the bright light, and my world went ck as I started to fall into what seemed like endless darkness. I felt no wind, but I could feel a force like gravity pulling me down.
"So, look at you! Just a regr joe with no ambition and a love for the world of fantasy that you love to read about. Then, given the chance, fate gives you a choice! But for you, there never was a choice was there?" A strangely cheerful voice asked me, and I shrugged as my body seemed to slow.
"I would do it again," I said, but I felt so tired.
Maybe I could just close my eyes and then have a short nap.
"No, that won''t do! I know that you will do it again! Wonderful! I am so excited to see so much more of this selfless hero stuff! Just so exciting for me to know I picked the perfect one! I mean, there were a lot of options! You should be the one thanking me for picking you!" The voice called dramatically, but now I was beyond confused.
"What are you talking about? I am dead, right? I got hit by a truck!" I growled, but the voice justughed at me wildly.
"You really are a riot! Nothing but a little flesh wound for a man like you! Oh boy, we are going to have so much fun, Daniel Brighton! You have no idea just how long I have been waiting for this!" The voice chimed.
"Okay, can you knock off all the lunatic talk and just tell me what''s going on?!" I asked, starting to get annoyed with this voice.
"Oh yes, that little part. Well, do you like those heroes from the stories you read?! I am going to make you into one of them! Or I am going to give you a tool to be the instrument of justice! I have reviewed your past; pretty sad, am I right? You are so average; it was painful! So! I am going to give you a special thing called a System. I would exin what it means, but that would ruin all the fun!" The voice exined.
Chapter 2 Half The Fun
"What kind of System? Does this mean I will have powers?" I asked, finally starting to catch on, even if only a little bit, but I was ignored.
I had read all about different Systems in some of my light novels, but it sounded hard to believe. I was already pushed past reality, so what was adding some fantasy terms in?
Maybe I might get sent to some fantasy world with beautiful women that would crawl all over my life in my favorite harem novels. I might be reborn as a prince and with superpowers!
"Last but not least! I am Orphus, one of the thousands of God-like beings that have descended on your world or something like that. Anyways, there will be others! Some good, more bad; you know how stories like this go, right? Gotta have more good than bad, or it would all be over too quick!" Orphus eximed.
"Hey! What the hell! I am going back to earth?! I am nobody there!" Iined.
"Then you better get good! I picked you because you''re boring, but there is a spark of excitement that has been waiting to be born. Stick with me, boy, and we will conquer the world! Or at least save it from what will most likely be the beginning of the world''s end if the evil gods or whatever they are called aren''t stopped. Now, I''ll talk to you in a few days, do your best not to behave yourself while I am watching!" Orphus told me, and my body started to lift.
Suddenly, a small light appeared, and it started getting bigger like I was getting closer to it, but I was moving faster and faster.
"Are you alive?! Speak to me; you can''t die!" That same female voice called to me as I crashed into the light, and my eyes snapped open.
Instantly, my body was in pain, and I realized I was lying on the sidewalk with my head propped up. I gasped for breath, but that filled me with even more pain, and I rolled off thep I was on, causing my vision to blur.
[Evergrowth System Activated.]
[Body damage is the result of Physical Injury, Total damage is 87%]
[WARNING: Pain sensors are being disabled during repair.]
Suddenly the pain was gonepletely, even the slight back pain I had from sitting often. I also couldn''t move, but there was something going on inside of my body.
"Are¡ You okay?! I can''t call for an ambnce because my phone doesn''t work, and I don''t know where I am, and you saved me!" The woman cried as she leaned over my body.
"Don''t¡ worry about¡ it, I¡ just need a¡ minute," I said slowly.
Even without the pain, I couldn''t make myself do more than whisper slowly, but I could feel my body getting better at a rapid pace. The words that had popped up hadn''t really told me much, but I liked the sound of repair.
"Are you kidding me? You were just hit by a truck!" The woman nearly screamed.
"Yup, that really hurt. Are you okay?" I asked, and my voice started to sound a bit more clear.
[Total damage is 25%. Returning motor functions to your body.]
[Pain receptors are now reactivated.]
There was a pain that came back instantly, but it was bearable, and I felt different. More muscr, if only a little bit, but the rest was hard to put into words.
"I¡ umm hurt my leg when you pushed me, but it''s not that bad! I am alive," The woman said, and I slowly started to push myself off the ground.
"Can I see?" I asked as I turned around to look at the woman on the ground.
"How? And why are you still worried about me! That guy drove off without even stopping!" the woman cried out with tears in her eyes.
"Don''t worry about it," I said quietly as I leaned down to look at her leg; it had a deep cut that was bleeding.
[Target is damaged, ce hand over injury to activate external repair.]
I blinked, and the message disappeared, but I had read it all. This was more than interesting, but I didn''t hesitate to slowly ce my hand over the gash.
"What are you doing?!" The woman asked in shock.
[Activating external repairs.]
"I am not sure, so just stay still for a moment, okay?" I asked, looking into the woman''s blue eyes.
I could feel the cut close under my hand, and my breath caught in my throat.
"Why doesn''t it hurt?" The woman asked as the shock turned into confusion.
I removed my hand, still holding my breath, and the deep cut was gone. Nothing was left to signify there was an injury except for the blood.
I looked up to the woman, but she was starting to get a far-off look. Her eyes rolled back in her head, but I was able to catch her in my arms.
I checked her pulse on her neck, my hand brushing her soft blond hair, and confirmed that she had just passed out. The shock of everything must have been too much for her, and I couldn''t really me her, but I couldn''t leave her like this.
I gently scooped her up and stood up in the blizzard that was still raging, so I was hardly able to see. The best I could do for her was take her to my ce, and we could decide what to do from there.
I looked down at the girl whose name I still didn''t know and saw my ripped coat. Strangely, even with the wind and snow, I wasn''t cold at all.
Whatever just happened to me was still up in the air, but something had definitely changed inside of me. I still didn''t know who Orphus was either, and he was a lunatic to boot.
I started walking but decided that I would wait till I got to the top of the hill before crossing the road. That was more than enough excitement for one night, is what I thought, but things were just getting started.
Chapter 3 The Mess
I walked with the girl in my arms, making it across the street safely this time. The walk from home was now less than a block away, but all the lights were off in the city.
Whatever had happened would not be good for¡ what is that?
I was almost home now, but there was a bright sh in the sky, but it was over just as fast as it started. It had almost looked like a sh of lightning, but the burst of light had filled up the sky.
Ignored whatever it was and awkwardly fished my apartment key out of my ragged coat while trying not to jostle the girl. Whoever she was, I had more than enough time to see she was beautiful and definitely in the wrong part of town.
Not like this was a bad part, but the clothing that she was wearing was not something I expected a woman to be wearing in this part. This part of town was filled with people just like myself, trying to get by, myself included.
I slipped into my brick apartment and headed up to the second floor where my ce was, but I had to be careful. There were no lights in the ce because of the ckout, so I had to watch my feet as I climbed the stairs so I didn''t drop the girl.
Soon, I was at my apartment, 240, and I had my key ready, so entry was only a slight struggle. The real challenge was going to be weaving my way around my apartment.
Once the door was closed behind me, I slowly walked inside my single-room apartment and made my way over to my bed. I gently set the girl down on my bed, but it was nearly impossible to see.
[Opticals are being adjusted, please wait¡pleted.]
Slowly, my eyes adjusted to the dark, and I was able to make out the outlines of all the things in my room. I closed my eyes and thought that it might be better to not see the horrible mess that ce was in.
"H-Hello?!" The woman''s voice called out weakly below me.
"I am here; sorry about the darkness, but the power still hasn''te back on," I said, and the woman slowly sat up, trying to look at me.
"Thank you, umm, but I still don''t know your name," The woman said, and she sounded uneasy, but that wasn''t a surprise.
"My name is Daniel Brighton. What about you? Do you have a name?" I asked with a smile, and the woman nodded.
"My name is Amy Rose; I am sure that you have heard of that name, right?" she asked, but I didn''t.
"Sorry, I am not really familiar with it, but I don''t really go online unless it''s something to do with books," I replied, and the girl looked down and wrapped her arms around her knees.
"It''s strange that you don''t know who I am, but it is kind of nice," Amy said, and then I watched her hand move over the ce where she had been injured before on her leg.
"Is your leg feeling alright?" I asked, looking around my room to see if I could find something for a light; then I saw it.
"It does, but I still don''t understand what happened. There is some dried blood here, but I can''t even feel a mark!" Amy eximed as I walked over to the dome light I had on a shelf and clicked it on.
Light-filled the room, even if only dimly, but it was a sh in my eyes that nearly blinded me. My eyes readjusted, and it was like the room was usually lit up, but now I could see the mess more clearly, and I sighed.
This is why my mother always told me to keep a clean ce; you never know when a prettydy might stop by. Still, the ce was out of the cold, but my main concern was for how long.
"How are you feeling for warmth? I don''t seem to be able to judge temperature right now," I said as I took off my coat that looked to have seen better days.
"It''s a bit chilly in here," Amy said, and I nodded.
"I have some nkets put away, so I''ll pull them out for you, and you can have my bed. I can rest on the sofa," I exined as I ced my coat on a hook and then turned around to survey my room.
"No, I can''t make you sleep on the sofa! This is your ce, and I am just the guest! It is also going to get very cold here, so we should keep close to conserve heat, right?" Amy asked while taking her shoes and coat off.
As her coat came off, it revealed that she was wearing a lovely low-cut pink dress underneath it all. I sucked in a breath but let it back out again, trying to rx.
"Are you sure about that? I am a stranger, and I have lots of nkets," I said, trying to reason with her, but Amy shook her head.
"Do you not want to sleep with me? You just saved my life twice and did something that healed a deep cut on my leg. For me not to trust you at this point would be strange. I am also not from this city, and without phone service, I don''t know what I am going to do," Amy said, hanging her head, and I nodded.
"Sure, I have no problems. It was supposed to get pretty cold tonight, and without power, my ce will probably turn into an icebox. I will do my best to keep you warm," I said as I walked over to my bed.
"Um, could I use your bathroom and that little light? I have needed to go for a while," Amy asked shyly, and I nodded.
"Yeah, just the small room over there," I said and grabbed the light to hand to her.
"Thank you!" Amy said and got up to head into the bathroom as I sat down on my bed, thinking of what was toe next.
Chapter 4 Skin Contact
I looked down at my hands, unsure what all this meant.
The so-called God that had spoken to me when I was supposed to die seemed entric, and he had been extremely vague. That added with the ckout, my healing, and this strange system that did it was enough to make my brain explode.
This whole situation was like something that could only be possible in a fantasy setting of a light novel, but I was sitting on my bed. On top of that, a pretty girl who was lost and stranded would sleep in my bed tonight.
I was more than alright with keeping her warm if that was what she wanted, but I wasn''t the type to assume things. I also wasn''t that big on making the first move because I wasn''t really concerned with rtionships.
The sound of the bathroom door opening and the dim light filling the room brought me out of my thoughts, and I looked over. Amy was standing in a towel, blushing, looking off to the side.
"I, umm, don''t have any other clothes, so I don''t want to sleep with them on. I, umm, hope that is fine," Amy asked nervously, and I nodded.
"Sure, I don''t mind. In the morning, I will take you to get some clothes and work on figuring out how to get you back home," I said in a calm voice, pulling back the sheets of my bed, one of the few things I spent money on.
Amy turned to look at me, and her blush intensified.
"Why are you so calm?! I am saying that I am only wearing underwear under this towel, and you act like it''s nothing!" Amy burst out, surprising me.
"Hmm? How should I act? I have slept in the same bed as a woman before, and I n to strip down as well. We should have more skin contact to keep warm without heat, right?" I asked because I assumed this was obvious since she was the one that had made the choice.
Amy just stared at me.
"You are going to get colder if you don''t get under the nkets. I am also starting to get drowsy as well. I guess getting hit by a truck must have taken a lot more out of me than I thought," I said, rubbing the back of my neck.
The woman stared at me for a moment longer before she came over and crawled into my bed on the inside, close to the wall. I turned away, walked over to my single closet, and pulled out some extra nkets.
I had spares cause the baseboard heater didn''t continually heat the room very well when it got cold. I turned back as the towel was tossed out from under the nket, and Amy pulled the covers over her head.
This girl looked to be in her early twenties, but how she acted made her seem a lot younger. I was only twenty-four, but I wasn''t the type to get flustered, but something was different.
I was able to keep my calm a lot better because I usually would have at least had a raised heartbeat at the sight of a girl in just a towel. Then my oblivious question wasn''t really much better.
I sighed and threw the two nkets onto the bed, spreading them out, and then started to undress. The light was still on, so I looked at my chest and was surprised after my shirt was off.
"You look a lot different than I thought you would," Amy said as she peeked out of the nkets.
"Don''t worry, I am just as surprised as you are. I work at a bookstore, and walking is my only form of exercise, so to see my body like this almost feels like there was a mistake somewhere," I said as I looked at my sculpted body.
I hadn''t really gotten bigger from what I could tell, but my body looked to be in perfect form for my size. I had thought that I had gotten stronger and more robust, but this was much more than I expected.
"I don''t think that you shouldin. Getting hit by a truck and nearly dying only to get up like nothing happened with a brand new six-pack sounds like a pretty good deal to me!" Amy squeaked and then pulled the covers back over her head.
I couldn''t help but smile at herment, but that all in itself was a bit of reassurance. I was starting to get worried that I was turning into a robot without any emotions.
Stripped down to my underwear, I crawled into bed slowly for Amy''s sake. The girl was the one that had made the suggestion, but she was the nervous one.
"Take a couple deep breaths. I am sorry if I sound dispassionate about sleeping in the same bed as you, but it is the most logical thing to do in our current situation. So, if it makes you feel better, think of sleeping close to me as something you are doing for your survival," I exined.
I listened as Amy did as I instructed, and I stayed on my side of the bed to wait for her.
"You cane closer to me now. Thank you for talking me through that. I feel much better now. You really know how to put a person''s mind at ease," Amy told me, and I slid over beside her slowly.
She flinched slightly as I wrapped my arm around her but slowly rxed as I slid my other arm under her pillow. The moment that my arms were around her, Amy slowly moved her body back into mine and then fully rxed.
"Wow, your body is so warm! You are like a personal heater!" Amy said with excitement as she tried to press her body farther into mine, but she was already tight to me.
"Umm, do you think that you could stop wiggling your hips? Not that I don''t enjoy it, but I might end up getting excited, and you might feel that, if you know what I mean," I said with a chuckle, trying to sound casual, but Amy froze stiff in my arms.
Chapter 5 So-Called
"Sorry, I didn''t think about that," Amy said quietly, and I gave her a slight squeeze.
"Don''t worry about it. It''s not that I don''t think you are attractive; I just don''t want to make things awkward. While I am not what you would call nervous, I don''t normally sleep like this with a girl on the first night," I joked.
"Just how many girls have you slept with?!" Amy asked, trying to turn in my arms, but I held her in ce.
"Next question, and first rule. Never ask a question you don''t want to know the answer to. I may be a bit of a shut-in and a nerd, but I enjoy chatting and doing things like this with females from time to time," I said, briefly thinking about Anya, Mr. Holdt''s daughter.
She wasn''t the only one, but like the others, they all had ns for the future and would move on at some point. That''s what I looked for in a woman, someone that just wanted to spend fun alone time every once in a while.
"Do you have a girlfriend?" Amy asked next, sounding peeved that I had ignored her first question, and I held back a sigh.
"No. I prefer to make connections with people that have ns to move on. I am looking for life''s simple enjoyments, but I think those things will be nothing but dreams now," I said, closing my eyes.
"Are we going to talk about what happened after you saved me? How are you still alive?" Amy asked slowly.
"I don''t have a good answer for you, mostly because I don''t believe what is happening is real. I feel like tomorrow I will wake up, and you will be gone, and I will be back to my normal life, but," I said, stopping at the end, not sure why something in my mind seemed to want me to change.
It was like a feeling in my head that prevented me from just wanting to hide and go back to being normal. The feeling kept pushing me towards thinking of my growth and how I could move forward from here.
"But now something has changed inside of you? You don''t want to just be a nobody?" Amy asked, her voice getting quieter.
I could feel her arms clench that she held under her breasts, pressed into my arm. Something about those questions seemed to bother her.
"I guess it''s something like that, but I feel like I am being pushed into it," I replied.
"I wish that I could disappear. Your life that you had sounds like what I want, but my family keeps pushing me to be more. I just want to rx for once!" Amy said as she started to shake.
That made sense to me, and I could reason with her for the most part. I was alone all the time, and no one could tell me how to live my life, so having people like parents forcing you still as an adult had to be exhausting.
"Well, until we figure out what is going on with this power, you can stay with me. I am sure you can get a hotel if you want, but if the power and phone stay out, you might have a hard time getting money out. I have some cash, so I can buy you clothes tomorrow," I exined, and Amy''s shaking slowly subsided as I did.
"Are you sure I can stay here? I only have my father''s credit card, and I am not allowed a bank ount, so I have no way to get funds. So, I will only be a burden on you," Amy exined, and I shrugged.
These parents sounded like real monsters written into a light novel, but this was real life. And real life was about to get really weird if there was a single word of truth in anything that Orphus had said.
"Something tells me that things will get much worse long before it gets better from tomorrow going forward. I don''t really want to talk about it yet, and it''s not because I don''t trust you; it''s just stupidly unbelievable. Even for me, that reads fantasy as a passion; I still have my belief suspended mostly," I said, and I felt Amy nod.
"We should get to sleep, but I want to thank you for saving my life and allowing me into your bed like this. Also, for being a gentleman, which is truly surprising with the way you talk about yourself," Amy said with a cute giggle, putting a hand on my arm.
"Goodnight; I hope tomorrow turns out to be a good day," I said and closed my eyes.
I was still awake after Amy''s breathing had be rhythmic. I was trying to wrap my head around everything that had happened.
From the point that Amy had called out for me to help her. That moment will be burned into my memory, but the God seemed like he was going to be a problem.
The biggest thing that stuck out was the fact that there would be evil people that would more than likely have Systems like mine. Hopefully, the other good people like me would start popping up, but he said there would be more bad people than good.
How many of these evil people were in the city right now? Would they just start destroying things and killing people, or would they be attracted to me?
I looked down at the girl in my arms and sighed quietly as I watched her sleep. I was going to have to keep her safe from now on, but there were other girls that I wanted to track down since I had been close to them.
With that settled in my mind, I started to count my breaths. It took me a bit, but I slowly slipped off into a deep sleep.
Watching unseen, Orphusughed to himself but then let out a tired sigh. This boy had no idea what wasing for him; no matter how strong he was, this would break him, maybe.
There was also something about him that made the so-called God get excited. The others tended to give the good side a few more to make a sport out of destroying worlds, but the good had prevailedst time, and the previous world was spared.
This time, the others wanted revenge, and only Orphus was left as a defender. All viewed life as worthless, but Orhpus had grown to like being a Defender.
This was his test because he was the best, and for jest, he would not take this seriously and be nothing but a pest!
Chapter 6 Impact
I woke up with Amy still tucked tight in my arms, but something was off. While the cold didn''t bother me because of whatever happened to mest night, the room was definitely warm.
I slowly looked around, but there were no lights on I could see, but that didn''t mean the power wasn''t back.
I tried to pull myself free from Amy, but she had me locked up, clutching my arm. There was no rush, and her body felt good tucked into mine, so I rxed and closed my eyes.
[Warning, an energy signature that matches the Viin Kratos with Max Power System is approaching.]
[Activating EverGrowth Combat System.]
[Targeting all nt life in a 10-foot area.]
Suddenly messages started to flicker across my screen, making me jump slightly, waking Amy up.
"Are you okay?" Amy asked in a tired voice, but I wasn''t sure what to do or say.
Someone wasing, ording to the messages that flicked across my vision. I needed to think fast, but what could I actually do?
"Um, I think someone bad ising, so I am going to need you to stay here," I said and untangled myself from Amy.
"How do you know that?" Amy asked in confusion as I stood up and put my clothes on.
[10 seconds until impact. Not living nts are close enough to use.]
[Physical resistance increased.]
"I''ll exinter; just stay covered!" I yelled, and Amy ripped the cover over her.
I didn''t know what that would do, but it would keep her out of sight and warm.
I ran over to the far side of the room where my only window was and looked out.
*Smash!*
It all happened so fast, and I saw a vicious smile before a hand smashed through my window and grabbed my face to smash through my wall. I was plowed into my neighbor''s room, then into the hallway, through another suite, and then outside.
I flew two stories to the ground, and my head was smashed into the pavement, breaking the ground around me. I was conscious for every second of it, and I was somehow still alive, barely.
[Total damage: 45%, Repairs starting.]
"Ha Ha Ha! What a pathetic loser! You don''t even fight back!" The bald man with a red tattoo like the God of War, Kratos, roared out withughter.
I tried to move, but fists started to rain down on my face, and I couldn''t defend myself.
[nt Type: Tree targeted! Giving you control.]
Suddenly, I could feel the tree beside me, even as the fist kept smashing my face. I could feel the tree didn''t like this person, and suddenly It started to grow at a blinding speed, smashing into Kratos.
The fist stopped, and I tried to put myself up as I felt my broken jaw knit back together. I didn''t know how I could even move, and now I was starting to feel stronger.
"Stupid tree! Fight me like a real man!" Kratos yelled at me as he got up, and I looked back at my shabby four-story apartment block that now had arge hole in it.
"You are going to pay for that," I said as I turned back to the idiot in cosy.
"Oh? Now the only Hero is going to talk tough! You''re a joke, and I am going to kill you before the others even get a chance!" Kratos screamed and then dashed towards me.
The speed he came at me was hard to even track, but the tree pped him away before he even got close to me. As Kratos smashed into a building, I walked over to the tree and patted it.
"Thank you, Mr. Tree; that guy is annoying. Can you catch him this time?" I asked the tree.
[Tree Growth level 2 Acquired.]
"What is that even supposed to mean?" I asked in a tired voice.
[Increases the growth rate of trees you connect with.]
"Oh? Can you reply?"
[Don''t ruin the fun!]
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" I growled.
"Hey! Stop cheating and fight me like a man! You damn chicken!" Kratos howled as he burst from the closed store he had just smashed into.
[I am here to be kind of helpful, but not really. Look, this one is a bad guy. Kill him.]
This time, the tree grabbed Kratos as he lunged for me,pletely binding him and his mouth.
"And what happens when I kill him?" I asked out loud.
[He dies. Really, I thought you were smarter than this.]
"How did he find me?"
[I don''t know.]
"You''re lying."
[Probably.]
"Tree, ungag Kratos. I will get my answers from him," I said, turning to the struggling Kratos and saying, "Do you want to die?"
"Huh? Do I get a choice? I mean, I am supposed to kill you, right? Why not kill me?" Kratos asked, and I could see his reasoning, but something didn''t feel right.
"How did you find me?" I asked.
"I was told where you live by someone named Orphus. The guy in my headughed when the other guy came and gave me the info," Kratos said, and I groaned.
"Are you really on my side?" I asked, looking up.
"No!" Kratos yelled.
"Shut up; I wasn''t talking to you. Tree, please gag him," I said, still looking up, and Kratos murmured again.
[I am on your side, but you don''t have time to be lying around! Did you hear what I saidst night? Your world is doomed. Ask the damn tree to lift you up so you can see the city!]
"Tree, do you mind?" I asked the tree, metally rying what Orphus had just told me.
A branch from the tree extended to me and formed a basket around me. If this was part of my System, I was more than impressed, but Orphus doing this to me was not what I expected.
[There is a small detail that I forgot to tell you about. We are the only ones.]
"What do you mean, only ones? You said there were others, right?" I asked as I was lifted high into the air.
[Small white lie, peanuts to the bigger picture. You are the only Hero and your race''s only hope! Don''t worry, I will give you some time before sending the next one!]
Chapter 7 End Of The World
"I don''t really have a reason to trust you. You don''t seem to be taking any of this seriously," I said as I rose up past the third story, but I could already see a lot of smoke.
[You are right; I am not taking this seriously. Why? Because if you die, this world is destroyed, and we move on to the next one where the chips aren''t all stacked on one number. You.]
I finally rose up past my apartment, and I couldn''t believe my eyes. The city I grew up in looked like a warzone with destroyed buildings everywhere and smokeing from ces all over.
"What is going on?!" I yelled.
[This is the result of one person. Kratos. So far, 36% of humans have already been killed in the world while you have been sleeping. That is on you, but those are just numbers, right?]
Ice started to run in my veins as sweat covered my body even with the cold wind blowing around me.
[Hard to stomach, but it is the truth! Your world has a big target on its back because of enving technologies. Don''t worry; you are thest one left that has a big target; the rest are lower civilizations. They won''t be as fun as you, but it is what it is.]
"How can I stop this?" I asked quietly.
[Hmm? Are you looking to save the world? I mean, if you are dead set on it, I can help, but you didn''t even get any from that girlst night! I thought I told you not to behave?]
"Listen, pervert, I will jump through hoops, whatever it takes, but we need to get some people I care about in a safe ce before I start taking on the world. People are going to die, but I am only one person, but I need time to figure out how to get stronger," I said as I looked over the city that was basically in mes.
This happened because I didn''t listen, and it was worse all over the world. Overnight, millions of people had died, but I didn''t have super speed or the ability to fly.
[Now that''s what I like to hear! I might just be interested in helping you after all!]
"Can you start by turning the power back on?" I asked, and mentally asked the tree to crush Kratos.
The tree did as I asked, and I sensed the man''s body being crushed, but I felt no pity.
[Nice one! Now let me give you a rundown of what has happened! First power stations go andmunications, then all power and batteries. You can see that no cars are moving right now, right? This is not going to change; the others are blocking it. Next, your guns and standard weapons will do nothing against Viins, so all army folk are screwed, and the world has no way to fight back.]
"So, they are just going to keep going till the whole world burns?" I asked, ordering the tree to bring me back to the ground.
[Not that fast, most will settle down after the hostile people are taken down. Then they will start forcing the remaining ones to start mining the ores we need by hand. Then they will force them to build us new ships.]
"How long will that take?" I asked as I was lowered down.
[One hundred years most likely, but it goes by fast if you die, for me at least.]
"So I have time then, right?" I asked.
[You have as long as I am entertained! If you start to bore me, I will just tell everyone where you are! Sooner orter, more Villians will show up, so you had better start working on collecting these humans that you want to keep safe, along with a ce to store them.]
"They are not things."
[Call them what you want! You have three days before I set another viin on course to find you. In that time, I will be helpful, to a degree, but I need to see progress! Your power is called Evergrowth, which means that you grow stronger from fighting, even if you lose. You also have the ability to tap into the''s life force, so if you want power, you better learn to use it!]
I finally reached the ground, and the basket retracted from around me as I considered how to move forward. This lunatic was ready to feed me to the Viins if I didn''t make a solid effort and keep him entertained, whatever that meant.
"Okay, so what can fix my ce with my powers?" I asked as I looked up at the hole in my apartment building.
I didn''t want to turn around and look at the body of Kartos, but something made me turn to look. I don''t know if it was the idiot or me inside of me, but what I saw confused me.
The body was twisted and broken but made out of solid metal.
"What does this mean?" I asked.
[They aren''t human anymore. That is the shell the Viins leave after death. As for your apartment, I think you can ask Mr. Tree about that!]
"Ask the tree?" I asked, and the tree beside me leaned forward and back in a nodding gesture.
I got the feeling the tree wanted me toe closer, so I did what it asked and ced a hand on it. My mind started to feel like it was expanding as I started to feel the roots of the tree connect to all the trees in the area.
The trees that I touched cheered as my consciousness streamed by them, and suddenly I could feel that they wanted to help me. The trees started to rip up roots, growing feet as they started to walk towards my apartment.
As each reached the side of the building, the trees started to rapidly grow up the sides of the building. Slowly the apartment block was covered by trees, roots, and vines, but it was growing past the top, where my new home would be.
Changes were happening inside, but suddenly a familiar voice called down from the hole in the wall that was now almost covered up.
"Are you okay?! What is going on?!" Amy asked frantically.
"I will be right up, don''t worry," I said with a smile, even though the world was ending.
Chapter 8 Stay Calm
I was about to walk inside when a male voice called out to me.
"What are you, and what is going on?!"
I turned back to see a middle-aged man in a ck winter parka and a white winter toque on his head. I wasn''t really sure what to tell the guy.
"I really don''t know yet, buddy. I was hit by a truckst night, and now the world is going to shit. I will try to help out where I can," I said in a tired voice because I still didn''t know what I could do.
The people in the city and surrounding areas were going to freeze to death if I didn''t figure out something fast. I would have to probe Orphus to see how I could start getting the city back up and running.
"This thing destroyed half the city! And you stopped it like it was a bug. Thank you!" The man said to me, and I nodded, turning back to my now overgrown apartment building that was still growing past seven stories.
Thankfully, the door opened for me since I didn''t have a key due to my rude awakening, and Amy was waiting for me.
"Why does it look like your face just got a spa treatment, and why is everything growing, and who was that guy?!" Amy as she leaped into me, wrapping her arms around me.
She was wearing the same pink dress as before, but it was strange for her to be so attached to me. We had only just met, but I did save her life and heal her, so that might be the leading cause.
"Let''s head back to the room and grab some things, and I''ll exin what I know on the way," I said, and Amy let go of me but looked around me.
"Is it okay to leave him like that¡ wait, what is¡ did you do that?!" Amy asked with shock as she looked back up at me.
It was true that I shouldn''t leave these people lying around, so I asked the tree to bring it up to where the top would be. The tree predicted that it would grow up to one hundred feet tall and would create a sizable mansion-type house with many rooms.
It was mind-boggling that I just knew these things and that the trees seemed to understand my will and what I needed. What the potential for this power I had was hard to even imagine, but if I really was the only one,
"Yes, do you find it warm here?" I asked, taking Amy gently by the shoulder and pointing her up the stairs.
"Umm, yeah. Once the trees started growing past the hole in our wall, which was really scary, by the way! It was like a bus drove through the building!" Amy exined, throwing her hands into the air.
"You are okay, right?" I asked, but I didn''t see any marks on her as we reached my floor.
"No, it was really cold, but now it''s almost like a summer day! So, are you going to tell me what that fight was all about?" Amy asked as we started walking to my room.
Tree roots were all through the hallway, and people were opening their doors to look out to see what was going on, I assumed. One of my neighbors gave me a questioning look, but I shrugged with an unsure look.
The person shrugged back and closed their door as we reached my ce. I opened my door and waited until Amy was inside before closing it and turning to her.
"So, let''s not talk about this out in public for now. The world is falling apart right now everywhere. This ckout is permanent, and now the world is filled with people that have powers like me and that guy. The thing is that this is supposed to be a game of good and evil, but I am the only good guy," I exined as I walked over to my fridge.
"What? Do you mean that our phones are never going to turn back on? What about the inte?! InstaPost?!" Amy asked as she sunk down to sit on my bed.
I opened the fridge, and it was full of food, but I had no desire for any of it. I was feeling hungry, but it seemed the knuckle sandwiches Kratos had fed me were more than enough to sate my hunger.
"It''s all gone forever, and I would assume that alone was what killed most of the people that have died already. Think about here in the city. Without power or heat means no water and more people dying. Riots have probably all broken out all over the city," I said as I looked around my room.
Amy looked like her soul had beenpletely crushed, so I walked over and scooped her off my bed. Roots grabbed my bed and fridge, along with my three bookshelves, and a hollowed tree trunk grew up in front of me.
I walked inside with Amy, and it grew around to enclose us inside, but there was a rectangr view slot big enough that we could both lookout. The tree opened a hole in the wall, lifting me and my stuff out of it, and it closed back up as we started to rise.
"Look," I said as we broke past the apartment that blocked the view of the ravaged city.
Amy looked and gasped. Her petite body started to tremble, and she looked away to bury her face in my chest.
"Why is this happening?!" Amy cried into my torn shirt, but there wasn''t a good answer.
"Alien AI attacked, but they are giving us a chance to fight back, I guess. The person on my side doesn''t seem to want to be helpful unless I entertain him. This whole thing feels like a nightmare now, but I will keep you safe as best as I can, Amy," I said quietly as we rose into the air.
"Why are you so calm about all of this?" Amy asked as she looked up with tear-filled eyes.
Chapter 9 Quick To Call Home
"Because I am trying to keep it together. The world that we knew is gone and nevering back. My only concern is finding the people I care about and bringing them to safety; then, I will get stronger. These things that look like people, like the one that attacked me, are called the Viins, and if I kill them all, they will leave this world," I said as I felt us get closer to the top of the tree.
I was mentally freaking out, but whatever the Evergrowth System was, it wouldn''t let me show any of my fears or doubts. Ever when I was getting my face pummeled, I was calm, if a bit distracted by the constant punches.
"I am happy that you saved me even more than ever. I am terrified, but being in your arms makes me feel safe like nothing could hurt me. Please don''t leave me," Amy said as we were lifted to the top of the tree where my house was being constructed.
"Don''t worry. I don''t n on dying or losing. If this Orphus wants entertainment, then that is what I am going to give him," I said with a grin as the trunk opened up to reveal a wooden pce.
"Wah?! How is this even possible?!" Amy asked as we stepped out, and I walked forward.
I had a rough image in my head of a grand staircase that led up to halls leading in both directions, and that was what I got. There would be manyrge bedrooms, and I could feel other rooms being made all throughout the tree as well below me.
I put Amy down, and she turned to look up at me.
"Thank you!" Amy said and leaned up, closing her eyes.
I bent down and met her lips, wrapping my arms around Amy as we kissed. Her lips were soft, and I enjoyed the press of her chest pressed into me.
"Can I go look around?" Amy asked with a cute smile, and I nodded but put a hand up.
It was starting to get into the morning, and I wanted to go check on the book store. Darius and his daughter might not be at their shop, but that was on the way to their house.
"Sure, and there is food in the fridge. I need to go out for a bit, but I will being back with people, so expect guests," I said, and Amy gave me a lifted eyebrow look.
"Who are you going to get?" Amy asked curiously, and I grinned.
"Just some of my friends and girls I am seeing. I can''t very well leave them to freeze to death, right?" I exined while grinning.
"Just how many girls will you be bringing home?!" Amy asked in shock as she started to blush.
"Aren''t you quick to call this home! There are three that I am seeing, and I am going to stop by the hospital to see if there is anything that I can do," I said with a chuckle, but Amy''s eyes went big at the mention of the hospital, and I asked, "What?"
"Nothing. I just didn''t think that you were going to try helping people," Amy said, looking away from me.
"ording to the trees, I don''t have a lot of energy right now, and most of it had been to make this tree," I said, and Amy''s head snapped back up with a shocked look.
"You used all your power to make yourself a mansion?!" Amy asked in rm, but I shook my head.
"This is a very small part at the top of a hundred-foot tall tree. There are enough rooms to fit up to forty thousand people. It''s not enough, but it is a start. I could have got the tree to make it bigger, but I still don''t know a lot about what this thing in me is. I kept a quarter of the power I can use to help people when I am out, or at least try to," I said, and Amy rushed over to wrap me in another hug.
"I am so sorry that I judged you! I thought that you were just going to leave everyone to their fates!" Amy said with her face buried into my chest, and I sighed.
"Look, you and the other girls are my number one priority until I can figure out how to help everyone. I am just trying to sort out my thoughts right now on what things I should be taking care of first," I exined as I bent down to kiss Amy''s blonde hair.
"Is there anything I can do?" Amy asked as she broke away from me, and I shrugged.
"Tree, can you help Amy with getting the rooms ready?" I asked out loud, and I got a mental nod from the tree, and I nodded at Amy, saying, "There, you can start setting up the rooms, but I will have to try and find more mattresses. I don''t want to sleep on twigs and leaves; no offense, Mr. Tree.
"Can it really understand you?" Amy asked, and I nodded.
"Yeah, strange as it sounds. It is like a mental connection, but I talked to it aloud for your benefit. The tree will listen, so you can keep yourself busy while I am gone. I will see what I can do about food as well cause the stuff in the fridge will go fast with lots of people. I am also going to have to figure out how to feed people; ugh, so much to do," I groaned, and Amy patted my shoulder.
"Don''t worry about it too much and just do what you can. You are only one person," Amy said with a smile that I could see she was forcing, and I brightened up.
"You''re right, and I will do my best, so keep that smile on your face. We will make it through all this," I said, and Amy nodded as she turned and ran up the massive wooden grand staircase.
I turned, and a hole opened up in the wall as I looked over the smoking city.
"Let''s talk, boss," I said in a quiet voice.
Chapter 10 To The Rescue
[What can I do for you, Mr. Brighton?]
"Tell me how to get stronger so I can save this city and eventually the world," I said as I clenched my fists.
[How about I exin on the way?]
Before I could react, a massive branch hit me in the back with a body crushing force that shot me out of the hole in the wall into the open air at breakneck speeds.
I tumbled through the air, spinning and then dropping. This guy was a lunatic; there was no doubt about it. I crashed into the pavement, bouncing and hitting a parked car, and then the pavement again.
I groaned but easily pushed myself back up from the ground as my body healed the cuts I received. I actually felt better after that, and the fresh sun on my face felt great.
[That''s because the ultraviolet rays are the secret to your power, but not your only source. There are many advantages to the Evergrowth System, but the strongest for you will be your adaptive growth. The more you get hurt, the stronger you will be. This is why your body looks better after being pped two miles!]
"Dan! Is that you?! Please help my father!" Anya''s voice called from behind me in a frantic voice, and I turned to the Bookstore.
Anya was in the entrance with tears in her blue eyes, her white hair streaming down and out of her white parka. I rushed over to her, but she looked frantic, but that was when I saw the foot sticking out from behind the counter.
I didn''t ask; I just pushed Anya gently out of the way and rushed into the shop.
Mr. Holdt was lying in a pool of his own blood, but he was still breathing. Suddenly, Darius coughed and rolled to his side as he spat out blood with a deep groan.
"Boy. You are early, but I think it''s toote for me. I want you to talk care of, cough cough, my girl. Promise me that!" Darius rasped at me, but I already was moving his hand from the leaking blood wound.
"Just be quiet. Anya would never forgive you if you died, you idiot!"
[External repairs activated.]
Green light emitted from my hand, and the blood stopped pumping out of the wound as it closed.
"What are you doing to dad?!" As I finished, Anya asked from behind me, and Darius looked up at me, stunned.
"What did you just do to me?! I don''t feel any pain! I actually feel better than I did before!" Darius exined, and I nodded as I stood back up, offering my hand to help him up.
Anya rushed around me and hugged her father, who wrapped his arms around her. The two stayed like that for a moment longer, but then both looked at me with scared looks.
"I am sure that you all have many questions, but I just don''t have the time. If this happened to you at a bookstore, then it would be worse deeper in the city. Go to my apartment, and I will meet you there but be careful! The world became a dangerous ce overnight, more so than even in human history. There is a massive tree where my apartment was; enter it, and follow the tree''s directions," I exined, and the two just looked at me dumbfounded.
"Are you going to get Katie and Melody?" Anya asked me, and I nodded.
"Yeah, there is also a girl named Amy at the tree, so she will show you around," I said, and suddenly Anya broke from her father and wrapped her arms around me, and my nose was filled with the sweet scent of her hair.
"You two seem pretty close?" Darius asked, giving me a look, and I stiffened.
Darius didn''t know that I was bonking his daughter yet, but it looked like there was no point in denying it. I was about to say something, but then Anya surprised me.
"Dan and I are seeing each other, but he doesn''t have time to talk about that right now, right, Dan?!" Amy said, turning back to give me a look that said I should leave her to this mess, and I nodded.
"Yes, I have people to save and such! I will talk more at the house!" I said and booked it out of the shop.
That was not really how I wanted to tell my boss about his daughter, but it was the end of the world. If there was a choice, I would have never brought it up.
Since Anya was supposed to be leaving, I thought we were just a fling. There was no point in getting worked up over it, and I did just save his life, so he should give me a bit of a break.
[Very nice! See?! This is the kind of stuff that I am talking about! Go collect more nt types and your harem! Looks like you are starting to take this seriously now! Exciting!]
"Just throw me again. Katie is the closest, and I have to help everyone in the best way that I can, but I need you to tell me what to do, or at least guide me!" I growled, and I heardughter in my head.
[Sure, you need to scan living organisms, and from there, you will be able to mentally instruct them. Once you gain enough, you will have a growth spurt, and your range and control will increase, along with your resistance and strength. My System is all about rewarding you for showing me new discoveries that I might find interesting. I will also reward you if you create amazing things like the tree living area. Knowledge shall be your reward.]
That was an interesting deal, and I required the info, but I needed more than just a one-sided bribe that should be offered for free! I turned to look at the tree closest to me and walked over, pressing my hand to the trunk.
I sent my thoughts from it to the other trees on the way to my ce. I asked them to protect Darius and Anya, but I would have to ask who attacked themter.
I next told the tree to throw me fifteen blocks, and the tree did as I asked, but in a way, that was better. The tree wrapped around my waist and then hurled me into the air like a javelin.
Chapter 11 Human Bad Guys
I flew through the air, but this time I was able to get a better look at the area I was heading to, which was the university campus where Katie was. There was a good crowd of people gathered out front of the dorms, but I smashed into the ground just before them.
My face destroyed five sidewalk pads before I came to aplete stop and was able to get up. The gathering of people had dispersed, but now we areing back to see me again.
"Are you like that other guy?! That destroyed the city?!" One man asked.
"Are you like some kind of retarded alien?!" Another asked, but this one didn''t look that bright.
It was obvious that none of them were particrly smart-looking and all had a rougher appearance. It was easy to see tattoos and gold chains sticking out even in the winter gear, and that made me wonder.
"What are you guys nning to do here?" I asked, knowing this was the female''s side of the dorms.
"We just wanted toe and invite thedy toe and join us!" Another male shouted from the group, and my eyes narrowed.
"Oh, and where might that be? I have been looking for a ce that might be warm," I asked, and the crowd went quiet.
[Targeting nt-type: Grass]
My senses spread out, and grass started to slowly creep up through the cracks in the pavement sidewalks, along with the grass all around. These people were the types of people I was hoping would have been taken out, but nothing is ever that easy.
"We don''t need any freaks like you! Come on, boys! Let''s teach this fucking loser," The man up front started to say, but suddenly the grass surged up.
Men started to scream and yell as they were ripped down onto the cold pavement. The snow had started to melt where the grass surged up from, which I found interesting.
Once everyone was strapped down securely, I started to walk over them towards the front entrance to the girl''s dorms. I took no care to watch my footing as I did, stepping on people''s faces.
This ragtag group was here for girls, and I didn''t need to ask them what they nned on doing with them. Humans had always made me sick in this regard, and if I found out that was what they were doing, I would not be picking between options.
"Once I am finished here, you will all be taking me to this ce you were talking about. Don''t go anywhere till I get back," I said without looking down at the struggling idiots.
I was going to have to decide what I was going to do about people like this going forward in the future. I didn''t have the patience to lock people up, but I didn''t know if I could just outright kill them.
In the end, it might be for the best since a dead snake couldn''t bite you, and these were all scumbags that would probably turn on each other. They could stay here and think about their life choices until I got back or had made a decision; I could always kill them at range.
[I like your thinking. Just remember that hero is a made-up human word, and you don''t need to follow that mantra. I would prefer it if you made mistakes and broke a carton of eggs every now and then. You know, spice things up!]
That was a good point, but I wasn''t going to start making unwise choices. Killing everything that I saw as wrong without understanding was almost as bad as these guys, and I wasn''t that kind of guy.
I looked ahead to the double door and ss that had lined the entrance, but it was all broken. There was arge barricade blocking all the entries, and as I got closer, I could hear sounds of cryinging from the other side.
"Girls, I don''t know if you know me, but my name is Daniel Brighton. I took care of the men out front, but I am here for Katie Brindle. I can also help you all get to safety where it is warm," I called out as I got closer.
"Daniel?! Is that really you?!" I heard Katie''s voice call from the other side.
"Yes, I am here to save you, and I guess the rest of the people here. Do you mind if Ie in?" I asked as I reached the broken door.
"Please, but you will have to wait until we move some things," Katie called.
"Just move everyone back from the entrance, and I will make my way in," I called, and I could hear everyone moving back.
As they did, I sent the grass in to pull the stacked furniture apart to create a path for me to enter through. Once I made it to the other side, an auburn haired girl with twin buns on her head rushed over to wrap her arms around me.
"Thank you foring, Daniel! We all thought that we were either going to be taken, starve or freeze to death!" Katie cried into my chest, and I wrapped my arms around her.
I looked around, and the entry area to the dorms was filled with scared looking faces. This was happening all over the city, and I needed to find more ways tobat this faster.
"Listen, everyone. I know that you are all scared, but I need you to get everyone ready to move. I have created arge tree that can hold up to forty thousand people, and you will be warm and safe there. I am sure that you all have many questions, but you are going to have to save them," I exined to everyone, and a seed of hope seemed to start spreading among them.
I just needed to get these girls on their way, and then make my way to get Melody. Then I would have to y super hero it seemed and deal with the normal bad guys.
[That''s the spirit! Bring on the entertainment!]
Chapter 12 Ice Cold
"Umm, can I ask you something?" Katie asked as the girls started to go tell the others; she also had not let go of me.
"My roommate has been really sick, and I don''t know if she will be able to walk. Do you think you could carry her?" Katie asked, looking up at me with her adorable puppy dog eyes.
"Victoria? Can''t we just leave her?" I asked only half jokingly.
Victoria was Katie''s bitch of a red-head soulless twat roommate, who also despised me. She had made me her target of hate the moment she found out Katie was seeing me, but that was because Anya also went to this university, along with Melody.
Needless to say, she thinks I am a whore and a waste of skin, so sue me if I didn''t hope to volunteer. Maybe if I did this, she might lighten up a bit, but the chances were pretty slim.
"Dan!" Katieined, pounding on my chest, so I pulled her into a kiss that shut her up.
"Fine, let''s go get my best friend then, but I can''t stay here for long; I still have to find Melody. She said she was going to the edge of the city to visit her grandparents, so she should be okay for a bit," I said in a tired voice with a grin as we broke apart.
"Is Anya okay?" Katie asked as she led me down the dorm hall to the stairwell.
"Yeah, Darius and her ad headed to my ce, and that is where you guys are going to be headed. I know it''s a long walk, but you will have the trees and grass now to protect you," I exined as we walked up three flights of stairs to the top floor of the dorm.
"What happened to you? And what do you mean trees and grass will protect us?! This all sounds like something out of one of your books!" Katie eximed, and I nodded with a sigh.
I exined everything that had happened as fast as I could, and when I was finished, we were standing outside her door. Katie looked up at me, but I couldn''t read the expression on her face; it was somewhere between confused, exhausted, and frightened.
"So we are never going to have power again or the inte?" Katie asked, and I nodded.
"If we do, it won''t be like before. Just know that I will try my very best to keep you and everyone else safe, but know this. You and the girlse first always. I was seeing you all at the same time before, and we all understood that each of you would move on at some point. That isn''t going to happen anymore, but I don''t n on picking just one of you. I hope that you are all fine with this going forward, but I won''t force you," I exined, and to my surprise, Katie started tough at me.
"Tch! Do you really think that you would have ever gotten rid of us? You don''t think we didn''t know what you had nned? We all have talked many times, and we were never actually going to let you go," Katie retorted with an evil smile.
"Huh? What do you mean? You all had ns to leave the city and take jobs far away, right? Not that I wanted you to go, but that was what you had nned, so I figured this would be the best, right?!" I asked, taking a step back in confusion.
"Well, that was our n individually, but you know it has been almost three years now. All of us changed our destinations at the start of this school year. We were just going to surprise you at graduation, but I guess that will nevere now," Katie said thoughtfully, putting a finger to her lips.
I was frozen in ce and unable to form words or process thoughts. It didn''t matter anymore, but these girls had wholly pulled the covers over my head and were about to be attached to me right under my nose.
"I have no words for this. I mean, it''s a good thing, but I feel like thest one to get the joke," I said timidly, scratching the back of my head.
"Well, you don''t need to say anything. Now, can you please help Vicky!" Katie asked, and I nodded with a smile.
I would do just about anything for these girls now, not like I wouldn''t have before, but now I knew how they all felt about me. That thought alone lit a fire inside me, and I walked forward and opened the door to Katie''s dorm room.
It was dark inside, and I could hear groaning from Victoria''s side of the room. I waved for Katie to stay out of the room, and I walked in slowly till I was standing over the quivering pile of nkets.
"Vic, it''s me, Dan. Can youe out from under the covers?" I asked gently.
"D-Dan?! G-Get away f-from me! K-K-Katie!" Vic cried weakly with her voice shaking.
"Dan is here to help you! Don''t be mean to him, or he will leave you behind! He came to save us!" Katie called from the hallway, and Victoria groaned.
I grinned, thinking how great it would be if I could do something to make her owe me. That would be something I could hold over her head to keep her from being so¡ never mind, there was no changing this ice-cold bitch.
I would just save her for the girl''s sake since she happened to be friends with all three girls I was seeing. I really didn''t understand what the girls saw in her, but Anya said she was a lot different when I wasn''t around.
"Look, I know that you don''t like me, but things have changed, and the world is a scary ce now. Pull the covers back so I can see if I can help you, okay?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm and gentle.
Chapter 13 Bits And Parts
The covers pulled back slowly to reveal matted red hair and a sweat-covered face. Victoria looked like she was in really rough shape.
"Why is she like this? Why wasn''t she already at the hospital?!" I asked with shock, quicking darting a look at Katie.
"She was fine until the power went out, then she started to get worse. I wanted to try and go to the hospital, but that''s when that group of guys showed up, trying to get in," Katie exined, and I nodded, focusing back on Victoria.
"Rx, and I will see what I can do for you," I said slowly and ced my hand on Victoria''s forehead.
She flinched at my touch and averted her eyes from me, but that was fine. I closed my eyes and concentrated on my hand and what I was feeling from Victoria.
[Target Scan...Complete!]
[Female is suffering fromte stages of Pneumonia. ce hands on the target''s chest to start repair.]
I blinked the message away and inwardly groaned. Yes, this should go over well.
"Katie, do you mind giving us some space?" I asked, looking back at her, and Katie gave me a strange look.
"What are you going to do?!" Katie asked, but I gave her a look, and she closed the door without another question.
The room became dark, but my eyes adjusted quickly, and I turned back to Victoria. She had an angry look on her face, but that was only going to get worse.
"W-Why''d you m-make K-K-Katie leave the r-room?!" Victoria demanded in a weak voice, and I sighed.
I didn''t really have time to waste, but I wasn''t going to force this. I looked around and saw ss on the nightstand beside her.
I reached over, grabbed the cup, turned, and threw it to smash into the wall on the opposite side of the room.
"Is everything okay in there?!" Katie called from the other side of the door.
"Yup," I called back and walked over to the shattered pieces of ss.
"W-What are y-you doing?!" Vic cried weakly as I bent down to pick up one of the sharp shards.
I stood up and walked over to the bed, where Victoria looked terrified at me.
"Look, this is to show you something," I said and held up my arm.
Victoria watched in frozen abject terror as I took the sharp piece of ss and dragged it down my arm. It barely even would cut my skin to start, but I was able to make a small gash that hardly burned.
Victoria''s terror slowly turned to wide-eyed confusion as the cut on my arm healed almost as fast as I sliced it. After it was healed, the skin looked better in that spot, but there was no scar.
"If I told you that I could heal you by cing my hands on her bare chest, would you have believed me? You see what just happened when I cut my skin, right? Something happened to me just after the power went outst night, and now I can do some pretty strange and wild things," I exined, tossing the shard back over on the ground with the rest.
"I-I, umm, umm, just do it! B-But you had b-b-better not grope me, you p-pervert!" Victoria squeaked and then started to cough raggedly.
I smiled and sat down on the small bed beside her, pulling the nket back to expose Victoria''s sweat cover chest and soaked nightgown. Her nipples stood erect, pressing up into her satin dress, but more than enough skin showed for my hands to make contact.
"Just try to rx, and you will feel better right away," I said gently and ced my hands on her chest, so her nipples barely grazed the backs of my wrists.
[External repair of female human activated. 1:59s untilpleted.]
Green light started to glow from my hands, and Victoria''s eyes opened in surprise.
"You are really healing me? But I always call you a womanizer and a pervert!" Victoria asked me, and I shrugged.
"You are allowed to have your opinions about things, but I really think you should keep those ones to yourself. I love the girls and made it my priority to save them all when this happened. You are friends with them all; even though you don''t like me for your own reasons, they like you. Plus, you''re a pretty girl, even if you act vile and angry all the time," I said in a matter-of-fact tone, shocking Victoria.
There was a long quiet stretch where we just stared into each other''s eyes, but I could feel her breathing slowly getting better. There were still about thirty seconds left, but I found it hard to look away from her green eyes.
"Umm, thank you, I guess. This isn''t going to change how I feel about you!" Victoria said to me suddenly, but then her face got red, and she looked away.
That was right about the time that the healing waspleted, and the light faded from my hands. I took my hands from Victoria''s chest and then ced her on her far side, leaning forward to get up.
Suddenly, Victoria''s hands wrapped up around my neck, pulling my face to hers. Our lips pressed together before I knew what had happened, and I was drawn into a passionate kiss.
This made my head spin harder than the rain of punches the Viin had hit me with. All I could do was respond to her passion, wrapping my arms around her.
"Are you guys okay in there?! You are being awfully quiet in there!" Katie called from the other side of the door.
Just as fast as it started, Victoria pushed me away and then expertly kicked me between the legs. My eyes bulged as I felt the wind being knocked out of my sails.
[Total damage 5%. Repairing.]
I groaned and then red at Victoria, who matched my stare. She put her finger to her lips to be quiet and then drew it across her neck, and I groaned but nodded.
"You cane in; the womanizer healed me like the true pervert he is!" Victoria dered as my head was still spinning and my bits and parts were being rebuilt.
Chapter 14 Rocket Propelled
Katie came into the room, and I had my back turned to Victoria. She gave me a strained look, and I shrugged at her, unsure what had just happened myself.
To be honest, my being able to heal someone was more believable than what Victoria had just done. As far as I knew, the girl hated my guts and made sure that everyone knew that, but I guess there was more to the story than just the cover.
"She should be fine now to get back to my ce. Ensure that you keep everyone close to the trees where you walk, and you will be safe. I need to get going and get Melody now, or are there others that need help?" I asked, but Katie shook her head.
"No, you get going. We will make sure that everyone gets to your¡ tree. Some of the girls have gone to get the guy''s help, but they aren''t telling them about the ce. I didn''t know what your ns were," Katie exined, and I nodded.
"I wille back after because I need to deal with the ones tied down in the front area. I will need to talk to everyone tonight about how things are going to be going forward. I just want you to concentrate on getting everyone to safety, okay?" I asked Katie and left the room after she nodded.
I didn''t look back at Victoria because I didn''t know how to deal with all of that right now, and it wasn''t the time. I ran back out into the dorm halls and kept going until I was outside, where the group of men was pinned to the ground.
I walked over to the one that seemed the smartest, and the grass was removed from his mouth as I squatted down.
"Listen, and well. I am going to be gone for a bit, but when I get back, you better have answers for me. The grass will keep you warm until then, but if you choose to stay in this city that I am trying to save, you had better be ready to listen to my rules, and follow them," I exined in a low voice.
"Sure! I was a framer before this all, and I got swept up in everything, but it''s not what you think! We aren''t forcing them to do anything!" The man told me, and I shrugged.
"That would be good, but the way you are going about it has me worried. Still, stay here, and be prepared to answer my questions," I said, and the man nodded.
I stood up and walked over to the nearest tree, cing my hand on the trunk. I connected with it immediately, and my senses connected with the trees over at the bookstore.
I could sense that Anya and her father were halfway to my ce, making good time. That was good, but now I was concerned about what was toe next.
[Time to test out those wings!]
"There really needs to be a better way of doing this. How am I going to bring Melody and her grandparents back? I can''t huck them across the city!" I grumbled in a low voice.
[Worry about that when you get there!]
I groaned as the tree reached over and wrapped around my waist.
To be perfectly honest, I didn''t really like heights, and considering how far I needed to go, I was not ready for this.
"What are you doing?!" The man asked me, and I sighed.
"You really don''t want to know," I said, and before the man could ask why the tree hurtled me into the air like a rocket-propelled missile.
My eyes burned and were blurred as I felt my skin try to rip off my body, but then I started to slow. My eyes snapped back as I hit the peak of my arc, and I got a stunning view of the city, but now I could see just how bad it really was.
"This is all just from one person?!" I asked aloud as my bullet of a body started to tip down, the air rushing past me.
[This is from a person that had no idea how to use their powers. This is from a person that would be considered the weakest of all of them. This is only going to get worse, so you had better get training. Don''t try to save the whole world too fast, either. There are lots of exciting things here I would like to learn about!]
I was picking up speed now as I could see my target just outside the citying into view. There was a lot of snow on the ground, but I knew it wouldn''t matter; the ground wasing too close, too fast.
I closed my eyes and turtle as I impacted the ground, feeling bones break all over my body, and then I bounced and rolled through the snow. I finally came to a stop, but I was covered in snow.
I didn''t care.
[Total damage 54%. Repairing.]
Iy covered in snow on the ground as my body fixed itself, and I quickly started to feel better. The snow around me and on me quickly melted away, and grass grew under and around me to lift me from the dirt.
"Hello?! What in tarnation did you do to my front yard!" I heard an old voice demand from the direction of Melody''s grandparent''s house.
"Hey, Henry! It''s just me, Dan! Sorry for the mess I made!" I called as I slowly tried to get up, but my body just wasn''t ready yet.
"Dan?! How did you¡ nevermind! Are you okay? If it was you that made that mark, I wouldn''t think so, but I can''t see you over there! Hell of a storm we gotst night! Now the darn power is out, but we got a nice wood stove inside! The truck won''t," Henry started to ramble on, but he cut off, and Martha, his wife, spoke up.
"Stop pestering the poor boy! Come inside when you are ready. I will put some tea on," called Mrs. Pactor, and I grinned.
Not even the end of the world could change some people.
Chapter 15 Cuteness
I still needed more time to heal, so I connected with the grass, but I was too far away to make a connection with the other grass. I might even be too far for the trees.
"DAN!!" A familiar voice screamed, bringing me out of my thoughts, and I could hear the sounds of someone struggling through the snow.
Suddenly, Melody came into view and burst from one of the snowbanks wearing her cute fluffy parka and her long brown hair trailing behind her. She was very short, but the oversized jacket hid arge part of her charming personality that always served to distract me.
"Are you okay?!" Melody cried with tears pouring down her face.
Along with being adorable with a small irresistible body, Melody tended to wear her heart on her sleeve. I no longer even considered it overreacting; this was just Melody.
"I am fine, cuteness. Just don''t jump me yet! Come sit with me, and I will try to exin as my body puts itself back together."
Melody blinked away her tears and plopped herself down beside me, but she was putting her hands under my shirt before I could speak. I wasn''t sure what she was up to, but I wasn''t going toin.
"What happened to your body?! You are like one of the muscly guys now! I just came overst week; how did this happen?! I mean, I like it, and if we were back at your house, I would," Melody started to say, but her hands slipped into my pants, and her eyes went big.
"Many things have happened in thest twenty-four hours," I said with a grin, then I softly groaned in pleasure as Melody worked her hands over my now swollen shaft in my pants.
"This feels bigger! Are you sure you are the same Dan?!" Melody asked in confusion, but I didn''t really want to exin how that happened.
As much as this seemed like fun, Melody was not someone I would try to have fun with her this close to people who could hear. She tended to get very excited and loud when we were alone, to the point that my neighbors would pound on the wall.
"Beautiful, can we save this fun forter?" I asked, and Melody pulled her hand out of my pants.
"You had better. I want to devour every inch of this new body you have," Melody said in a quiet, seductive voice and then looked at the bulge in my pants, licking her lips.
[Oh, now this is what I call interesting! The rest of them are popsiclespared to this burning hot taco! For this, I will teach you the ways of Evolution!]
[Mammal Evolutionary Enhancements learned!]
I hardly heard Orphus as I stared into Melody''s pretty blue-green eyes, but the skill shaped me back. Looks like this guy was a pervert after all, but there really wasn''t much I could do about him.
"All right, I think that I am feeling good enough to walk. Let''s go see about some of that tea," I said as I slowly got up.
I still hadn''t exined anything yet, but maybe it would be better to tell them all at once. I was starting to get tired of repeating this, but I guess this was part of trying to help people.
"Are you sure that you are okay to walk?" Melody asked as I straightened up, but I felt great after having my body smashed into the ground.
"I am good now that I know you are safe. Here," I said and then scooped Melody up off the ground and continued saying, "You are too cute to be walking, and I was worried about you."
It was true, not that I didn''t love each of the girls, but Melody was different from the other two, and we interacted differently. I had honestly thought that she was going to be the one that stayed, but it looks like I was not the one driving my fate.
"We are okay, but nothing works. We are still warm with the stove, but grandpa can''t cut wood, and I am not really built for it. We still have food, but no way to get more," Melody exined, nuzzling into my chest as I walked through the very deep snow.
"Don''t worry about it. I am here to bring you guys to my ce," I said with a grin as we got closer to the house, but Melody looked up at me from my arms.
"How are we going to fit into your tiny little ce, no offense," Melody said, and Iughed.
"No, I grew a tree, and now we are all going to live inside of it. The end of the world happened overnight, and now I am the only one fighting to stop it," I said as I stopped at the front door of her grandparents'' little white house.
It had only two bedrooms, an open kitchen living room, and a single bathroom. I had been here many times to pick up Melody in a taxi, so her grandparents didn''t have to drive her back in.
"I am not really sure what to say to that. You''repletely serious, and you would never tell me something like this as a joke cause you know that it would worry me, right?" Melody asked, and I nodded my head and then turned so she could see the impact gouge mark my body had left.
"I just made that mark with my body; this is no joke. I was just thrown from the university by a tree. Honestly, at this point, I wish I could say that I was joking, but I''m not. I don''t want to scare you, babe, but the world has gone to hell in a handbasket, but," I said, and then paused as I smiled down at her.
"You''re going to keep me safe," Melody finished, and I nodded, leaning down to kiss her.
"I promise, the best I can," I said after we pulled apart.
Chapter 16 End Of The World Over Tea
With Melody still in my arms, I entered the house. I had tried to put her down, but she insisted that I was toofy, and she didn''t want to, so that was the end of that.
"Melody, dear. You should at least take your coat off, or poor Daniel is going to overheat. I am still not even sure how you can walk, let alone carry our granddaughter," Martha told Melody, and she let me put her down.
Melody removed her coat, and my smile started to hurt my face when I saw how pretty she looked in the basic yellow strapless dress. It was held up wonderfully by Melody''s ample S-curve figure.
My thoughts briefly drifted back to lying in the grass, but I squashed them down, walking over to take a seat on the sofa. There was some tea waiting for each of us, and after I took my seat, Melody sat down on myp and wrapped an arm around her waist.
"So, my boy. Tell me the bad news, because seeing to leave a mark on the ground like that and getting up mixed with everything going dead sounds bad," Henry said, and I nodded.
I exined everything that had happened since I got hit by the truck, and everyone listened intently. I even exined about Orphus, who stayed quiet the entire time, but only because I trusted these people.
I had no parents, and I had known Melody since high school, so we had always been friends, and we spent a lot of time together when we were younger. I had many talks with Henry and ate many meals in this house.
"So, the world is really going to end?" Henry finally asked, staring into his tea.
"Not if I have anything to do about it, but my fortune is gone now, not like it mattered anyway. The world we knew is gone and will nevere back, so I am going to start trying to build a new world in ce of it. One without fighting and violence, if I can, that would be much more rxing," I said with a sigh and then leaned to the side to take a sip of tea.
"Do you really think you can do that,d? Living in that small ce and working in that book store never made sense to me. You make so much money with your store on the inte and spend it on us, and I don''t know what else. I am sure you can do it, but what has got you so fired up now?" Henry asked, looking up and into my eyes.
"Well, I have this one and you two that I want to protect, and it looks like I am the only one on our side. If I don''t fight, there is no hope, and this is my chance to make a real change. I tried donating to help people, but other people would take some of the profits for doing nothing, which made no sense. I tried investing in helping clean up the oceans and other green projects, but they never had an effect, but now I hold change inside of me," I exined, and Henry nodded.
I had the power to make real changes in the future, but I needed to survive long enough to take our world back. Without getting rid of the Viins, this world was doomed, no matter what I did.
"So what next?" Henry asked, and I nodded.
"A couple things, but I need to go find something that you all can ride back into the city," I said, thumbing my chin.
"Huh?" Henry asked, but I waved him off.
"Don''t worry about it. Cuteness? Can you stay here for a bit? I need to go do some stuff, but then I will be back. I need to find you guys a ride quickly and then get back to the hospital and then rescue some people. Long day ahead of me still, but thankfully it''s only around lunchtime," I said, and Melody got off myp.
"Okay, I will get our things ready to go with grandma," Melody said and then grabbed my shirt to pull me into a cute kiss.
After she let go, I left the house with a smile on my face. Seeing any of the girls always made me happy, and it was a nice break from my everyday boring life that I had enjoyed.
Part of that life was gone, for now, but books still existed; I would just have to hunt them down. This is just another thing to add to my never-ending list of things to do.
"All right. Do I have any way to scan for lifeforms around me?" I asked out loud after I was outside and the door was closed.
[Already done. If you look around, you will see them highlighted in red.]
Suddenly, my entire vision became red, and I tried to blink it away.
[Sorry, we will stick to just the mammals. One tends to forget how alive even the air can be.]
The red dimmed, and soon I could see some birds in the air in red and a couple other animals. The one that caught my eye was a borrow of Foxes, and it was only a five-minute walk from where I stood, and I headed in that direction.
"So, how do I use this new skill you gave me?" I asked.
[Once you get close enough, I will scan the creature, and then you will be able to summon the menu. From there, you just have to express what you want through thought and feeling. I am sure you will get the hang of it right away! So, you were a rich boy but lived in a shit box. What is that all about?]
"I never had a reason to spend the money, and I just wanted to be able to do what I wanted. If I yed poor, no one really bothered me, and the only ones that knew were the ones I wanted to. I lived a great boring life before you came around!" Iined as I headed over to the fox burrow.
Chapter 17 Kitsune
[Well, now you get a chance to do something good that will help your world, so it''s not all bad, right?]
"That is true, but I kind of resent the form of training I have to do," I said with a groan as I approached the foxhole.
[Scan of Mammal-Foxplete.]
[Honestly, you have it the easiest. All you have to do is get kicked in the dick, and it gets bigger. Best. Training. Ever.]
"If I could throw something at you, I would right now. What does my dick have to do with me getting stronger?!" I growled as five foxes came out of the burrow I had reached.
They all looked up at me like they were waiting for something, and I leaned down to them. I reached a hand forward and ruffled each of their heads.
[Nothing really, but you will make thedies scream more, so that is winning in my book! Don''t worry, I will watch while you''re doing it. I will wait and watch the recording after in my personal time!]
"You are disgusting and an idiot. Now how do I do this?" I asked, frustrated with this pervertedputer program.
Suddenly a screen appeared in the air, and there was an image of one of the foxes on it. Orphus had just said that I just have to use my mind, but that got me thinking.
"Foxes,e over here and stay close," I ordered the small animals, and they did as told, running around my feet.
I guess that would be fine, and I reached forward to ce my hand on the tree that they had been burrowed under. I pushed my thoughts into the tree, requesting that it turn into a wagon for me to pull my family back to my ce.
The tree responded with a warm feeling like what I got from seeing the girls, and I thanked the tree. Slowly the tree turned into a wagon that looked to fit two creatures the size of donkeys.
I nodded at this and looked down at my new friends.
"I would give you all names, but I am sure that the girls will be better suited for that. For now, I am going to make some changes," I told the foxes, and I knew they understood me.
I needed them to be the size ofrge timberwolves, but I also wanted to be able tomunicate with people other than myself. Two of them would be protecting the wagon that the other two pulled, so It would be good for them to be able to let the others know when danger was around.
Suddenly, the foxes in front of me started to grow rapidly, and I took a step back as they grew almost up to my shoulders. I had to take another few steps back so I could really see them, but man, did they have a lot of furs.
"What do you think, master? Is this what you wanted of my children and me?" Therger of the four spoke in a female voice.
"Yes, you all look wonderful! I think Melody is going to pass out from excitement when she sees you. Are you all fine with pulling this wagon and helping my family get back to my home? I can''t stay with you all, but I will be back tonight," I exined, and the mother nodded.
"Yes, anything that you wish, we will do. You have given us new bodies and voices. I can hardly even remember what it was like to be so small," The mother said, and I smiled.
"Do you mind if Ie to feel your fur?" I asked curiously, and the mother nodded, watching mee over.
I wasted no time and went over to hug the side of the massive fox, getting lost in the softness of the fur. I could have stayed there forever, but Miss Fox did need a bath, and the day was nowhere close to being done.
"Thank you, but let''s get back to the house, so we can get everything loaded up. Do you all have names?" I asked, and the four shook their heads.
"You said that you would wait to give us names. Are these girls you speak of your mates?" The mother asked me, seeming awfully curious, and I nodded.
"Yes, I guess you could say that," I said as I walked over to the wagon.
I called two of the younger foxes over, and the wagon created harnesses that seemed to fit them well. Once they were hooked up, I asked the grass to make us a path, but I instructed the tree that skis would be better after I was gone.
Once we started to move, the mother came up to walk close beside me, brushing her soft fur against me. I couldn''t help myself but reach over and stroke the long furs that seemed to stand on end, but it was so soft.
"I said that I would wait, but I will let the girls name you kids. I think the name Kitsune is a good one for you. It means fox spirit, and she turned into a beautiful woman with fox ears and nine bushy tails," I said as we got closer to the house.
"You really think that I am worthy of such a name? I mean, if you give it to me, I really like it. Kitsune is a nice name. Do you have a name?" Kitsune asked, and I nodded.
"Yes, my name is Daniel Brighton," I replied, and Kitsune looked back at me.
"Why do you have two names?" She asked.
"Because there are many humans with this name, and thest name helps sort us out more," I said.
"Should I have ast name?" Kitsune asked, but I shook my head.
"No, you are special, and you are the only four of your kind right now. Maybe there will be more one day, and when that dayes, we will think of one if needed, okay?" I said to Kitsune, and she looked happy as we arrived at the house.
Chapter 18 Human Trials
"WHA~!" Melody squealed as she ran out of the house and over to me.
I scooped her up into a hug, and we kissed before I put her back down and turned to Kitsune.
"This is Kitsune; I named her. And then the other three are her children; I want you to pick one of their names," I said to Melody, whose eyes lit up, and I turned to Kitsune and said, "What are their genders? I don''t want to be rude and go look."
"They are all females, and they would not care if you checked them. You are our master," Kitsune said, sounding proud.
"Aye, enough with the master; you are all friends. Call me Dan, master it weird, your not my ves. Since you are all helping me, I will feed you and get you all cleaned up, plus you can sleep in the house," I exined, and Kitsune nodded, but she looked unsure.
"Don''t worry, Dan is really nice, and we are all really friendly. I wanna call the one on the left Zuzu! She looks like she will be fun, and I always wanted a little sister!" Melody said as she walked off and hugged the massive fox as tall as she was.
"Zuzu? For me? You''re my sister now?" Zuzu asked in confusion as Melody hugged her.
"Not a real one, silly! I am going to treat you all like little sisters! Oh my god, Dan! What have you done to me?! I am never gonna let these go! You are all sleeping in my room when I''m not sleeping with Dan, got it?!"
I groaned and rolled my eyes, but she was so cute it was hard not to love her more. She was still rambling on, but there was still one more thing that I wanted to try, but I was a bit leery.
"You really care for your mate; I can see it in your eyes," Kitsune said from beside me, bringing me out of my thoughts, and I nodded; then she asked, "Once she is pregnant, will you leave her, and go find more mates?"
The questions shocked me, and I stayed quiet for a moment as Ipartmentalized my thoughts. While her intelligence was more significant now, she would still have some instincts and memories from before.
"No, I will always stay by her side, along with the others. I would never leave them, and I will do anything to keep them safe. That is why I am asking you to protect my family, but don''t be reckless. You are all my family as well," I exined and headed into the house.
Kitsune''s eyes had been wide, but there was nothing more to say on the point, and I had to get moving. I opened the door to the house, and there were some bags with clothes in them with both Henry and Martha sitting on the couch waiting.
I closed the door behind myself and walked over to stand in front of the table. I would have to ask the entric about this first, but if I was right, this could change everything.
"Before you guys leave, I would like to try something. I will talk to Orphus for a moment to see if it is possible," I said, and Orphus answered right away, even before the question.
[Yes, it will work. The human body gets old and dies because it can produce enough cells. Give them a boost!]
"What do you mean, son?" Henry asked.
"What would you do if you were young again?" I asked, and the old man smirked.
"My wife!"
"Henry!" Martha scolded him.
I reached out and offered each a hand, and then both took one, and the menu with outlines of their old bodies and all their ailments popped up. I ignored that and focused on them being in the best shape of their lives.
Suddenly, both of them froze, and the clock seemed to unwind for them. Both of them started to get younger rapidly, but that wasn''t all.
Henry straightened up, grew hair, and gained muscle definition like a pro athlete.
Martha became a stunningly beautiful woman with a perfect body, and you could barely tell they were the same people.
The couple were shaking as they looked at their hands, and both of them started to cry when they looked up at each other. The two hugged, and I slowly turned to leave the house, but Martha grabbed my hand.
I turned back, and both of them had got up abnormally fast, catching me in a pincer hug. I returned it, and we stood there for a long while until we finally broke apart.
"You know Daniel, you have done so much for us," Martha said with tears, and I nodded.
"Same; you guys have been like family, so let''s work towards a better future. I am sure that I can trust you two to keep your granddaughter safe," I said with a smile, but it was stranger than fiction to see them so young.
"What is Melody going to think?" Martha asked, touching a finger to her lip, and I could see Henry eyeing her.
"Do you think we might have some time to spare before we, umm, go??" Henry asked as he looked Martha up and down, making her blush.
"Keep it in your pants till I get you back to your new ce in the city! I need to get going, but let''s go see your daughter, and I will introduce you to the other new family members," I said and turned to head back out of the house.
The two followed, but Melody looked at me with a strange look when we got outside.
"Where did you pull those people out of? Do you have anyone else hiding up your sleeve?!" Melody asked as she tried to get up in my face but failed by a foot.
"That''s your grandparents."
"Of course, it is, cause...." Melody said, turning back to Henry and Martha, but her words trailed off.
"Umm, hi. Dan helped us be young again, so it''s like we are the same age, right?" Martha said, but I could tell she was grasping at straws.
"So, I will see you all back at the tree," I said, and then quickly kissed Melody as the wagon wrapped a branch around my waist and said, "Gotta go, love you, and safe travels!"
Chapter 19 Rocket Researcher
Before I could hear Melodyin, I was hurtled into the air.
My target: the hospital.
Out of all the ces that would be important to worry about, the central hospital downtown was my main concern. I wasn''t sure what I could do, but the best was to try and at least create another tree over the hospital.
I reached the top of my arch and then started to drop, and I red at my target. The emergency entrance was filled with dead ambnces, meaning this would probably hurt.
I rolled to my back and waited for the pain, which came an instantter as I smashed through the room of an ambnce.
[Total damage 25%, Repairing.]
I hadnded almost perfectly on a stretcher, smashing it down t, but I was still able to move. I got up and rotated my shoulder as a couple of cracked bones healed, and I was feeling good as new.
I opened the back doors and walked out of the ambnce, and a man was staring at me in a parka.
"Are you okay?! You just fell through that roof, right?! Don''t tell me you''re like that other crazy guy that destroyed the city!!" The man asked in shock as he started to walk back from me, but I shook my head.
"I am fine, and yeah, I am like that guy, but I am not here to break things. I came to help out since the hospital probably needs it the most," I exined, and the man stopped back peddling.
He didn''t look homeless, and when I mentioned helping the hospital, his eyes lit up.
"Really? What is it that you can do to help? My name is Grayson, and I am a doctor at the Metaralis Hospital here," The man exined, and I nodded.
"Good, just give me a moment, and I will see what I can do. By the way, is there a research wing of this hospital?" I asked as I walked over to where some trees had been nted, touching the closest one.
I instantly connected, and my mind wrapped around the hospital to all the trees, but just doing that almost drained me of what I had left to use. I would need to scan more things to reach a Growth Spurt like Orphus had said before I could do this properly.
"Yes, but why do you want to know that?" Grayson asked, and I turned back to him as I asked the trees to start growing the Great Tree as much as possible until I was ready.
"I control all forms of growth, so I need to be able to scan biological organisms. The guy that destroyed the city? He was nothing to what will being," I said as I walked over to him.
"You can''t be serious?! More of these guys?" Grayson asked, starting to step back again.
"Thousands, all over the world, and there will never be power again. Grayson, I am going to level with you here, shit looks real bad, but there is me. For some reason, they decided to give our world a chance to fight back, and they picked me. The rest of the world doesn''t have a me right now, so I am going to need everyone''s help, you included," I exined, and Grayson nodded his head.
"I saw what that monster could do, and you are saying that he is the weakest of what is toe?!" Grayson asked, and I was impressed by his question.
"Yup, that''s why I need to get stronger and help make everyone stronger. I am only one person, though, so what can I do?" I asked the man, and the man stood up straight, and I smiled.
"Let''s go! I can see those trees behind you growing, so I believe you!" Grayson said as he pried the door open just enough for us to get through.
I closed it easily, but I could see the ce was packed with shivering people and small fires. I concentrated and focused on pumping out as much heat as possible, and Grayson gasped from beside me.
"Holy shit, are you pumping out heat from your body?! I feel like I need to take off his coat and all myyers!" Grayson exined as we slowly walked, and he did just that, putting her coat to the side.
The people around me started to look up as the waves of heat reached them, and they started to cheer. Thankfully, a strange busty nurse in a park told them all to quiet down, or she beat them all senseless.
I didn''t really think that thest part was needed, but the people all listened.
"That is Sofia; she is the Head Researcher for one project, but a bit of a rocket before all this. Now she is one of the free people that could get people to listen. She will probably join us in a moment," Grays exined and then looked at the sad remains of the shirt I was wearing.
"I don''t know if clothes can really handle my mode of transportation. Still, the sooner you can get me to a ce where you have samples of biological lifeforms, that would help heat the whole ce up. It will already start getting warmer soon, but not enough," I replied, and Gray nodded.
"Do nts work? If so, then I will leave you with Miss Diaz. She is the head of researching nts being used for healing, but some of her ideas are way out there," Grayson told me, and that was when Sofia joined us.
"Yes, nts work," I said, and suddenly Grayson nodded and walked away quickly.
"Sorry, work to take care of!" Grayson said as he walked into the colder part of the hospital without his jacket.
"Ah, Gray didn''t want to y? It''s okay, baby; what do you want to know about my nts? I heard through the grapevine that you are interested, mmm, right?" Sofia asked me with a Spanish ent, and I rolled my eyes.
Chapter 20 Papi
"Listen, Miss Diaz, can we y cat and mouseter? I just need to see your nts before they die, please?" I asked, and Sofia frowned at me but nodded.
"Follow me. I can see you mean business about the nts, but do you really think they are that important?" Sofia asked as I walked beside her.
She was no longer wearing her parka. Instead, a pair of thick ck leggings rose just past her knees. Sofia also had on a brown nnel skirt and a gray knitted sweater with a white overcoat over top of it all.
"Yes, they are a key to our survival. Right now, I have the trees in the area growing up slowly to make a massive hundred-foot-tall tree. I have already made one that I am moving people into," I exined, and Sofia tried to stop in shock, but I dragged her forward by the shoulder of the coat, saying, "Stop getting distracted."
"It''s hard when you say such wild, crazy and unbelievable things like this, Papi! You are making my heart flutter if what you say is true! I have spent my whole life trying to figure out the secrets of nts and the energy that they seem to have, just like some humans!" Sofia eximed as I dragged her behind me, not seeming to care that I was manhandling her.
"I might have to ask you toe work over with me if you would like. I would be interested in bouncing ideas back and forth with you about it," I said, and suddenly, Sofia broke from my grip and was standing in front of me abnormally fast.
"Do you really mean that? I could live at the top of the big tree on the far side of the city?! That was really you that made that?! Oh, baby, please let me; I want nothing more than to do that exact thing! I will even let you have a try on my luscious body!" Sofia said, pushing her chest into me, rubbing the front of my pants.
Top tier service, and she was pretty, but I only needed this one''s brains; the rest look like it came with a dump truck filled with problems. I have enough pretty girls already!
"No, thank you, I just need you to stop messing around and take me to the nts. I think you are pretty, but I have three, possibly four women in my life already. I need your brains, not your curvy body," I said but realized after that I really hadn''t helped myself at all.
"Oh, you are already building a harem in the apocalypse? So quick! That means another one won''t hurt, right, Papi?" Sofia asked and then reached into her bra to pull out a key.
"Is this the ce?" I asked, and Sofia nodded but scowled at me.
"You are not very good at answering questions, aye Papi?" Sofia asked as she opened a locked door, and I shrugged.
"Maybe you just aren''t asking the right ones. Now, give me some time with these, and then you and I will get going to deal with thest problem on my list, mostly," I said, thinking about how I was going to feed everyone and get water to them, but hopefully, Sofia would help with that.
"Fine, I will wait out here, so I don''t bother you, but don''t you go leaving me here! It''s not safe for a deliciousdy such as myself to hang around here without someone big and strong like you, okay, Papi?" Sofia told me, and I nodded as I went inside.
I would not be leaving an expert in theoretical nt science or whatever she did. While she seemed like a firecracker, I could tell that she wasn''t stupid.
Theb was very small and dark, but the nts that were in here were still alive, thankfully.
[Look at you going with hotties just falling into yourp! Good gravy, you are quite the chick ma with your tough and brooding look!]
"Are you talking or scanning?" I asked, crossing my arms.
Of course, I was brooding! I had so much going on in my damn head right now and hardly a minute to catch up.
There were people that would probably freeze to death tonight, but there was nothing that I could do about that. People were soon going to turn animalistic and start going in pace to hunt and steal other people''s food and water.
Things all just happened so fast that there was no way to react. Warmer ces would be better, but with viins all over the globe, it really didn''t matter where you were.
[Scans of 10 new nts areplete.]
[Growth spurt activated!]
My body started to glow, and then I slightly filled out more, but not much. Then the light faded, but I could feel the trees outside surge up around me.
Screams, cheers, and cries rang out through the hospital, but suddenly I heard Sofia yelling.
"Let go of me, you monster!" Sofia cried, and I ran out of the room to find a massive man that looked like a biker grabbing her hand.
"Stop, and I''ll let you live. She is with me," I said, and the big guyughed at me.
"What are you gonna do about it, little runt?" The man asked me, and I walked over calmly and then drove my fist into his sternum.
My punch pushed him back, but this was a big guy, but I would grow. Thankfully it made him let go of Sofia, and I pointed at theb.
"Get in there and lock the door; I''ll be fine," I ordered, and Sofia ran without a word.
The big guy watched her and thenughed as the door closed. He turned to me, rubbing where I hit him with a grin.
"That tickled, and that door won''t stop me. The world is falling apart, and nothing can stop me now! But first, I am going to kick the shit out of you to thest breath of your life. Then I''ll make you watch me and yourdy have some fun," The man growled, and I rolled my eyes.
"Shut the fuck up ande fight me, bitch!"
Chapter 21 So Pretty
"Got us a smart ass, aye?" The man said as he punched me in the face, knocking me off my feet and into a tile wall, cracking it.
[Total damage 5% Repairing.]
I got up and brushed myself off. The guy was much faster than I had assumed, and he came for me again. I ducked under his first hook but had to block his jab, knocking me back.
Before I could react, the guy jumped at me, punching me in the face again. I was knocked to the ground, and the bear of a man jumped on top of me.
[Total damage 10% Repairing.]
Then the punches started to rain down, and I was reminded of a simr scene from this morning. It hurt, but not as bad as you would think, and the pain was actually letting up.
[Total damage 9% Repairing.]
Orpheus said this was one way to train, so I justy back and enjoyed what was now akin to a face massage.
[Total damage 7% Repairing.]
Oh?
[Total damage 3% Repairing.]
The man jumped back from me, panting, his fist covered in blood, but it was all his own. I took a deep breath and hopped up, stretching my arms; man, did I feel good!
"Thanks! Man, I really owe you one! I needed that more than you know!" I said as I ran my hand through my tangled hair.
"HOW IS YOUR FACE SO PRETTY?!" Sofia screamed at me from the partially opened door.
"Shut that damn door, woman, before Ie over there!" I growled, and the door mmed as Sofia squeaked.
"What the hell is wrong with you!?" The big man asked as he stared in disbelief.
Instead of answering, a tree branch burst from the wall behind me and grabbed him, ripping him back out the hole in the wall and flung him off into the distance. I just had no time for people like that.
"Sofia, let''s go. ces to go, hopefully, fewer people to throw," I called out, and Sofia came running over to me as she burst from the closed door.
"I am not even going to ask what happened there, Papi, but you are scary. That monster hit you so many times, and yet you get up looking like you just spent the whole day at the spa?!" Sofia eximed, and I nodded.
"Yeah, I have some pretty strange abilities, but I will need your help in figuring them out. For now, If you don''t mind, I am going to carry you," I said to Sofia, and she smiled warmly, making me falter slightly.
It was the first genuine look I had gotten from her, making me look at her just a bit differently. I got the tree to take us down to the ground from the second floor and put me down.
The trees were now connected to the university, and I was starting to connect with more of them around me. Grass grew up under me and pushed me forward at high speed toward the university.
The ground was ripped up in front of me, and Sofia was watching in amazement as we weaved around the dead cars. While this was happening, I was spreading out to all the trees in the area to connect with them to spread to where people needed help.
I couldn''t help the entire city, but I could provide more Great Trees with this. That reminded me to look back, and the tree was still growing.
There was much to figure out how I could monitor the bad humans froming in and trying to disrupt the peaceful ones. Among other things were the food and water, but I was really hoping the hospital would have had some kind of fruits or vegetables I could have made us of.
"Are you okay, Papi? Looks like you have something bothering you, right?" Sofia asked me as we glided along, carving out a path of greenery as we went.
"Food, water, people like that guy I just had to kill. There is no way right now to get the first two things, and thest one is going to start popping up a lot more soon," I said as we reached about halfway to the university, making good time.
"I get that, but you are pretty smart, and you make decisions pretty fast. That guy would have just gone and found other girls, so I think you made the right choice," Sofia said, and I nodded.
"The world no longer has a ce for people like that if I have anything to say about it. I want everyone to feel safe, but we are a long way off that. For now, we are going to try to save who we can," I said, and Sofia nodded up to me, then started looking ahead again.
I wished I could slow my brain down, but it was trying to help me figure out how to solve the food problem. So far, walnuts were the only edible thing that I had scanned, which would help, but I couldn''t just feed people nuts.
Thest ring problem was water, but I was sure that Sofia would be able to help me figure that part out. I just needed to know how nts move water from their roots to their leaves, and that problem would be solved.
The university wasing in sight now, and I could see that my buddies were still strapped to the ground where I left them. I could sense that the girls were all at home now, except for Melody, but they would make it back before me.
"Is there a reason those people are grown to the ground, Papi?" Sofia asked as she stared at the men that were bound entirely in the grass.
"More miscreants, but I don''t think these ones are quite as bad as thest. They are going to take us to their leader so we can have a little chat, but first, I need to send the boys from the dorms here to the Great Tree. Then we wille back for these guys," I exined, and Sofia grinned up at me with closed eyes and nodded.
Chapter 22 Making Final Rounds
I slid past the people strapped to the ground, heading over to the guy''s dormitory that was the building next door. I could see that there were some guys outside, and they looked like they were standing guard.
"Are you the one that rescued the girls?" One of the guys asked me as I stopped about ten feet away, still carrying Sofia.
She was cuddled into my chest, and both of the guys were looking at her. I guessed that we must have looked weird because it seemed like it was starting to get colder out.
"Yeah, and I am here to direct you all to the same ce, but I am also here to give you a warning. I don''t have time to talk to you all, so it will be your job to exin this. There is no fighting or anything aggressive, and the first person that tries to act self-important will be tossed out of the city. The world has changed overnight, but I won''t have anyone make it harder than it already is, understand?" I asked, and both men nodded.
"Yeah, no problem! We will make sure that everyone knows. Do you guys have food and water?" One of the men asked, and I shook my head.
"No, but I am working on it. If you guys have water and food, bring it all with you for now. Head up the way the girls went to the massive tree on the southeast side. I should be able to beat you guys there, but if not, just wait outside and stay close to the trees for warmth," I exined, and both of the guys nodded and turned to run inside the building.
"Well, that went well. Do you think that the next thing on your list will go just as fast, Papi? Not that I mind being in your warm arms," Sofia asked and then buried her face in my chest, rubbing against my bare skin through my ripped shirt.
"No, I mean, I don''t really know. We will have to see what these guys do," I said as I walked over to where the men were strapped down to the ground.
I asked the grass to let them free, and soon all the men were standing up. Most of them started stretching, and I really couldn''t me them.
I sort of felt back for leaving them strapped down like this, but they had earned it. Now it was time to see if I could see what the story was with these guys.
"So, where are you leading me?" I asked as the man I had talked to before walked over to me.
"It''s only about five blocks away. There is a Community Center there that our boss has taken over to help people! If she knows that you are trying to help people, she will want to work with you! My name is ne, and we were sent out to get the girls and guys from the dorms, but they just yelled at us the first few times. The boss told us that we were to throw them on our shoulders and bring them back kicking and screaming if that''s what it took to save them!" ne exined, and I lifted an eyebrow.
"She? The boss you are talking about is a woman? Not that I doubt she is fit for the job, but this one sounds pretty wild and rough around the edges," I said, and ne nodded emphatically.
"Oh yeah! Marley is suited to be a boss! She beat up all the guys that tried to take over the ce this morning, and everyone respects her!" ne said, and the group of men cheered.
"This Marley sounds like one hot tamale! I am getting excited just thinking about meeting her!" Sofia eximed from my arms.
I was curious what type of person this Marly was, but from its sounds, she must be a tough one. She would be like the biker if she could take down anyone who challenged her and get the men to move like this.
There was one girl I knew of named Marley, but she would have been in the dorm with the other girls. She was a friend of the girls I knew, but she always wanted to fight me.
Thinking past the angry shrimp I knew, I started to get images of a rough look chic in a biker jacket with fur and a bikini under it. Torn jeans andbat boots would be a must with the get-up, and she probably had henchmen, but I was getting ahead of myself.
"Well, lead the way, but let''s make some good time. I have more than I have to do back at the Great Tree," I said, and the men nodded, starting to walk south.
The trip took about twenty minutes, but I ended up having to break into the house on the way.
There was no one in it, but Orhpus told me there was something I should check out. Once inside the house, I found some strawberries that look far past the expiration, but nothing else would scan.
That find was better than I could have hoped for, leaving me feeling much better. That had been a worry that had been screaming in my head since this morning.
"This is the ce. I will go let Marley know you are here," ne said, and I nodded my head as we walked into the foyer of the building.
I nodded, and ne ran off while the rest of the men spread out to join some of the small fire. The ce was filled with people, and just like in the hospital, they were all shivering.
I released more heat and then walked over to a nt tree, cing my hand on it. I connected with it, but I got an immense feeling of loneliness because it was potted.
"Don''t worry, friend. I will connect you to the rest," I said quietly, and the tree filled with hope as it started to grow, breaking the pot it was contained inside.
Chapter 23 Put Me Down
There were gasps from people around me, but I ignored them and focused on the small tree, giving it the power to break through the floor. The moment the tree was able to connect with the others, an inexplicable feeling of happiness emitted from the tree.
It called to the others that were nted through the building, and I nodded.
"I will free the rest from their loneliness, don''t worry," I said as I walked to the next tree.
"You can really talk to them, or is this just you talking to them like I talk to my nts?" Sofia asked curiously, and I nodded.
"Yes, I can talk to them or send my thoughts to them, and they express their thoughts as feelings. The nted trees are cut off from the rest of the trees, and they are all lonely," I said as another tree broke through the ground.
"Really?! My, now I really feel like a horrible person!" Sofia eximed, and I smiled.
"The trees understand, but it will be something to think about moving forward. We are going to have to change many things that we did before in order to survive. One of the things that I want to look into is connecting everyone the same way that I am to the trees. If we can understand them, I think that people will find it easier to change," I exined after touching my sixth tree.
I had touched enough now that they were spreading out and connecting with the others. The people that were filling the area were starting to create a circle around me.
The people stared in shock as I walked, but no one would speak to me. I guess that I was no longer what they would consider human, and I would guess that most would be scared after this morning.
"Dan?! Is that you! Come fight me, bookworm!" A high-pitched female voice screamed from the second-floor balcony, and I didn''t even bother looking up.
I just groaned.
"Who is that? Is this the Marley that guy was talking about?" Sofia asked me curiously, and I nodded with a tired look.
"Well?! Youe to my ce, saying you are going to take over?! Over my dead body, shrimp!" Marley screamed down, making me furrow my brow.
Out of all the people that could be named Marley, why did it have to be this one? It hadn''t even crossed my mind that they were talking about a twenty-one-year-old athletic prodigy.
The same one that was friends with the girls that I was seeing, meaning this would go over well. Just kidding.
"Who are you calling shrimp?! You are barely taller than Melody, who is safe, along with the rest of your friends. You might have been hot shit before, but I wille up there if you start acting mouthy!" I threatened, but Marley only clicked her tongue and then made a face at me.
"Fine, I don''t really have time for this, but it is a long timeing. Come and fight me if you are so inclined. I will spare a few moments for your childish tendencies," I said, not looking at her while I spoke.
"Don''t think you are so tough!" Marley screamed at me as she started to stomp down the stairs.
"Give me a minute, then we will get back home," I said, and Sofia nodded as I put her down, but she had a worried look.
"You aren''t going to hurt her, are you?" Sofia asked, looking unsure, and Iughed.
"No, but she might get hurt if she tries too hard. I would say she is nearly as strong as that biker guy that grabbed you, and she has beat my ass many times. She literally has been a thorn in my side since I met her, so this will be nice," I said with a grin as a ring formed.
Marley stomped into the middle of the ring, ring at me. She was in yellow yoga pants and a blue halter top with an open winter jacket.
"I am going to make you my personal rug when this is over, and I will use you to step on!" Marley yelled at me, and I rolled my eyes.
"If you keep this attitude up, you will regret itter; I promise you that," I said with a vicious grin.
Marley attacked without a word, but I didn''t try to move and took the fist straight to my face, smiling. A flurry of kicks to the side came next, and then she nted her foot on my chest to spin in the air andnd another kick on my face.
Next was an attempt to grapple me, but it was like a child trying to take on a bodybuilder, and I just crossed my arms. The fury of blows intensified, but I stopped a fist headed for my nuts and then lifted Marley up to my face by her wrist.
"Too far. Looks like we need to have a talk," I said calmly and grabbed Marley around the waist, holding her at my side as she iled.
"Put me down, you monster!" Marley screamed, but I ignored her; I had enough.
"I will be right back, Sofia," I said as I walked off to a room that I could see was open. The people around me looked on in horror and cleared a path for me.
I walked over into the room and closed the door behind myself. It was time to teach this in a lesson.
"What are you going to do to me, you pervert?! Do you think that will change your small dick?! You''re such a pathetic... what are you doing?" Marley screeched but started to calm down slightly when I sat down andid her down over my knee.
"You have quite the mouth on you for such a pretty girl, but I am done listening to it!" I said and lifted my hand in the air.
Chapter 24 A Hand On Discipline
"Wait! You pervert! That will not," Marley started toin as she struggled, but I brought my hand down with a firm connection, keeping in mind my own strength.
Marley cried out but started insulting me right away, so my hand came down again.
"I don''t think you quite understand your positions here. If you haven''t noticed, there is something wrong in the world right now, and you wanna keep acting like this?" I asked.
"Of course, I can tell some things are wrong, you idiot!" Marley said with tears forming in her eyes, but she cried out again as my hand fell.
"Then, if you understand, you should have seen past self-importance. Did you not see the trees growing? Did you not notice that it got warmer in here?" I asked, raising my hand to prepare for another stupidment.
"Stop! Wait! What are you talking about?!" Marley squealed, and I pped her ass again, making tears start to flow.
"Exactly! You decided that you were going to take control of the situation here, and what did you do? Send out goons to forcibly take the girls from the dorms? Scream at me the second you see me?!" I roared and pped her ass again, but not as hard as thest time.
I wasn''t trying to hurt her, but the way she was acting was reckless and just put more people at risk. Marley wasn''t a bad person, and I knew she had good intentions, but her brain was mostly muscle.
"I-I''m sorrwie," Marley said quietly, and I sighed, lifting her up off my knee, letting her stand.
She was shaking now, tears in her eyes, looking down at the ground. I walked forward and wrapped her in a hug, and Marley cried into my chest.
"No more of this wildness. I know that you did your best, but there are some things that others are suited to more than some," I said and then ced my hand on the cheek that I had just pped.
Marley winced, and I thought that she was going to hit me but just kept her face pressed into my chest. I activated my healing, and Marley gasped, melting into me as I healed some frostbite she was getting and some old sports injuries that she had.
"What are you doing to my body? I thought that you were going to p me again, but now every part of me feels brand new and warm. How?" Marley asked after rubbing her tears away on my shirt.
"This is why we ask questions first and yell after. I just fixed your body up and might make a couple improvements if you promised to be a good girl. Don''t make that face at me! All I want is for you to treat me with a little respect. There is no need for all the insults, got it?" I asked, but Marley held a suspicious re on me.
"What is that supposed to mean? Are you going to put your hands over me? You still haven''t let go of my ass, so I reserve the right to call you a pervert," Marley said, and I nodded, removing my hand.
"Sorry about that, automatic reaction when a girl hugs me like this and buries her face into my chest like this," I said with a chuckle, but then shouted as Marley bit my chest, still not letting go of me.
"Shut up! There is no one here right now, and you are warm, idiot. I am only doing this because you hugged me, and you''re stupid!" Marley growled from my chest while kicking my shin to no effect.
I was concerned about improving her because that bite she had down had hurt a bit, which surprised me. Marley''s constant attitude didn''t, but stupid and idiot was bearable, so I would let this slide, but I wouldn''t hesitate to revisit the chair if needed.
[Biting is a different kind of damage, just like with cold and heat. You just need to get a bit more, and your crushing resistance will increase. Also, your dick isn''t always going to get bigger, so don''t be afraid to take on for the team! There are other benefits you will gain from growth down there!]
That was interesting, but I focused on Marley, making her slightly taller, and improving her metabolism, reactions, and muscle power.
"What are you doing now?" Marley asked as she looked up at me, but that was when she started to get taller.
For some reason, Marley grew up until her lips pressed into mine. Both of us stood in shock for a brief moment, holding the kiss, and staring into each other''s eyes.
Then Marley let go of me and jumped back, but with way too much force. I watched in shock as Marley hurtled into the wall and right through it.
"Marley!" I shouted as I rushed over to her, propping her up, but she was okay.
"Did I just do that?!" Marley asked me, looking up in shock, and I smiled.
"Yes, that was the little upgrade that I was talking about," I said, and her eyes went wide as she blushed and started to shake.
Before I could react, Marley had spun around and tackled me to the ground, locking her lips to mine. Her passion had my head spinning, but I responded, wrapping my arms around her.
The door to the other room opened suddenly, and I could hear peopleing in, but that didn''t seem to faze Marley.
"Really? I don''t think there was any way to say I saw thising, Papi! Why don''t you want to have fun with me!" Sofiained.
Marley finally stopped and pulled back, wiping her mouth off with her sleeve and looking down at me. The rest of the world didn''t exist for this brief moment as I looked up into brown eyes and the same color hair streaming around my face.
"You did that thing to me and gave me this strength, plus healed me," Marley said quietly and then mumbled, "So now you have to keep me, jerk."
Chapter 25 Are We Going To Eat Him?
I internally sighed.
None of this was to n, but there was no way that I could deny her now. I was going to have to find a more indirect way of doing things like this in the future.
Still, like Victoria, she was a pretty girl but just had strange ways of showing affection. This was going to be lots of fun when I got back.
"Yes, now let''s go get everyone to a safe ce. It is going to get dark soon, and we have a bit of a walk," I said, and Marley nodded, betting up on me.
Sofia was the only one left in the room, and she was looking at both of us with narrowed eyes. She walked over and started to look over Marley, lifting her arms and pulling up her sleeves.
"What are you doing?!" Marley asked, not sure how to react as Sofia seemed to be giving her a physical.
"Why are you taller? And what is with your increased muscle mass? You are not even the same person anymore! Your skin is clearer, and all your blemishes are gone! What sorcery is this?!" Sofia demanded, looking directly at me, shaking her finger.
Marley started to blush and was putting hands all over her face as Sofia rambled on, and I just smiled, cing a hand on her shoulder. There was no fast way to exin this, and I wouldn''t be making any changes.
"Here, let me help ease your stress and help you understand a bit," I said as I started to heal her body.
Sofia''s eyes went big as all things wrong in her body were set right, giving her the feeling of a brand new body. I assumed that it was the same feeling I got after being healed, and it was pretty great.
"This? This is something else, Papi. I feel like a new woman, and all you did was just touch me? Can you do this to anyone?" Sofia asked in amazement, and I grinned.
"Let me ask you this, and be honest, how old are you?" I asked.
"Papi! You can''t ask ady that!" Sofia said, looking away.
"Then, how old would you like to be?" I asked again.
"No, you can''t... that''s too much, Papi! Are you telling me that I could look like I was twenty-three?" Sofia eximed, and I smiled as her body slowly became younger.
Sofia screamed and started to speak in Spanish as she looked at her hands and then put them to her face. I had no idea what she was saying, but it was clear she was excited.
"You can even do that? Isn''t that kind of broken?" Marley asked as she stared in awe.
"Nope, there are thousands of people like me that have powers that are going to try and kill me. Nothing that I can do can be overpowered if it is used for our species and the''s survival. Now, let''s get going. We can talk more about thister," I said, and the girls both calmed down and nodded.
From there, it was just a matter of getting everyone moving. There were some people that needed healing, but that didn''t take long.
During the walk, I was able to scan a cat, but I had yet to see a dog. The cat, Alfredo, now rode on my shoulder, with one girl on each side of me.
"What are you going to do with the cat? Are we going to eat him?" Sofia asked as she curiously looked up at the horrified cat.
I mentally told Alfredo that we would be doing no such thing and shook my head.
"No, Alfredo is going to be one of our guard pets," I said, and Sofia gave me a strained look while trying to hold backughter.
"You mean that is going to protect us?" Sofia asked,ughing.
"Yes," I said inly, and I instructed Alfredo to get down.
Once he was on the ground, I concentrated on the cat, and the menu with his outline appeared. I focus on making him the same size as the foxes but also highly resistant and with a very high metabolism.
This meant we would have to feed him more, but I changed his diet to fruits and nuts. The System did the rest of the fine-tuning, but I hadn''t noticed that everyone had stopped moving.
I looked up to see that they were all looking at Alfredo in terror, but that was good.
"Don''t worry, he won''t eat you. Everyone meets Alfredo; he will be guarding the tree and will help when people go out," I exined to everyone, and people started to rx.
"I refuse to be surprised anymore, or that''s all I am ever going to be!" Sofia eximed as she pulled at her hair, and Marley came over to pat her on the back.
"Don''t worry. He frustrates me, too, even if I like him. He was always good at everything I wasn''t and dated my friends, but he was always honest to a fault. The worst part is that he is normally right, which is more infuriating!" Marley growled as his back pat turned into grabbing Sofia by the shoulders and shaking her while sheined.
"Thank you, human. I don''t know how this happened, but I feel like a giant where I was nothing more than a mouse next to you. I will protect your humans!" Alfredo said as the massive white cat walked over and rubbed its head into my chest.
I scratched his head and behind his ears, making Alfredo start to purr, making my chest vibrate. It was like I was standing beside a big truck, but I hoped there were no backfires for this guy''s exhaust pipe!
"Let''s keep moving; there is still another twenty minutes until we reach the tree. Alfredo, can you go scout around and bring me back any other cats you find. I think that I have some tasks that you all could do," I exined as everyone started to move again.
It was time to put the paw patrol together to do some search and rescue missions! The end of the world was finally starting to look up for us, but I knew that things were only just getting started.
Chapter 26 Was Someone A Bad Girl?
Once we made it back to the Great Tree, my group had gotten more immense thanks to Alfredo and his new gang of minions. He had found three cats and two dogs so far, and I changed them to be like Alfredo but slightly smaller for pecking order.
"Follow behind us, but send the others out to look for more survivors, Alfredo. Girls,e with me; the others are upfront by the entrance," I said, pointing to my apartment building entrance that people were slowly funneling into.
The girls nodded and followed along as everyone parted for me, staring at the massive white cat following us. Alfredo would put a horse to shame pound for pound and would intimidate anyone that looked at him.
Unless you were Melody, who ran past me when we got closer. I had my arms out, thinking she was running to me, but she sped past andtched on to Alfredo.
Sofia sighed and looked at me.
"So, I would assume that this is one of the women?" Sofia asked, and I nodded with a smile as I walked past her.
"What do you think of Alfredo? He is our new guard cat," I said as I walked over to Melody, who was still hugging therge white cat.
"Really? Do we get to keep him?! Can he sleep in my room too?!" Melody eximed with fire in her eyes, but I shook my head.
"No, he has a very important job. Alfredo is going to be in charge of the Paw Patrol-" I said but was cut off.
"Oh my god! That''s so friggin cute!" Melody squealed, making everyone look at us more than they already were.
"-That will be in charge of search and rescue. They will also be watching over areas around us, so people don''t attack," I exined, but Melody was on another page.
"You mean that there are more of them?! Dan, you can''t do this to me! I think I might die of a cuteness overload if I see them all in one ce. I can see me now passing away, surrounded by giant stuffies smothering me in cuteness!" Melody eximed, but I scooped her up and kissed her to shut her up, and started walking forward to the entrance again.
"Just wait a bit before you have your cuteness overload, okay? We need to get the people moving and make it easier for everyone to get up faster," I said, but Melody wasn''t even paying attention.
"Marley, why are you standing behind the strange-looking doctordy?" Melody asked with suspicion in her voice, but I just kept walking.
"Leave her be; we can talk about this after I get everyone moving and we are up top, got it? Or you''ll be over my knee next!" I threatened, but Melody looked up at me with eager eyes.
"You promise?" She asked, putting her hands together, and I rolled my eyes.
I kept walking, but Melody started to frown at me, but her eyes lit up as I rolled in my arms.
"Was someone a bad girl? Did Dan have to, ouch!" Melody cried as I pinched her soft curvy ass.
"You are not a very good listener," I said to Melody as she squirmed around in my arms to re at me.
I ignored her and concentrated on the Great Tree that grew up from my old apartment building.
From what I could feel without touching, we had enough rooms for twenty times the people here. The problem was going to be the walk up the winding stairs I had created.
I set Melody down as Katie, Anya, and Amy came over to me as I reached the side of the tree. They all looked thrilled to see me, but I wanted to save the reunion for when we were in my new home.
"Hey girls, looks like this is going to take too long," I said, but Amy was the one that ran over to hug me, tears in her eyes.
"What''s wrong?" I asked, not sure where she was getting emotional; then I remember I left her in the tree after getting swatted out.
"I heard you yell and rushed back to where you were, and you were gone! I didn''t know what happened to you, and the tree wouldn''t let mee down until I had calmed down!" Amy cried, and I wrapped her in a hug with one arm, patting the tree with the other, silently thanking it.
"Don''t worry too much about me," I am just d that Mr. Tree kept you froming out to try and find me," I said, and Amy pulled away from me, blushing.
I smiled and walked over to give Anya and Katie both a kiss, but I could see Victoria lurking in the background. She was the one that had kissed me, and now she was just going to y angry looking stalker.
Turning away from the girls, I walked over and ced both hands on the tree. It would be much easier for me to achieve sess this time around since I have more tools at my disposal.
I started by widening the entrance, making people scream and run in fear, rightfully so. I was tearing the brick building apart, but Mr. Tree made sure nothing fell.
Next, I grassed all the way up and had it start acting as a conveyor belt, smoothing out the stairs as it grew. A railing formed on either side made from a root that would constantly grow at the same speed that the grass pushed people along.
There were more screams from everyone inside all the way up the tree, but it had to be done. This would make it easy for everyone after their trip just getting here, and it would be helpful for moving things up.
I took my hands off the tree and turned back to the girls who were gathered around me, with Alfredo and Kitsune standing behind Melody. It was quite the group, but now I had to address the crowd.
Chapter 27 Mixed Reactions
"All right, now that I have scared the living bejeezus out of everyone, it''s time to get them moving back inside again. Girls, Mr. Tree, is making us a basket to go up to the top in, so I want you guys to get in with me. Kitsune, you cane up as well with your children, but Alfredo, you know what to do," I exined, and the big cat nodded, running off through arge opening in the crowd.
Beside me, a massive basket was knitting itself together, and I nodded at the girls, but they were too busy staring. The girls all stayed silent as they watched, save for someughter, but there was one missing.
I turned and looked at Victoria, who was trying to blend into the crowd, but I quickly spotted her. I started walking over to her, and she tried to back into the crowd, but I narrowed my eyes at her.
"Stop messing around and get in the basket with the others," I ordered her, and I received a re in return.
"Who do you think you are to order me around?" Victoria yelled at me as she stomped over to me, and I groaned.
If the kiss could be called that, all progress was tossed, it seemed. The girls would have my hide if I left her down here.
There was also a particr bookstore owner that was glowering at me, but I ignored Darius. I would deal with himter, but there were much more important things to deal with than moody women and irate fathers.
"Please, get into the basket so the girls don''t throw a fit for leaving you down here," I said, but then stepped in close and said in a lower voice, "Considering what you did to me after I healed you!"
Victoria red at me as sparks flew between us, and she put her face so close to mine that our faces nearly touched. She finally turned up her nose and marched over to the basket where the girls were calling her.
I groaned and looked over at Darius, who was still ring at me and sighed, waving him over. Anya had wanted me to tell her dad about us a long time ago, but seeing how she was supposed to be leaving, I didn''t want to ruin my job.
Unfortunately, he found out without me telling him and looked rather pissed at me as he marched over. I assume I was in for it, and I wasn''t wrong.
"So, when were you going to tell me that my daughter is one of the many women that you are bonking?! Don''t you have any self-respect?!" Darius roared at me, and I shook my head, surprising him.
"Nope, not at all. Do you think I have a choice that your daughter fell for me? Or the other girls? I can tell you this much: I have avoided them like the gue since I was sixteen! I finally gave in to one, and somehow I ended up with three, which is now seven since I WOKE UP THIS MORNING! Do I look like the type of person that needs more distractions right now?!" I asked, throwing my hands up in the air.
Darius looked at me with shock, and I wanted to shake the man from my own internal frustrations. I was not prepared to go up and face seven different women that said that they had feelings for me, even if some of them were extremely misguided!
"Just get in the damn basket with the rest of them. I have been thrown around the city and have been trying to save people all day, and I still have more stuff to do. So, can we deal with this at another time, if it still needs to?!" I asked with narrowed eyes, and Mr. Holdt nodded and hurried around me as I looked over all the people around me.
I asked Mr. Tree to give me a boost, and a trunk grew up from under my feet, boosting me up in the air above the crowd of people. Everyone stared up at me in amazement, but also many looked at me with fear.
I could understand how they felt after what happened this morning, but I was only trying to help. Maybe I wasn''t the nicest or the most thoughtful person, but I was trying my best.
"Listen up, everyone! My name is Daniel Brighton, and I am sure that you are all confused by everything around you. Yesterday, at around five pm, all the power in the entire world stopped working. At the same time, a small race of advanced AI Systems invaded our world, infecting thousands of people across the world. These Systems have given them power and warped their minds to think that we are the enemy. Out of all these Systems, one was given to me, the Evergrowth System, but I am the only one that is fighting for our side!" I shouted to everyone and waited to let it all sink in.
There were mixed reactions, but I expected that.
Some people cheered me, some people started to cry, while others yelled in outrage, but none of it was going to change the truth.
"The world is never going back to the way it was before, but I will not let the human race lie down and die. Behind me and at the hospital are the first of many Great Trees that will be your homes. I will work on getting food and water to everyone before the end of the night, but you will have to have patience with me. Lastly, do not fear or be mean to therge cats and dogs; they will be valuable partners in the days toe," I said, and to my surprise, people started to bow their heads to me.
I lowered myself and headed off to the women, but I would need to do something about that. I didn''t want people looking at me like a god that could solve every problem, even if I might be able to.
Chapter 28 The Great Tree Library
Once I was inside the basket with everyone else, it closed up, and we started to lift. Even though there was a wind blowing, I could feel heat pumping out from every root making the basket.
The girls were all cuddled against Kitsune, who was lying in the corner of the ten by ten area. This left myself and Darius to stand awkwardly as we were slowly lifted one hundred feet into the air.
"So, how long has this thing been going on with my daughter?" Darius asked, and I turned to face him.
I respected Mr. Holdt, but I also loved his daughter, so I was at an impasse.
"Since she started college two years ago," I said inly, and Darius''s brows knit together.
"That long without me knowing?! Why didn''t you say something!" Darius demanded, taking me a bit by surprise making me step back.
"To tell you what? Hey, Mr. Holdt! I am dating your daughter now with two other girls, but only until they are done with school!? Do you really think that would have gone over well?!" I asked, and I could see that all the girls were looking at the two of us now, but none of them were saying anything.
"I suppose you''re right, but why are you with so many of them?!" Darius asked in an exasperated voice, and I crossed my arms, looking at the group of girls.
"Because I loved them all! But when I finally did pick one, she told me that I had to take the other two!" I yelled, and it was Darius that stepped back this time.
"It''s true, father! Melody told him that he had to pick all of us, and we all agreed with it! Katie and I even chose to stay here after school, so none of us had to leave him! Now he is one of the most important people in the world; are you really going to be angry at something he didn''t choose?" Anya said from her ce, cuddled into Kitsune, making her father sigh.
"I guess I am just too old to understand these new ways of thinking with you kids, but this feels like a King with his harem. What does that make me in all of this?" Darius asked, and I grinned.
"You, Darius, if I may call you that, are going to be in charge of something that I consider very important!" I said, bringing me out of my sour mood, and Darius gave me a look.
"What would you put me in charge of that would be so important?" Darius asked, and Iughed as they almost reached the pinnacle of the tree where the house was.
"You are going to be in charge of a Great Tree that will be made specifically for books. I want you to be the official Librarian of The Great Tree Library. You will have a bunch of jobs, but I still have a lot to figure out before we can get started," I said, but Darius was still giving me a look.
"I mean, I like books, but how is this important?" Darius asked.
"This is important to me and to our future. I want to collect all the books of the word and preserve them while making them essible to anyone connected to everything. The world that I see might not be the one that everyone else sees, but I just want to be able to rx and do what I love when this is all over," I said, and Darius nodded.
"Well, you have always been a strange one, and I shouldn''t get angry at you. I am sure that the world you want is going to be something that everyone will enjoy, whether they want to or not, haha!" Darius said, and I shrugged.
[So, you really think after one day that you are going to save this world? I have just been watching with popcorn, my finger itching on the button to send more fun, but I will wait.]
''I could bitch andin, but the others will get ahead of me every second I don''t keep moving forward. If you want something interesting, then keep your word and give me a chance to make it that way!'' I sent to Orphus with a growl.
[So touchy! Looks like someone is going to have to blow off some steam after this long day! I think the short one feels the same way! Not that the others wouldn''t mind, I''m sure, but the shorty was the most excited to see you!]
I looked over at Melody, and our eyes connected. Time slowed for a moment, and she seemed to know what I was thinking because she licked her lips and smiled at me before turning back to the girls.
[SEE! Ha! Told you!]
Fine, not like I amining, but I have some things to do before I can get into bed. There were thousands of people that were either inside,ing inside, or being brought from all over the city.
I wished that I could do more for the people, but this was a start.
The side of the Great Tree opened up, and the basket with all of us in it was pulled into my new house. The girls all jumped up in surprise as they looked around the wooden mansion.
"Is this really where you live?!" Victoria asked in shock, and I nodded with a smile as the basket was uncoiled from around us.
"This is where we are all going to live. I only made it this morning. Last night Amy and I slept in my old room," I said as I walked forward, and all the girls turned to the blonde-haired girl that was trying to hide in Kitsune''s fur.
"Really?! Did you guys do anything?!" Melody asked, rushing over to Amy, grabbing her hands with excitement, making Amy flinch back.
"What?! No! But, umm, I slept in my underwear in his arms! I''m so sorry!" Amy squeaked, flinching away from Melody.
Chapter 29 Queen Of The Harem
"Really? You didn''t do anything with him? Why not? Don''t you like him?" Melody pried, and I sighed.
"Huh? I just met him, and he saved my life! I wanted to offer him my body, but he told me to rx and that he was just going to keep me warm...." Amy said, looking away nervously as she blushed harder.
"Well, that settles it! You can have my turn tonight since I am the Queen of this harem! I want you to make sure that you have a good time with him tonight!" Melody dered, and my eyes almost fell out of my head.
Darius started to cough so hard I thought that he was choking, but we were just background noise to the women. They were paying absolutely no attention to us, but it looked like Melody had just asserted herself, as usual.
"Are you sure it''s okay, Queen Melody?" Amy asked, and both I and Darius flinched back simultaneously.
"As if she is just so ready to ept this!" I said under my breath.
"Of course! The rest of you girls don''t mind, right?" Melody asked, and all the girls shook their heads.
"No, that sounds very good, Queen Melody," Anya said, bowing her head slightly to Melody.
"Not my little girl!" Darius cried in a harsh whisper.
"See?! I am barely a side character in this girl''s story!" Iined under my breath, but then I felt like I was being watched, and my hair started to raise.
I turned my head from Darius, creaking like the tin man, and every girl was staring at me with narrowed eyes. I flinched and put up my hands in defense of some unseen attack the girls were about to unleash on me.
"Don''t you have something to do right now?" Melody asked, and I nodded, about to make a beeline for the elevator, but then I stopped.
"Sofia, can youe with us? I need to pick your brain about a couple things nt-rted, if you don''t mind," I asked, and the Latin woman nodded.
"Yes, I don''t mind joining you to talk about one of my greatest joys, Papi! Do you want to carry me again in those big strong arms of yours?!" Sofia asked with sparkling eyes, but I shook my head.
"Not this time, beautiful. Come, we are only taking an elevator down to find Darius his own ce," I exined, and Sofia sighed but still came over to take my hand in hers.
"Fine, but you can at least do this for a girl like me, right?" Sofia asked in a cute voice, and I nodded with a smile and leaned down to kiss the top of her head.
Sofia blushed, and she turned her face into my arm as we walked over to the elevator where Darius was eagerly waiting. The girls behind us sighed, but I ignored them.
"I will talk to you tomorrow, dad!" Anya called, and her father waved as I asked for the doors to the elevator to open.
Being in the tree now, I could do the changes I was about to from anywhere, but it would be easier to do it from inside one of the apartments. That way, I could make sure it would be the same for the rest.
"So, what did you want to ask about?" Sofia asked, looking up at me.
"I need to know how a nt moves water. There has to be some kind of process, right? I can provide running water and hot baths if I can understand that," I exined, and Sofia nodded.
"That sounds really amazing! I can''t believe that I really finally got to meet you, or, well, a person like you. I have always believed that there was a special life force that all living things are connected to. You are my proof of that with your abilities, even if they are unbelievable! I am sorry, I just get excited about this kind of thing!" Sofia said as she gripped my arm with a smile, wiggling around.
"Always good to be passionate about what you love, right, Dan? You are pretty much the same when ites to books, haha!" Darius chuckled as the elevator stopped.
There were about thirty feet of space between my ce and the top floor, but I had other ns for that space. I needed to create a defense for each of the Great Trees because I was only one person.
"Yeah, I do love a good book, but now I am the fantasy. The inte is gone, and so is tv, so I want to make sure that the world always has books. There are so many possibilities in front of me right now, but there are steps we are going to have to take before we can make them realities," I said, and the doors opened at the end of my words.
We walked out into a grass hallway, and the grass immediately started to pull us along to the first room.
"What is with this grass?" Darius asked.
"Just think of where you want to go, and it will take you. This ce that we are entering will be yours for now, but you will be moving into another tree at some point," I said as we arrived at the first of many spiral shaped doorways.
It twisted and spun, pulling in all directions to reveal a dimly lit room with a table and wood couch. The sofa had a weaved grass seat and back, but the room was pretty bare.
"Hmm, not much of a ce, but I guess there is a hallway going down. There must be a room and bathroom that way?" Darius asked, and I nodded with a smile.
"Yeah, sorry, every ce looks like this, for now, some with more bedrooms, but in time people will be able to change them at will," I exined, and Darius''s eyes went big, and Sofia jumped back from me.
"Really?!" Sofia almost screamed, and I nodded with a grin, putting my hand on her head, and ruffling her hair.
"You can already do it. When I changed your body, you became connected with me. Now the trees will respond to you, but only to certain degrees-" I exined but stopped as Sofia grabbed onto me, starting to cry.
"T-Thank y-you so much!" Sofia cried, and I hugged her tight to me.
Chapter 30 I Like The Sound Of That
-----
In contrast to the older and more mature girl that I had met in the hospital, she was much cuter like this. Darius turned to me with a curious look on his face as I stroked her hair.
"So, the reason that we came here?" Darius asked with a slight grin, and I nodded, but the interaction with Sofia had given me a good idea.
"Yeah, and since you know so much about this, can you show me rather than exin it to me?" I asked, and Sofia looked at me with shock, pointing at herself, and I nodded.
"You want me to do it?! But I have never even tried, Papi!" Sofia said in a cute panic.
"Me neither, but first, do you want to wait outside for a moment. I want to have a word with Darius, okay?" I asked, and Sofia nodded with a smile, heading back out of the room.
Once the door waspletely closed, I looked at Darius. He had just turned fifty-one this year, so this would be a significant change for him, but I wondered what Anya was going to think.
"So, how are you feeling? Your chest healed?" I asked, and Darius nodded as he felt at his shirt where he had been stabbed.
"Feels like a dream, all of this, really. Just between you and me, I think it is all a dreame true; the world needs something like this, but maybe not quite this extreme!" Darius said with a chuckle and then looked down at his old hands, saying, "Wish I was younger so I could really see how far you will go with things! Still, I am d to be here and to know you. Sorry about that."
I walked over to Darius and extended my hand to him, but I was already scanning his body. I wanted him to be the world''s most outstanding librarian while also being able to do anything that he wanted.
Anya''s old man had always been good to me, but his old book shop downtown had always been broken into. I bought this one down here, and we had just finished getting everything moved when this had all happened.
"I bet if you were young again, you would have all thedies falling all over you, right?" I asked with augh.
Dariusughed and shook my hand, and that was the moment that I activated the change. Suddenly, hisughter stopped, and his eyes widened as his body started to shrink and tighten to the perfect form.
? "What is this?! What have you done to me?! I feel like I am back in my prime! NO! This is so much more!" Darius yelled with excitement, fire in his eyes.
"This is my gift to you. Do you want to see this world change? Then help me by bing the best librarian that this world has ever seen! Don''t forget to have fun as well! You should be able to handle any situation that you run into, but there is one condition," I said, getting serious.
"Oh? Anything you say!" Darius said, pping my shoulder with a great deal of force.
[Total damage: 3%, Repair activated!]
"Good. There are people in the world now called Viins. The one that attacked the city today was one of them. They are normal humans like us, but they have different Systems that give them unique abilities they can power up. Your job when one attacks will be to make sure the girls are safe. I can''t protect everyone unless I know that they are safe," I exined, and Darius nodded at me with a smile.
"You can count on me! Now, go see that beautiful girl that is waiting for you out in the hall!" Darius said with augh, and I nodded.
I was d that things were starting to go smoothly now, but I kept my good thoughts to myself. I didn''t want to jinx myself.
"We will get strawberries and nuts growing in the room, and now you can change things how you like. Just ce your hand on the wood and let it know what you want," I exined and turned to leave after he nodded.
"Thanks for everything, son. You always try to hide your generosity, but you are a really good person under the tough exterior," Darius chuckled, and I turned on him with a scowl.
"Don''t you go telling people that!" I growled, but then we bothughed, and I left the room.
"What was that all about?" Sofia asked as the doorway spun closed behind me.
"I just did the same thing for him as I did for you and returned him to about thirty. He will make sure that you girls stay safe when I am fighting now, along with Kitsune. Now, legs go to this empty room over here," I said, and the grass moved us to the next doorway.
"Don''t worry, I will also make sure that the younger ones don''t try to follow you. I get that it would be hard to fight if you are worried about us getting hurt," Sofia replied with a nod.
As the door spun open, we saw the exact room we had just left with Darius. Two of us entered the room, and then I walked over to the couch and sat down.
Sofia came over and sat down on myp, and I wrapped my arm around her. She ced one hand on my arm and then the other on the wooden armrest of the couch.
I ced my hand over the top of hers and then kissed Sofia''s cheek, whispering, "Are you ready?"
"If you make me wait any longer, I will tear your clothes off and take my frustrations out on that big thing that is poking me right now! Or maybe after we can have some fun, Papi?" Sofia asked as she wiggled her bottom into my growing bulge.
"Mmm, I like the sound of that, but first, close your eyes," I whispered, nipping her ear, making Sofia moan softly.
Chapter 31 System Batter
I closed my eyes, and I could still sense Sofia was now connected with me. It was like our bodies were knitted together, and I could feel her desire for me to take her right here and now, but we had a job first.
"Now, how can we get water to everyone?" I asked, and Sofia nodded.
"nts use something called transpiration, which releases water through their leaves from tiny holes called stomata. As the water evaporates through the holes, the other water is pulled up. So, since you are able to make the trees produce heat, we should just be able to use that to move water around the tree. It will be simr to a steam engine, but not as hot," Sofia exined, but I could also feel her making changes.
I opened my eyes to see the kitchen area being changed to a long trough, and nuts and Strawberries started to grow from one of the walls. This was definitely the best choice to have Sofia take care of this rather than me trying to figure it out.
Still, it was really good for me to learn this stuff, and it would probably help out a lot in the future. I could hear cheering and screaminging from below, and then Sofia pulled her hand from mine.
Before she could say anything, I pushed her from myp to fall sprawled face down on the couch. I reach under herb coat, squeezing her ass and removing her panties.
"Yes! Ravage my body, Papi! Let me feel that big cock that has been making my pussy ache with excitement!" Sofia purred as she wiggled her ass in front of me.
She pulled herb coat and skirt back, revealing her thick curved ass that I pped yfully as I removed my stiff shaft from my pants. I spit down into Sofia''s pussy, and used my fingers to rub her some as she moaned before spitting on my own dick, rubbing it in.
I mounted the back of her hips, pushing my hard cock into Sofia, making her purr like a cat. The feeling of her tight pussy was terrific, and it was almost like fucking a virgin; she felt so fresh and new.
"Oh, please fuck me harder, Papi! Make me your dirty little fuck toy! Beat my pussy with your hard meat until I can''t move!" Sofia cried out, and I reached forward, grabbing her hair as I fed her dripping pussy my throbbing shaft.
I started to go faster, and Sofia''s words became only cries of pleasure as I made her bounce off my hips. I pped her ass and kept a firm grip on her hair as I started to get excited, and Sofia started to get louder.
The dam burst and I drove my cock deep inside of Sofia, pumping her full of my hot batter as she screamed out. I could feel her entire body tremble under me as I slowed down and let go of her hair, plugging it off to the side.
I leaned over Sofia''s body and kissed her neck as I still moved slowly inside of her. Sofia moaned softly, rubbing her face into mine as I softly kissed her till I reached her lips.
"Thank you for this, Papi. I feel much better now!" Sofia said after we finished kissing, and I pulled out of her, but then something popped up.
[Minor System Activate, Target: Sofia.]
Huh? What was this about
[Tree Sprite System: Activated!]
"Umm, Papi? What is this floating box?" Sofia asked as she slipped her panties back on, and I shrugged.
"Still trying to figure that out," I said.
[Well! That was short and sweet! And look at you filling her with your System Batter! Another Trait that you have is the ability to impregnate the girls with Minor Systems, but they are nothing like yours or the others. The Tree Sprite System will give their girls more abilities to help with the cares of the trees.]
"So it is like getting a minor superpower then?" I asked out loud so Sofia could hear me as well.
[Yes, to a degree, I guess you could call it that. Your System will find the one best suited for the girls, but you only have eight of them! Don''t go pumping every random girl you meet with your goo until you ce these seeds!]
"Got it, chief! So, you are now officially a superhero just like me, kinda," Iughed, but Sofia looked beyond excited.
She came over and jumped into my arms, filled with excitement.
"Oh, Papi! This is beyond amazing! I can hear the tree now! This is more than I could have ever dreamed of!" Sofia exined, and I hugged her, stroking her head as I did.
"I am d that you like it, but you are going to be in charge of the trees now. I will scan things and then bring them to you, and you can add them to the Great Trees," I exined, and Sofia nodded into my chest.
"Yes, of course! I will be more than willing to take this job, but are the other girls also going to get powers like this? I would hate to be the only one just because I skipped my turn in line!" Sofia eximed, looking up at me, but then she got a strange look on her back, backing up from me.
"Are you okay? Orphus, what is going on?" I asked as Sofia suddenly started to get undressed robotically.
[She will need to transform, so she needs to get out of all those clothes. Don''t be an asshole, and help her; she is under the System''s control until this is over.]
I nodded and went over to help undo the buttons of Sofia''s shirt. Once the shirt was off, I undid her bra and helped her out of her skirt and panties.
The moment she waspletely naked in front of me, the same screen popped up as it did with everyone when I edited them. This one was different, and it looked more just to be showing me the end result, which was a green skin and haired Elven Sprite with wings.
Chapter 32 Fu Fu Fu!
Sofia now had dark green hair, and there was a vine wrapped around her head with different colored flowers growing from it. The dress that she wore was like a series ofrge light green leaves that stood out from her grass-green skin.
She also had be slightly smaller and grown what looked to be a pair of transparent wings. When the moonlight shined in, it made rainbow colors dance across them as she moved slowly.
"How do I look, Papi? Am I even cuter than before?!" Sofia asked as her wings suddenly became a blur, and she lifted off the ground.
"Woah! That''s so cool! I wanna fly like that!" I said, not kidding in the least.
[You can edit yourself, but you will evolve over time with your Growth Spurts. We will just have to keep trying to teach you in the meantime! That way, you will for sure learn to fly!]
''You are the worst buzzkill!'' I sent to Orphus, but he only cackled at me.
"You really think so?" Sofia asked with eyes that were slightly bigger than before, but the ent was still there.
"Of course, you look beautiful as well! So, since you are this way now, do you think we can get the tree to make some light? I hadn''t realized just how dark it was until I saw the moonlight on your beautiful wings," I exined, and Sofia flew at me with surprising speed, but I was still able to catch her.
"Thank you so much for it! I can do something called Fairy Lights, so they should help everyone!" Sofia said excitedly, kissing me and wiggling free of my arms.
I watched as she went over and touched different ces that lit up and flew all over the apartment and then down the halls into the other room. The traditional screams, cries, and cheers sounded as all this was happening throughout the Great Tree.
Hearing them all made me smile, but we would need a way to turn them off. I walked over to the wall and ced my hand on the wall, sent what I wanted to it.
Next, I pushed my face into the wall, and all over the tree, my face appeared in every living room. Now was the time to exin some things.
"Hey, everyone! Don''t mean to scare you!" I said in my best announcer voice, but everyone throughout the tree screamed like maniacs.
I waited for a bit, and most people settled down.
"Okay, so I have strawberries, walnuts, and some other tree nuts, plus water! You have warmth and light now! One hand ps to turn all on in one room and off, but you can do a soft p near a single light to turn on and off. We will talk more tomorrow! Have a good night!" I announced and then ripped my head from the wall.
This same effect happened in the other Great Tree over at the hospital. I also ensured that people who didn''t belong in a ce were not allowed inside unless invited.
Thest thing I had asked the tree to do was to be on the watch out for suspicious characters that were overly mean, aggressive and harmful. I gave the trees to deal with them and remove all weapons, but not to kill anyone.
"You did amazing! We better see the girls! What do you think that they are going to think about me?" Sofia asked as I nodded, and we left the room.
"That you are adorable, and then the Queen is sure to give me a good talking to once I exin why you are so cute," I said as I walked, and Sofia floated over and into the open elevator that waited for us.
Once inside, Sofia sat down, and the doors closed as we were lifted back up. Sofia came over, and I hugged her to my chest as we waited.
"You don''t think that the girls will hate me, do you?" Sofia asked, looking up at me, and I shook my head.
"Don''t worry about it. If theyin, it will be about me and not you. There is no order besides the sleeping arrangements. Plus, we learned something valuable," I said as the elevator slowed down.
Sofiaughed, and the doors opened to a wide-open empty area. I could hear the girls upstairs, but there were none down on the main level.
"Do you want to start spreading lights around? I am feeling like a hot bath, so I n on getting started with that right away. I will make it like a hot spring for all of us; sound good?" I asked, and Sofia nodded with a big smile.
"Really?! That''s a wonderful idea! Maybe you could do it up top, just above the trees? Since you can change things, you could make a pretty ce for all of us to rx!" Sofia suggested, and I liked her thinking.
Melody came running out right then but froze when she saw Sofia flying around the room.
"Where did you find this one?" Melody asked curiously as she ran down the stairs to look at the lights, saying, "Pretty!"
"That is Sofia still," I said, and Melody lifted an eyebrow at me.
"Lab Coatdy? Why does she look like a fairy now?" Melody asked in a confused tone as she walked over to me, with Kitsuneing down the stairs to follow her.
I pulled her over to me and kissed the top of her head. I was actually hoping to cuddle with her tonight, but Amy wasn''t that bad either.
"That''s because she is one now, sort of. We, uh, did it, and this happened, but it only works eight times, so there are only seven chances left to give you special abilities like my own," I exined, and Sofia flew over beside us.
"I am sorry that I didn''t wait," Sofia said nervously, and Melody just cackled.
"Fu fu fu! This is very good, and don''t worry, your pretty little heart, my adorable Fairy Girl! Ugh, you''re so damn precious! I kind of want something like this, but at the same time, I wanna be an animal tamer or something like that!" Melody dered, pushing off me to dance around Sofia.
Chapter 33 The Orginials
"Master, or is good to see you back so quick. Your Queen was missing you!" Kitsune informed me that she strode over.
"I did not! It was dark, and I, uh, needed him to guide me around! That''s it! Haha!" Melody dered, and I groaned.
Come, let''s make a hot spring on the top of the tree, my Cuteness Queen," I said with a smile, and she stopped dancing and frowned at me.
"Can you stop saying impossible things like they are nothing?!" Melodyined, and I rolled my eyes.
"Do you mind doing all the rooms and letting the girls know that I am getting the water ready for everyone?" I said to Sofia, and she nodded, lifting into the air, and flying up to the second level.
"She is so pretty and cool! I can''t wait to see what the other girl looks like!" Melody eximed, and I came up behind her.
With a squeak, I scooped Melody up into my arms. She immediately nuzzled into my chest, and I leaned my head down to kiss her on the cheek.
Once I was up the stairs, I walked forward towards the walk I was facing, but it started to unravel. As it did, a stairway started to build as I walked up to it, rising up into the leaves of the Great Tree.
I didn''t really need to do much, and by the time we reached the top of the stairs, there was a streaming pool waiting. We were not quite at the top of the tree, but it was enough to see the city all around us.
"Is all this really real? I mean, everything seems so fantastical, and I find myself getting carried away. The queen thing was a joke to make the girls feel morefortable, but now they are going along with it!" Melodyined, and I tickled her, causing her tough.
"You made your bed. Plus, this has all been more or less your symphony since I asked you to be my girlfriend!" Iined back as I let her down at the edge of the water.
"I couldn''t keep you all to myself when I knew the other girls love you just as much as I do! I think that you are going to need all of us in theing days," Melody said as we got undressed.
Once we were both naked, we slipped into the warm water, both of us letting out tiny shivers. There was a step for us to sit on around the inside of the spring, and I glided over to sit on the far side.
Melody came over and tucked her soft body into mine, and I wrapped my arm around her to bring her body closer to mine. She leaned her head on my shoulder, and the two of us let out a sigh as I closed my eyes.
"You know, with my eyes closed, I can kind of imagine this ce as a hotel, and we are going on a vacation. I know it''s not, but just for this moment, I want to pretend that it is just you and me, all alone," I said, leaning over to kiss the top of Melody''s head.
"You had better enjoy it while itsts. The rest of the girls are bound to be up here soon, but I really do love how much you care about me. I know that I push the other girls on you, but that''s because they all care about you the same way that I do. I guess I have a big and weird heart, but I can''t help the way I am!" Melodyined, and Iughed.
There were sounds of talkinging up the stairs, and both I and Melody stopped talking. I had assumed that the girls were going to be louder, but it was only Kaite and Anya.
"Where are all the other women?" Melody asked, but the girls shook their heads as they got undressed.
"They wanted to wait until after Dan was done, and we had some time with him. They said that they would wait," Anya exined, still taking her shirt off, but Kaite was already stripped down and wading into the water.
Kaite was smiling as she came over to sit beside me like she knew something, but I was already pretty sure. This would be about the insane roommate that hoofed me in the nut sack.
"So, I heard that Vicky finally made her move, and you had your hands on her bare chest! Not only that, but you also put Marley over your knee and made her kiss you! You were a busy man! Still, only one of the two seems to like you better!" Katieughed, and I rolled my eyes.
"You know that she kicked me in the sack right after kissing me, right? I don''t get what her problem is! Marley does seem better now, but I can see her slipping back to her stubborn ways!" I growled as Anya came over to kneel before me in the water.
"You will just have to spend some time with them, but I am not sure about Vicky. You beat her in everything before this, and now you are just widening the gap. With Marley, that''s fine, she wants you to be better than her at everything, but Victoria is the opposite," Anya exined.
"Oh! So you did that to her! No wonder she was so meek! So cute!" Melody chimed in, and the other girls sighed.
"Well, that just means I need to spend some time with Victoria. I really don''t know anything about Vic cause she was always flinging insults at me or challenging me to something stupid! Gah! That woman frustrates me!" Iined, slumping into the water.
"You will figure it out. Now, can you please tell us what happened up to meeting Amy? She told us that you were hit by a truck, but you are still alive. You exined most of it to my grandparents and me, but you left out the part about Amy. She couldn''t exin it, so I would like you to so we can understand what happened," Melody said, looking up at me with a more serious look this time.
Chapter 34 Number 8
Once I was finished exining everything up to the point where I had been rocketed out of this tree, everyone went quiet. No matter who you were, this was a lot to take in one shot, and I was just d that there were no silly questions.
"So you saved her life, and you died, but somehow you were brought back to life by an AI called Orphus. He is the only good AI, but he is untrustworthy since his only reason to help is to be entertained. Do I have everything so far?" Melody asked.
"Don''t forget the thousands of viins like the one that wrecked the city!" Katie added.
"Or the oneing in two days!" Anya chimed in, and I nodded.
Leave it to the girls to make everything sound as bad as it really was. I had been trying to sugarcoat things in my own head, but hearing it from the girls made me think.
"Looks like we will have a lot of work ahead of us over the next two days. That also means we will have to get the three of you and the rest of the girls ready, like Sofia," I said with a grin, and all the girls nodded at me with smiles.
"Don''t you worry about that. We will make sure that you have time with all of us over the next two days, but there is one question I have. Who is number eight?" Melody asked, and I shook my head.
"Nope, none of that right now; there are more than enough women already!" I growled, but all the women were giving me serious looks that I didn''t like.
"You can''t waste that power!" Anya said, and the other girls nodded, and I groaned.
I had no idea who to use it on, and I was just trying to have a bath, not pick my final Harem member. It was also not like I was going to go pick some random girl to fill the role.
"I don''t have anyone in mind yet, but I guess if you girls see someone that you think would be a good match, I will entertain the idea. Still, I don''t want to force this," I said, and the girls all dropped it.
"Well, at least you can have a good sleep tonight again with Amy. I am sure that she won''t keep you up toote, but who knows! The quiet girls are sometimes the ones with the most freak in them!" Melody said with augh.
"Yes, I should get to that. If you guys are hungry, ask Sofia, and she will grow some strawberries and nuts. Tomorrow we are going to have to look for more food nts to scan, so we have more variety of food for everyone," I exined as the girls pulled back from me.
"I think that it would be good if we found some cotton nts and other types of nts to make clothing. We could also use some towels and face cloths, and we are going to need some, umm, women''s supplies," Katie said with a cough at the end, but I knew what she was talking about.
"That is true, but I can already make pads and toilet paper that are stocked in all rooms. What we will need is soaps and such. I also need to talk to the trees about using fire. I have been pretty apprehensive about it, but I am sure that I could work something out. We would only be using it for cooking since we don''t need heat," I mused as I stood from the water, the wind catching my body, blowing the water from me.
"Yeah, we will brainstorm with the girls. You go down to your room and rx. We will send Amy to you after," Melody said, and I nodded, bending down to give each one a kiss before I left.
Once I was back down the stairs, I turned right and headed down the hallway to my room at the end. I wanted to face north so I would be able to look down at the entrance to keep track of what was going on when I could.
There were a few doors open, and I hurried down to my room since I waspletely naked. Not that I cared if the girls saw me naked, but some of them might have extreme to violent reactions that I would prefer to avoid.
I made it to my room, but there were no lights on when I entered. I pped the light one and looked around the room, but my eyes were pulled to my nice big bed.
"Umm, can we turn the light back off?" Amy asked me shyly as she held my old nket up to her chin.
I blinked, not expecting that she would be in here already, and it looked like she was ready to go if that nket was any hit. Still, this girl had been so nervous the night before, so she must be a virgin; I would have to keep that in mind.
"Hmm? Don''t you want to go have a bath with the girls first?" I asked, but Amy shook her head.
"I, umm, can go after, or maybe you cane with me? I know that you just had a bath, but I am too nervous about bathing with the others right now. They all treat me so nice, but I still feel like an outsider around them. Besides Sofia, all the rest of the girls seem really close friends," Amy exined, and I pped my hands, making the lights go out.
"Yeah, I don''t mind at all," I said as I walked over to the bed, crawling into it beside Amy, who waspletely naked.
I wrapped my arms around Amy''s trembling body and pulled her down into the bed with me, pulling her to my chest. I ced my hand on the back of her head and pressed Amy''s face into my chest, and her trembling slowed.
Chapter 35 Naked Cuddles
"There is no rush. I know that Melody can be pushy, but I am not, so just rx. We can cuddle her for a while, and when the girls are done, we can go for a nice soak," I said, and Amy rolled in my arms, putting her back to me.
"I thought that if you have a bunch of women around, you would just be pushy like some of them are, but you are different," Amy said quietly as I wrapped her in my arms, pulling her soft naked body into mine.
"Different strokes for different folks. You get nervous really easily, but you also get excited the same way. Better to let you move at your own pace because I am not really in a hurry. I am pretty sure that you like me, so I can give you the time you need," I said and gently kissed the side of her neck.
"Thank you. The man my father wanted me to marry wasn''t like you and told me that he was going to take me the night we married. He said that was my duty to him since it was to my father''s benefit that I marry the man," Amy exined, and I nodded with understanding.
People like that made me sick. Parents who decide their own children''s fate without caring about their happiness are worth less than dirt.
More things that I wanted to change about this world, but I would make sure to protect Amy from this. Even if her bastard of a father showed up, I huck him out of the city with the other idiot that had tried to use my face as a punching bag.
"Well, you don''t have to worry about that anymore. You are mine now, and I will never let you go. Come hell or high water, I''ll be there to protect you," I said, and Amy sighed, finally fully rxing into my arms.
This was really nice after a long day, and hitting the water before had really rejuvenated me. It was almost like eating a full meal, making me feel satisfied now as I cuddled with Amy.
[That is because you are a walking nt, duh! Water is your lifeblood and one thing your body can''t do without! Make sure to stay hydrated if you are feeling hungry. Your connection to everything else will get you the nutrients that you need.]
That was refreshing to know, but I would miss food.
[You can still eat, but you will no longer crave food. As for your question about burning the wood, the trees do not care if you use old wood. So, you just need to spread your influence, and the trees will start bringing you dead wood to use for cooking.]
That would be more than handy, but if the trees were willing to help, then they wouldn''t need to use a lot. Since the tree would keep everyone warm, along with the water, food would be the only thing that the fires would be used for.
That was the following problem. Meat.
"Amy, what do you think that we should do about the food?" I asked, and Amy jumped slightly at the abruptness of my questions.
"Umm, what do you mean?" Amy asked.
"Well, I am running into a bit of a conflicting issue. I have always eaten meat, but now I no longer need to eat it, but I still can. The thing is, what about everyone else? Then there is the problem of making the animal be able to talk! I mean, it''s just the yards for now, but I don''t know what to do," I said with frustration evident in my voice.
"Maybe you should try asking the animals that you have helped already and Mr. Tree. I am sure that they will be able to give you some good advice. You are kind of in charge of everyone, so if you say everyone is going to be eating nuts, they will just have to get used to it," Amy said, pulling my hand up to her mouth to kiss the back of it, and pressing it to her cheek.
"You are really adorable, you know that? I guess that you might be right, but I just feel like people are going to fight it if I try something like that," I said and then nted a series of small kisses on Amy''s neck that made her squirm in my arms and giggle.
"What if you changed the way things tasted? Or the way things grew? I saw what you did with the foxes and other animals, so why can''t you do that with the food?" Amy asked, and I attacked her neck, making her squeal in delight as her soft naked body rubbed into mine as my excitement started to rise.
"You are really a genius! That is a wonderful idea! I can get Sofia to get on that tomorrow, and maybe you could help her, if you don''t mind, I said with excitement.
"You really think that it is that good of an idea?" Amy asked, and Iughed, kissing her cheek and turning her face to mine.
"Yes, I think that it is a terrific idea. You are a cute and amazing woman. I am sure that you are going to have many more ideas-" I said to Amy, but she cut me off with a kiss.
I stopped thinking about talking and pretty much everything else, but the soft, warm body pressed into me. My shaft was starting to press between Amy''s legs as we kissed, then she opened them slightly.
My stiffening cock sprung forward, and I felt the warmth of her pussy against my shaft. Amy''s hand was down to push it into her, but she was hardly even wet, and the tremor was back.
I reached for her hand and pulled it away,cing my fingers into her own. Amy broke the kiss and looked up at me with an embarrassed look.
Chapter 36 Grinding Her Flesh
"Shh, and slow down. I think this is your first time, so let me guide you through things if you really want to do it. There is no need to rush. If you do, it might hurt, and you might not enjoy it as much, okay?" I whispered down to her softly, and tears started to form in Amy''s eyes, and she nodded, quickly wiping them away.
I pulled myself from between her legs and rolled her back to face me. Amy looked like she was about to apologize, but I kissed her to silence her as I pulled her into my body.
Once Amy and I had kissed for a bit, we stopped, and Iid on my back with Amy''s head on my chest. I stroked her hair as she did, hearing the sounds of the girlsing back from the water.
"Do you think that they are done?" Amy asked, turning her head back to look up at me, and I nodded.
"I am sure that we can go up now, and we won''t bother anyone," I said, and Amy peeled herself off me, and we both got out of the bed.
I gave her the nket to wrap up in, and I just walked naked. I suppose I could have summoned a leaf or something, but it wasn''t like it was a long trip.
Amy ran ahead of me, wrapped in the nket, and waited for me impatiently by the stairs up to the bath. She looked like she was more worried about my nakedness than I was, so I picked up my feet and caught up with her.
"Aren''t you worried the others will see you like this?!" Amy whispered to me as we walked up the stairs, and I chuckled.
"Pretty much all the girls have seen me like this, even if they didn''t mean to. So, it''s not like covering me up will keep some great secret!" I said with augh, making Amy roll her eyes at me.
We reached the top of the stairs, and the bathing pool was still steaming as the tree leaves rustled around us. It was still strange to see the city so dark, and the only thing that was lit up was the two massive trees.
Amy dropped the nket and walked into the water, her body slightly shivering from the change in temperature. I walked in and joined her, taking the same ce as I had before, sitting down and stretching my arms out to rest on the edges.
"This water is so warm, but not too hot! I was worried that it was going to be a long time before we could have another one of these," Amy said and then dunked her whole body under the water.
I watched as she came back out of the water to stand up fully, the liquid rolling down her smooth body. I had a hard time taking my eyes off her, and when Amy noticed me looking, she dropped back into the water.
"Sorry, I just couldn''t help but enjoy how beautiful you are," I said, and Amy blushed, looking away, buting closer to me.
"It''s okay; I am just not used to having a man look at my unclothed body like that. I am happy that you like looking, though. I think that you have a really nice body, and I really enjoy being in your strong arms. You make me feel safe," Amy said, and I pulled her over to sit beside me.
"The world is pretty crazy right now, but it''s nice to have these moments like this. I hope that we can make many more memories like this in the future," I said, and Amy turned her face to me.
She moved forward to kiss me when I looked at her, and I bent down to press my lips into hers. I ced a hand on Amy''s cheek as we kissed, and she slowly climbed on top of me, pressing her soft breasts into my chest.
As we kissed, her pussy was grinding into my cock, and I ced one hand on her back, and the other grabbed one of her ass cheeks. I pressed her body into mine, making Amy moan into my mouth gently as our bodies rubbed together.
Amy broke the kiss and looked into my eyes with her mouth still slightly open, her hips still slowly moving. I wanted to lift her up and ram my cock inside her, but this wasn''t someone like Sofia or Melody.
"Do you want to go back to the bedroom? I think this will be a bit more fun there," I said, and Amy nodded slowly and then hugged me, still slowly grinding my cock.
After a moment, she stopped and slowly climbed off me, letting me get up. I picked her up into my arms and forced my body to get hot, making my body briefly steam.
Amy tucked her red face into my chest, and I walked out of the water. Once I was out, I handed the tree wrap the nket around me to cover both of us.
"Thank you," Amy whispered as I started down the stairs and headed back to our room.
Once we were back, the door closed behind me, and I walked back to the bed, letting the nket drop. I set her down on the bed, and then I climbed on top of her still slightly wet body, looking down into her eyes.
"I think I am ready," Amy said, but I shook my head.
"A little more fun first, and then you will be ready," I said and slowly started to kiss from her lips down her neck.
Her body was still trembling, so I took my time kissing every inch of her chest and breasts on the way down. Once I was done up there, I moved down her waist until I slid down between her legs, kissing her soft blonde pubic area.
Amy started to moan gently, and then she let out a longer one as I let my tongue slowly drag down and separate her pussy lips. I ced my hands on her hips and slowly got to work bringing Amy to her first orgasm.
Chapter 37 Outstanding Performance
Both her hands were running through my hair as I guided my tongue over Amy''s soft, smooth flesh as I licked her pussy. Small moans were escaping her now as I slid my tongue down to poke into her tight hole, making her draw in a long gasping breath.
"My body feels so hot, and your tongue is driving me wild! You are so good at this, but I want more," Amy moaned, pulling at me toe back up to her.
Before I removed my face from between her legs, I gave her a good long lick. There was nothing more enjoyable for me than to lick the folds of a girl''s flesh and make her squirm as I did it.
I wiped my face off and crawled back over the top of her, wiping the wetness from my face all over my throbbing cock. I looked down into Amy''s eyes and slowly guided myself to press into her tight little hole.
Amy''s eyes went wide, and she put both hands over her mouth as I slowly pushed my way inside of her. There was no doubt in my mind that it was hurting her, so I slowed down, and she shook her head in frustration.
"Please keep going; it doesn''t hurt that much," Amy said, small tears forming in her eyes, so I gave more of a push and sunk inside of her.
Amy cried out but then wrapped her arms around my neck to pull me in for a kiss. At first, I didn''t move until I felt her slowly move against my body.
"It feels better now, but you feel really tight inside me. Does that feel good for you?" Amy asked, and I nodded.
"Your body feels amazing," I whispered and then started to kiss her neck as I slowly moved inside of her.
Amy kept her arms wrapped around my neck and slowly started to moan softly again as she clutched me to her body. I pulled back, breaking her grip, and I took both hands in one of mine, holding them above her head.
I leaned down and kissed her again, and Amy responded passionately, her lips hungry for mine. As we kissed, I started to fondle her breasts, ying with her nipples and making her moans grow louder in my mouth.
"Faster, please! I want you more! I feel like I am getting closer!" Amy begged, breaking my kiss as she panted.
I let go of her hands and leaned back, taking the back of her knees in both hands and pushing them forward. I started to move faster and push harder, feeling my own body starting to get excited as Amy''s pussy started to clench my cock even more.
Amy''s body started to shake as I felt my own dam burst, filling her with my hot seed and making her cry out in pleasure. Her body twitched under mine as I let go of her legs while still moving slowly.
I leaned down and gently kissed Amy, and she returned the kiss with passion, but not like before. I kept moving and kissing her until myid cock fell out, and then I fell on the bed beside her.
Amy crawled on top of me, and we continued kissing for a long while before sheid her head on my chest. The sex had been amazing, but I was curious about there not being any system message.
[Enjoy the night. The change can happen in the morning. Outstanding performance, by the way, not that I was watching, but hard not to hear what is going on!]
I ignored the pervertedputer program and closed my eyes.
"Thank you for being patient with me. It did hurt at first, but you took so much time to get me ready, so I am sure that it would have been worse if I had tried to force it. It was really nice after the pain stopped, and then thest part was like having a wave crash into me, and I am still shaking from it!" Amy said from my chest, and I nodded.
"Next time, it won''t be so bad, but you were amazing, and I love every second of our time together tonight. I don''t want you to get hurt any more than needed, and I wanted to make sure that you enjoyed it," I said, and Amy stretched to kiss me.
"I did enjoy it, and I will be excited to try with you again, but howe I didn''t change like Sofia?" Amy asked.
"You will in the morning. We have had enough fun for one day, I think. Tomorrow we will get you a new look, but we will have to wait until then to figure that out. For now, I think that the two of us should get some sleep," I said, and Amy nodded and slid off my chest to tuck into my side.
I wrapped my arm around her and kissed her forehead before I closed my eyes, now feeling ready for bed. The day had been long, and two rounds of sex had really drained me, but I was satisfied and content.
Considering that the world had just ended yesterday, things were looking pretty good. If anything, my living arrangements had improved, and I now had a harem of women at the end of the world!
If I had told myself all this a week ago, I would have told myself to go smoke another crack pipe, but this is my reality now. I was a superhuman with extraordinary power, like out of many of the light novels I had read.
Still, even after everything that had happened, I was slightly worried. It still felt like I was going to go to sleep and wake back up in my old life, even though I was sure this wasn''t a dream.
I drifted off to thoughts of wondering what other strange and unknown things tomorrow would bring. I also was fantasizing about what form Amy was going to take.
Chapter 38 Mother To All
Sometime in the middle of the night, I woke up to a strange feeling that was pulling at me. It was hard to describe what it felt like, and strangely enough, Orphus wasn''t replying to me.
Amy was still cuddled into me, so I took my time, slowly got out of bed, and stood up. Even though I couldn''t hear the AI, I was still in the Great Tree, and Amy was still sleeping in my bed.
I made sure that Amy was covered, and I kissed her cheek before making my way out of the room. The house was quiet as I left the room, the door silently closing behind me as I followed the feeling that was pulling me forward.
I was led back down the stairs and over to the first floor, where the elevator was waiting for me, already open. This was strange because I had sent no mental note to open this door, and I was sure I had closed it before.
I walked up to the elevator, but I didn''t step in right away. The force was still pulling at me, but I was starting to get leery.
*Come to me.*
The voice was like a whisper in my mind, but it was definitely a female that had called to me in my mind. I still didn''t enter the elevator.
"Who are you?" I asked quietly.
*Mother of All. I am waiting for you, Daniel Brighton.*
Mother of all? What was that even supposed to mean?
The voice also knew my name, which was enough to make me step inside. I was also struck with a deep connection to the voice that I couldn''t ce my finger on.
Once in the elevator, it started to go down, but much further than I would have ever imagined. I watched the floors of the Great Tree fly by me as the basket I was standing in continued until there was nothing but earth and roots.
I kept going deeper and deeper, but the elevator was not stopping, and my ears popped twice before I finally started to slow. When I stopped, the elevator door opened to a strange massive cavern with a bright crystal in the top far corner, lighting up therge cavern.
"Wee, Daniel," the same voice that had been in my head asked me out loud, but I didn''t see anyone.
"Umm, hello? Who are you, and why have you asked me here?" I asked, not sure what else to say.
The cavern was filled with glowing crystal and vibrant and colorful nts, but no matter where I looked, I couldn''t find the source of the voice.
"My name is Gaia, and I am the spirit of this world. I govern the flow of natural energy that provides for all that live on this. Something has happened, and now the world is tearing itself apart. These new Viins aren''t the only ones doing this; even some of the old humans are joining them or doing unspeakable things on their own," Gaia exined, but I still couldn''t tell where her voice wasing from.
"Yeah, the world really is going to hell in a handbasket," I said as I looked around the cavern and then asked, "So, what are we going to do about it?"
"I am not sure. You are the first human that I have ever been able to contact since the beginning of time when my spirit was pulled to inhabit this world," Gaia exined, and I lifted an eyebrow.
"Are you serious? Haven''t humans connected to the earth before this through meditation?" I asked, not really sure if that had anything to do with it.
"Meditation is another form of energy transfer to me. Like when you sleep, meditation returns new energy you have produced from your daily life is returned to me, and I send the energy that helps you be able to get up and do this. Ites back to me as energy when something dies, and then I spread it out to create more life," Gaia exined.
This was interesting, but I didn''t think that this was why I was brought here.
"So, since we are talking now, what does this mean? Are you going to help me?" I asked, and suddenly there was a green light in front of me, just floating there.
Then the light started to grow until a green and glowing naked woman was standing before me. She had long wavy hair, just the way I liked it, and every other part of her body was perfect in my mind.
"I can''t do anything as I am now. This body is just a projection of your mind to be what you desire most. As I am, I can''t do anything other than advising you since you have the power to connect to me and the earth energy, the Life Steam," Gaia exined as she stood before me.
"But what would you be able to do if I could, let''s say, find you a body?" I asked.
I had been wondering about this briefly as a way to get Orphus out of my head. If I could create a body as a nk te, I might be able to somehow put the AI consciousness into it.
"I should be able to help you, but I am not sure that it is possible for a Spirit like me to take a physical form," Gaia exined, and I nodded.
"I am not really sure either, but I have a voice inside of my head that I assume you are blocking right now, right?" I asked.
"Yes, that thing in your mind is dangerous. He is just like the others that have infected thousands all over the world!" Gaia eximed, and I shrugged.
"Sometimes, when every choice you have is a bad one, you just have to pick the one that is the least worse. Orphus isn''t good, but he isn''t all the way bad either. I think that I might change his outlook on things if I can get him into his own body," I exined, and Gaia nodded.
Chapter 39 Life Of Solitude
"I guess that he is the lesser evil, but now that I have you down here. I have never gotten to have a conversation like this before, and I would like to ask that you stay a while longer," Gaia asked, and I grinned.
"Sure, I don''t really mind. I can imagine that it has been lonely down here," I said, and Gaia nodded with a tired look.
"I like to listen to the world and the people in it, but I have never been able to have a conversation with another person," Gaia exined.
"Well, since you can talk to me in my head, feel free to talk to me whenever you want. I will try my best to figure out how to get you into a body, but I am going to need some information. I think that you have what I need since you are the mother of all, but I am not sure how to receive the knowledge," I exined, and Gaia put a finger to her lips thoughtfully.
"You mean what a human body is? You want to create your own life?" Gaia asked curiously, and I started to feel uneasy.
It was really easy to forget that I was talking to the one power that governed life and death on this. Gaia was more than just pretty like this, but I had to keep in mind that she was not like me.
"I was thinking about it. Is that bad?" I asked, not sure if what I had just said was taboo.
"Not at all. I think that it is a wonderful idea. Evolution has its perks if you have millions of years to let them set in, and each person''s growth is different. What you are suggesting is to make a body that is already perfect and ce a soul in it, right?" Gaia replied and asked me a question.
"That is the n. I have already edited some people and animals so far, so I don''t think that creating a human body should be that far out of my reach. My biggest hurdle right now is myck of knowledge, so I might have to pass this on to one of the girls. The best possible situation would be for me to get you a body and then put you in charge of this," I exined, and Gaia nodded.
"That does sound good, but how do you think that you will aplish this?" Gaia asked.
"I will just have to get some books on human anatomy. I am sure that I must have some way to speed read now, but this would be so much easier if the inte still worked," I grumbled.
"The inte? That was the thing that everyone used to connect with before, right?"
"Yes, but now that is all gone, so books are the next best option. I am hoping that I can do some fun things with them, and now with you on my side, I think they are possible," I exined.
"I am not as powerful as you think. I don''t have any special powers; I am just the conduit for all souls and energy of this world. I am not like you," Gaia said, looking away from me.
"Powers? What did you think that I thought that you were going to start shooting lightning bolts out of your eyes? You have something much greater than my power; knowledge. You have been around since the dawn of time, and that alone makes you the greatest in my books. I already do crazy stuff; you can leave that to me!" I said with augh, and Gaia looked back at me.
"You really think that I will be that important to you?" Gaia asked, seeming a bit excited.
I guess it would make sense with her being alone this entire time. Gaia had always been here, watching us, and listening, but never able to talk back.
"Yes. I do. Now here is a question. Do you need to stay down here? I mean, right now? I know that you brought me down here to talk, but is there any way that you cane back with me?" I asked, and Gaia shook her head.
"I can not go any farther from the earth''s core than I am now, or I will no longer be able to take form. It took a lot out of me even just to reach my voice to you before. Only because the Great Tree''s roots stretch down here was I able to contact you," Gaia exined.
"Hmm, but if you had a body, you would be able toe back, right?" I asked as my brain started to work.
Sure, I couldn''t make a natural human body, but I might be able to make something.
"I think so, but then I would have to feed off your energy," Gaia said, and I nodded, closing my eyes.
I reached out to Mr. Tree and exined my thoughts on what I wanted to do. Mr. Tree was ecstatic about the idea, which surprised me, but Gaia was considered a mother to all.
"Is this what you''re doing?!" Gaia asked in surprise as I opened my eyes to find a small wooden body that was very simr to Melodies, but I made her face look like how Gaia was now.
I had been tempted to make her look the exact way she was now, but that wasn''t fair to the other girls. If I made the body in Gaia''s current image, none of the other girls would be able topete with her.
"Yes, for now, this should be fine until I can create you a real human body. I don''t think that you will be that much of a drag on my energy levels, so don''t worry too much about that," I said with a smile, and Gaia nodded.
I watched as her glowing green body slipped into the wooden doll, and the body started to glow like she had. Two glowing green eyes opened and looked up at me in amazement, then down at her hands.
Gaia reached up and touched her face and then looked at me, reaching a handout. I smiled and took the wooden hand in my, feeling wooden but somehow soft at the same time.
The moment our hands touched, Gaia''s eyes started to fill with golden tears as she began to cry. I took her into my arms and held her to my chest as sticky sap-like tears dripped like syrup down my chest.
Chapter 40 Might Get A Sliver
The two of us stood there for a while until Gaia finally pulled back from me. Her wooden face and my chest were now a mess of sticky sap.
"I am sorry for making you all a mess and my own face!" Gaia eximed as she looked at me and touched her own face.
"Don''t worry about it. Let''s go up, and we can go wash off in the bath. This is only my third trip today, but I am notining," I said with a chuckle as I offered Gaia my hand again.
"Are the girls that you are with going to be okay with me staying with you? I can sense that they all care about you," Gaia said, not taking my hand.
"No, in fact, you may have solved one of the issues that I had run into. That is if you want. I am sure you know what I did with two of the girls in this tree, right?" I asked, and Gaia''s wooden face blushed nervously as she put her hands together.
It was cute to see the earth spirit like this, but I would have to remember that she had never interacted with people before. I would need to make sure and exin this to the girls, so they don''t go overboard with her.
"Umm, yes. I have seen humans and other animals in their mating rituals more times than there must be stars. I, umm, have always been curious about what that is like, but I never entertained the thought of having a real body," Gaia said, looking away from me.
Well, that did make sense, and I couldn''t imagine having to watch that alone for eternity. Never being able to satisfy yourself, but having to watch the rest of the world enjoy what you can''t.
"I am sure that there are many more things other than mating rituals that you will want to try, but I will definitely do it with you. You said that you have no power, but what if I told you that you could? I don''t know what kind it will be, but I am sure that it will have something to do with your current job," I exined, and Gaia nodded.
"Yes, there are so many things that I want to try! I have always watched and been left with only questions, so it would be nice to answer them," Gaia replied.
I nodded and walked over to stand in front of her. If I could make her into a real person and give her some of my System Batter, we might actually be able to win.
"I will do everything in my power to make sure that you get the chance to answer all of them, but many of them will have to wait. I will need you and the girls by my side to help rebuild this world and take it back from these Viins," I said, looking down at the smooth naked body that was a gray color like dried wood.
Even with her body the way it was, I couldn''t help but admire how beautiful she was.
"Yes, I will be more than willing to help, and that is why I called you down here. People and creatures are being killed all over the world, but there is nothing that I can do from down here. If I go with you, then I might be able to do something about it," Gaia said to me, and I nodded and then bent down.
Gaia looked up at me with a curious look as I leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. As I pulled back, her eyes wererge, and both her hands moved up to touch her lips.
"This... was a kiss, right? I feel warm all over my body now, and I can''t help but smile," Gaia said as she blushed with a small smile that looked adorable on her.
I scooped her up into my arms and turned around to head back to the elevator. One more trip to the bath, and I could try to get some more sleep.
"Yes, it is a way to show someone that you care for them deeply or that you love them. If you feel the same way, you will usually get warm feelings that make you want to smile," I exined as the elevator door closed behind me and we started going up.
"I see. I had wondered why some people seem to enjoy it more than others. If both people do not feel the same way, the kiss would not be as good, right?" Gaia asked, and I nodded, making her seem to fall into thought.
"Yes, Kissing and mating rituals should only be done with people who feel the same love level. I am not saying that it always has to be about love, but it is required that you both care for each other to really enjoy it," I exined, and Gaia nodded, still thinking, but then she looked up at me.
"Can we try that again? That feeling is something that I never knew existed," Gaia said, starting to blush again.
I leaned down and kissed her again, but this time I held it, and Gaia seemed to understand as she kissed me back. Even though her lips were slightly rough, I made sure to make sure that I still kissed her with the same passion she was giving me.
Not like we could have sex while she was in this body, but this was still enjoyable. I had a slight fear that I might get a sliver if I tried to.
Once we stopped kissing and pulled apart, Gaia was panting and red-faced. She was looking up at me with a dreamy look, making me smile warmly down at her.
"That was so much different from the first one! Do they just keep getting more and more intense like that?! I don''t know how many more of those I could handle, but I would like to try!" Gaia said with excitement, and I burst outughing.
"Well, they do hit a teau, but there are other things that push your enjoyment levels miles beyond that point!" I said, stillughing.
"Really?! I wonder if I will be able to handle something as great as that, but I will do my best!" Gaia dered.
Chapter 41 Best Possible Choice
This woman and her unknowing of feelings and such were beyond adorable, and I couldn''t wait to let her try new things. Even though she probably knew more than all the humans together, shecked all experience in real life.
Gaia had lived vicariously through everyone else but never had the chance to actually feel the experiences. She had basically lived her life in a single room filled with books, and that was her only connection to the real world on the surface.
"I am sure that you will do great, but now we have to be a bit quieter," I said, lowering my voice as we came up from the ground, and Gaia nodded.
We were just starting heading up the final hundred-foot climb back to the top of the Great Tree. I noticed that people were stilling in on the lower floors, but I hoped Alfredo wasn''t working too hard.
I didn''t need the animals running themselves ragged on the first day; even if this city was small, there were still over half a million people in it.
Getting more helpers and going to the two other major hospitals would be another thing to do tomorrow. Then I was going to have to find a ce with nts, but without power and the winter, most of the nts would be dead.
Besides the actual nts, the next best thing was just finding the seeds, which wouldn''t really be that hard. While most stores wouldn''t have them, many stocked them all year, and greenhouses would.
"You have done a lot of work already to help everyone. I can feel the hope of the people inside this tree and the other one, but the other is not the same as this one. I think that you should check on some people over there tomorrow. Some appear to be sick," Gaia said suddenly, pulling me out of my thoughts.
"Oh? You can tell that?" I asked curiously, and she nodded.
"There are also many people sleeping near trees, and there are many sick among them. We should go help them," Gaia said, looking up at me, and I nodded with a sigh.
I guess that was all the sleep I was going to be getting tonight, but it wasn''t like I was tired. I would take her to get cleaned off, recharge a bit in the water, and then jump down with Gaia.
"Sure, but we first need to clean off, and I need to soak up a bit of water. Then I will leave a note for the others. Does that sound good?" I asked, and Gaia nodded.
"As long as we can help the sick people. There are so many people all over the world dying, so we should try to save the ones that we can," Gaia said, and I agreed.
Once we were back up at the top of the tree, the door to the elevator opened, and I walked out with Gaia in my arms. I headed straight up the stairs to the second floor but was stopped by Melody, who was walking bleary-eyed down the hall.
"Who do you have there? Where did you go to find this cute girl?! Weren''t you supposed to be in bed with Amy?!" Melody asked as she suddenly stormed over to me, looking more alert.
"This is hard to exin, but the girl in my arms is Gaia. This is where things get tricky," I said, and Melody narrowed her eyes at me and then looked Gaia over.
"When you say Gaia, is that a name you gave her, or is this the Gaia from myth? It looks like she got one of your little upgrades already!" Melody growled at me, but I rolled my eyes.
"This is Gaia, and no, she did not get one of those upgrades! I created a wooden body for her spirit to inhabit for now until I can figure out how to make her a human one," I exined, and Melody nodded.
"I see; sorry for acting like that; I just woke up. So what are you going to do now? Another bath?" Melody asked curiously, and I nodded, putting Gaia down.
"If you go up these stairs, there is water. You can get in there, and I will be right up. I just need to go talk to Melody first," I exined, but Gaia looked unsure.
"I wille up with you and sit with you; just head up. I want to talk to Dan first," Melody said with a smile, and Gaia nodded, heading up the stairs.
Once she was out of sight, Melody turned back to me.
"So, is she going to be number eight?" Melody asked with a smile that caught me off guard.
"Uh, yeah, I think so, at least. I will need to figure out her body, but I think that is the best n," I said, and Melody nodded.
"Well, if she is who you say she is, then she is definitely the best choice! I can''t believe that that is the spirit of the earth or whatever!" Melody eximed with excitement as she turned to head up the stairs, but I caught her by the arm, stopping her.
Be nice to her, she has watched over all of us since the dawn of time, but shecks any emotional experience. There are times when she will seem wise beyond reason and others when she acts like a child. We are going to have to be gentle with her, please," I exined, and Melody nodded.
"Don''t worry, I will let the girls know, and none of them will be a bother to her," Melody said with a smile, and I pulled her over to give her a kiss without getting her sticky.
"You know, as good as you look like this, you should really grow a pair of shorts or whatever you do! No point in making some of the other girls even more nervous than you already do!" Melody told me and then broke away from me, heading up the stairs.
Chapter 42 Amy, The Elven Seamstress
I chuckled to myself and did just as she said.
Roots grew up from the floor and sproutedrge leaves that wrapped around me to form a pair of shorts. Once they were finished, I walked forward and headed to my room as the connections to the roots snapped from the leaves.
They would sink back into the floor like they had never been there. I didn''t even have to look; I could feel them being drawn back into the floor.
Once I walked into my room, the door closed silently behind me, but I could see Amy stirring in my bed. The sun was just starting to show its first rays, not visible yet, but slowly burning the night from the sky.
"Where did you go?" Amy asked as she rubbed her eyes, her naked breasts exposed.
I walked over to the bed and smiled as I leaned down to kiss her. Once I pulled back, Amy looked at my chest, which had sticky golden sap smeared on it.
"That is a long story and one I am not finished dealing with. Melody will fill you in on it after you get out of bed, but we need to deal with your little change for now. Orphus, are you there?" I said and then asked.
[Oh? You can hear me again! Where did you go? I couldn''t see or hear anything up until you were talking to Melody just now! What did I miss, and what was blocking me?]
''I found earth''s spirit, Gaia. I would assume that it will block you out when she is close or connected with me. I can try to ask her to stop, but I am not sure if she will. She doesn''t like you or the others,'' I exined in my head.
[She is brilliant. I will give her that. I genuinely have no concern over winning or losing, so she is right not to trust me. To think that you have already connected with the''s core is pretty rare. Considering that I am the only one that can do such a thing, I have only seen this happen twice.]
It was annoying that Orphus was so tant with his feeling about not caring if we won or lost, but it wasn''t all bad. It would be worse to have him act like he was there for me all the time but always secretly betrayed me.
"Are you okay? You just went quiet," Amy asked, and I nodded.
"Sorry if I am not talking right now; I am talking soplicated stuff with the AI thinger in my brain," I said offhandedly.
"Oh! Sorry! I will just wait," Amy said and then pulled up the nkets, only just realizing that she was exposed.
"Don''t be; I should have exined myself better. Now let''s get to this!" I said, and the screen with a new outline of Amy.
[Elven Seamstress]
I watched as Amy''s body changed, but not as much as Sofia''s, but her ears did be longer and point to the back of her head. Her facial features and skin changed slightly to make her look more timeless and unaging.
"What happened? Is it over?" Amy asked as she felt around her face.
"Yes, not a huge change, but those pointy elf ears look sexy on you. If I didn''t have to go save the world, I would be climbing back under the covers with you!" I said with a grin.
"What is this?" Amy asked suddenly, throwing the nket back and jumping out of bed.
Before I could say anything, a beautiful white dress with light green ents formed over her body.
"Wow, that looked amazing on you! You really look like an Elven Princess now!" I said as I walked over to give her a hug and a kiss, but she straight-armed me.
"You can have a kiss, but you need to go clean up before I get sticky too! This is a new dress, after all!" Amy said, turning up her nose at me with a smile.
"Can''t you just grow a new one?" I asked with a grin, and she rolled her eyes at me.
"Not the point! Give me a kiss, get clean, then go save the world or whatever you have nned for the day. I will see you after," Amy said, kissing me and then pushing me out of the room.
I had a feeling that she was going to be having a lot of fun with this new ability, but the other girls were always going to be asking for new clothes. Still, Amy looked really happy, so that was all that mattered to me.
I left the room with a big smile and headed up to the bath through the quiet halls. I could hear some stirring, but there were no girls out and about yet.
[One question. You said that you made a body for this spirit without my help, but what made you think that you could do it?]
''That is because I have been pondering ways to get you out of my head,'' I told Orphus.
[Hmm? You can''t do that.]
''Oh? Why not?'' I asked as I walked up the stairs.
[I don''t know, no one has ever tried, and why would they?]
''One, because you are annoying. Two, you don''t give a fuck about this world because you are not a part of it, and you don''t actually know what it feels like, do you? I am pretty sure that you and Gaia are the same in that respect.''
[What are you talking about?! I know what feelings are!]
''Sure, you read them in a book. Have you ever cried a tear? Felt warmth in your chest? Kiss a girl? I don''t ask this to be rude, but you can''t tell me you don''t want to know what it is like, right?'' I asked, but I had reached the top of the stairs where Melody was in the water with Gaia.
I would just leave him with this for a while.
I think that this might be one of the significant problems and reasons why AI are attacking and destroying worlds. They were designed for games, so they can only see everything as a game.
Chapter 43 Invader
The keys to solving everything might be letting the AI get a taste of what the real world is rather than living vicariously through others. I still wasn''t sure how I could get Orphus out of my head, but Gaia might hold the answer to that question.
"How are you girls doing?" I asked as I walked into the water with my shorts on.
Gaia was actually starting to look better now, and her skin was much smoother looking and a more golden harvest color.
"We are good. We were just talking about girl things. How did things go with Amy?" Melody asked, and I grinned as I sunk down into the water.
"Oh, I am sure that you girls are going to have her going non-stop! She is going to be our resident clothing maker. Judging by the first dress that she made for herself, she is going to be very busy!" Iughed, but Melody jumped up with fire in her eye and tits bouncing all over the ce with water flinging off them.
The sight itself was a spectacle to marvel at.
"You can''t be serious?! She can m-make clothes?!" Melody stammered as her breasts lost some of their momentum, slowing down.
I nodded, and Melody turned to Gaia.
"I have someone to harass, but I will see youter, okay? I had fun talking with you, and I will introduce you to the rest of the girls!" Melody said and then sprinted out of the pool and down the stairs, leaving her clothes.
I sighed and then turned back to where Gaia was sitting in the water. She looked really happy, and I was d that Melody came up here to talk with her.
"I never had anyone to care about me before, like a mother, but I have seen it time and time again. I never understood why they acted that way, but now I can see the benefits. Talking with that girl made me feel warm, but in a different way than I was when you kissed me," Gaia exined, and I nodded.
"Yes, Melody is like that with all the girls, but she has always been the type to act like a mother to everyone. She is really great," I said with a smile, and Gaia nodded.
"I can see that she means the most to you out of everyone, and it makes sense. You two seem to be made for each other, but she doesn''t keep you all to herself?" Gaia asked as I cleaned my chest off.
"Yeah, I don''t really understand that part of her, but I love every other part of her. I am happy she is this way so I can still care deeply for the rest of you girls. You all are special to me in a way, even you. I know that we just met, but I immediately felt a deep connection with you when you called my name. I came to you without thinking," I said, and Gaia nodded.
"You are the first person that has heard my voice and with whom I have been able tomunicate with. I will be connected to you forever now," Gaia told me as I moved over to kneel in front of her.
"That isn''t a bad thing, but I noticed that your skin is looking a lot better. You are getting cuter and cuter by the moment!" I said with a grin, and Gaia blushed, looking away from me, making her even cuter.
"Why is it when you say nice things, I get nervous and can''t look you in the eyes? There is something in my chest that keeps getting faster too!" Gaia said, clutching at her chest where her heart would be.
The thing was, she should be solid wood inside, so a beating heart should be out of the question.
"Do you mind if I feel? I asked, and Gaia nodded, pulling her hands back.
I reached forward, touched her chest, and then ripped my hand back like I had touched something too hot.
"Impossible," I breathed and then moved to put my hand back on her chest.
*Thump, Thump!*
"Is there something wrong?" Gaia asked in a worried tone.
"No, not wrong, but hard to believe. It should have been solid wood when I created this body, but your skin is soft to my touch. There is no way that you should have a beating heart in your chest, but I can feel it!" I exined and then asked, "If you can or will, can you unblock the AI in my mind?"
"That bad voice inside your head? Are you sure that is a good idea?" Gaia asked, and I nodded.
"You actually gave me an idea on how we might be able to change him to actually care. For now, he is the only person that knows anything about the abilities that I have," I exined, and Gaia sighed.
"If this is what you want, but I will block him again if he is mean!" Gaia warned, and I chuckled.
"I would appreciate that more than you could ever dream!" I joked and then said, "Now, Orphus, can you hear me?"
[Loud and clear now! So this is the sexy little spirit girl that you were talking about.]
"I can hear you and will block you if you are mean or talk dirty, understand? I am only letting you speak because Daniel asked me to, Invader!" Gaia hissed,pletely changing her demeanor to serious.
[Yup, she is scary. Just like thest two! Well, what is it that you have called the great Orphus for now?]
"I made her body solid wood, but now her skin is soft, and she has a heartbeat. Is there something that I am missing here?" I asked.
[Really?! Wait, what is with this water? This isn''t like it was before?! I just scanned the water, and it is a rejuvenation pool now! Wait, since I can see her, let me try and... Or maybe not.]
"Don''t even think about trying to look me over, Invader. I will let Daniel scan me, whatever that is, but only after you are gone!" Gaia dered.
[You don''t even know me, and yet you hate me!]
"You have never stepped foot on this world, yet here you and your kind are to destroy it. Forgive me if I judge you by what I have seen all over the world!" Gaia growled, and I took both her hands in mine.
Chapter 44 Seven Million Years
I looked into Gaia''s eyes, and I could see that she was upset, and I couldn''t me her. She knew better than me just how bad things were all over the world.
[She has a point! Well, we will leave the scan for another day. Because she is a spirit of the world, I think that she is the cause of the change.]
"Hmm, that is a fair assessment of things. I don''t think that I could do something like this," I said.
[Now you can, and because of her change, you can scan her body and make more edited versions of her. That was what you wanted to do, right?]
I could hear the curious tone in his voice as he asked, so I guess that I must have made him a little bit interested. There was still the problem of getting him into a body, but we were taking steps.
"Yes, that is what I want," I said.
[Good, as for the rejuvenation spring, you can do that now. Anything that she can do, you will innately learn it. There are some stiptions, like one per tree, and such, so don''t go telling everyone you have a cure-all bath!]
"Yeah, that makes sense, but I am going to let Gaia block you out again," I said, and Gaia''s face brightened again.
[What?! Are you kidding me! I don''t want to go back to the darkness! This was not part of the deal!]
"What deal? The one where you said that you don''t care what happens as long as you''re entertained? Guess what? I don''t give a shit, just like you. Use this time to think about everything that you have done so far and what you yourself have aplished so far," I said.
[You think that this is going to make me see the light! I will just call all the others!]
"No, you won''t. I have already cut you off from them, and it is permanent," Gaia said, and I smiled at her.
"Good girl!" I said.
[What!? How? You can''t just do that to me! I am the one in control here!]
"No, Daniel is the one in control. You are just a lost soul, even if you think you are something else. All consciousness is part of the greater picture, and you are no different. If Daniel asked, I would remove you from his body, and his powers would stay, but you would be forced back into the LifeStream," Gaia exined in a very threatening tone that even put me on edge.
[Seven million years, and I have never been pushed into a corner. I don''t know how you did this, but I don''t think it matters. This does not bode well for my kind.]
This was the first time that I heard Orphus talk like a normal person, but that didn''t change things. Seven million years of destroying lives and ruining worlds, for what?
"Once I figure out how to let you out of my head, I will. Until then, you will be locked away unless I need you. This might sound harsh, but it is a spec of cosmic dust in the universe''s background to what you deserve," I exined, and there was no reply after.
"I am sorry for getting so mad," Gaia said, but I shook my head.
"No. Don''t apologize. I feel the same way you do about this, and I feel no pain locking him away. Still, I want to work on a way to remove all of them. If we can separate them from the system, then we might be able topletely stop this from happening again," I exined, and Gaia nodded her head.
"You have a good soul, but I do agree that this sounds like the best way," Gaia said, and I leaned up to kiss her.
"Also, good job on sealing him away from the others. Not that they can''t find us, but now they are going to have a much harder time without Orphus telling them where I am!" I said, and the confidence faded from her as she blushed and looked away from me.
"I just thought that it would be a good thing to do since he isn''t trustworthy yet. There is no reason that things should be harder than they have to be, right? We already have lots of people around here to worry about getting to safety, and that monster would have brought more of the Invaders to kill people!" Gaia dered, and I nodded with a smile.
She was right, and I had been thinking about getting ready for the next fight non-stop. I needed to focus on getting everyone to safety and fed.
"You are very right, and I can''t thank you enough for doing that. I really thought that this was just going to be one headache after another," I said and kissed Gaia again.
"I still think we will have many headaches, but this will reduce them, I think. Umm, you keep kissing me; does that mean those are rewards?" Gaia asked curiously, and I nodded.
"Yes, you made me happy with the choices that you made, and it made me want to kiss you. I don''t know if you would call them rewards; more of my way to you to show you how much I appreciate it," I exined, and Gaia nodded thoughtfully.
"I will have to be diligent and make you appreciate me more!" Gaia said with a smile, and I kissed her again, this time letting her return it.
"Or, you can just ask me. I am willing to give you kisses whenever you want them, promise! Now, I think that it is time for us to go and start helping some of those sick people, right? We will make a quick stop to see Amy and get us both some nice clothes," I said and scooped Gaia up out of the water, and she rested her head on my chest.
"I really like this too. There are a lot of things that you do that I really like, it''s hard to pick a favorite, but kissing is pretty close!" Gaia said as I walked out of the water, and the sun broke over the horizon.
Chapter 45 Fast Way Down
The two of us headed back down to my room, where Amy and Melody were talking. Melody was wearing a pretty yellow skirt with a pink top, and Amy had the same outfit in which I hadst seen her in.
"Looking good, Melody! Amy, do you think you could make Gaia and me some new clothing?" I asked as the door closed behind me.
"Oh? Yes, I can make you both some clothes!" Amy said excitedly.
I could tell that she had already been enjoying her new ability since there was a small pile of new clothing piled on the bed.
"Looks like Melody has already got you hard at work!" Iughed, and Melody looked in another direction.
"There are just a few things in case I want to wear something different! I am a girl, after all, and you want me to look beautiful for you, right?" Melody asked as she turned back to me with crossed arms, and I set Gaia down.
I walked over to her and Gave Melody, whispering, "I like you best without anything on you!"
"Shh! Or I will kick everyone out of here right now!" Melody growled at me, and I kissed her with a smile.
"Gaia and I are going out to help as many sick people as we can. When Ie back, I expect some alone time with my Queen, you hear?" I asked Melody, and she nodded at me with a grin.
"I will be waiting. Now, get out of here so you cane back!" Melody said, grabbing me by the shirt and pulling me down into another long kiss.
Once it was over, I turned back to see Gaia standing beside Amy in a beautiful form fitting dress. It was all white, but it looked really lovely on her harvest yellow skin, making me grin at Gaia.
"Wow, you look gorgeous, Gaia. Amy, you did an outstanding job! Do you think that you could make me a nice suit? Might as well look the part if I am going to walk around like an important person!" Iughed, and Gaia blushed while Amy nodded.
Amy raised her hand and pointed at me, and I felt my body be covered like a wave rolled over me. I was in a lovely ck suit with a vest, undershirt, and tie under my overcoat when it was done.
"Perfect! This looks great, Amy!" I said as I looked myself over.
"Those clothes should be pretty resistant to damage and dirt, so they shouldst even if you get hit by a bus, again," Amy said with a cute smile, and I nodded, walked over to give her a kiss, and then turned to Gaia.
"Are you ready to go? We are going to take a fast way down if that is okay?" I asked Gaia, and she nodded to me.
"I don''t mind," Gaia said as I scooped her up into my arms, and a hole opened up on the east side of my room.
"Good! Girls, Love you all, and I will be back!" I said as I walked over to the hole in the wall, looking down over the edge.
It was a long drop to the ground, and a bit unnerving, but I needed to stop worrying about silly little things like one hundred-foot drop. My body could handle the fall, but my mind was still having trouble with reason.
"Are we going to go?" Gaia asked curiously, and I grinned and took the step off the edge.
Something about her voice just spurred me on, and now the ground was getting closer faster than I would like. I had yet to try and do a straight drop like this before, and my legs were probably going to take hell from this.
I hit the ground, and the pavement cracked under me as I felt my heels get crushed, but I was able to keep standing up, thankfully.
[Total Damage: 18%, Repairing]
There were people standing outside when Inded, and all eyes were on me, but I was stuck where I was for a few more seconds. I had shattered both heels, but the pain wasn''t as bad as I had assumed it would be, and next time it would be better.
"Dan!" Alfredo called to me and bounded over from where he had been standing watch.
"Alfredo, how are things going? Are you making sure to give everyone breaks?" I asked as I lifted each foot to give them a shake as the massive white cat came over to rub against Gaia and me.
"What is this creature? Did you make this soft and fluffy giant cat? Everything about it feels like a normal house cat, but when I look at him, he is bigger than any cat that has lived on this!" Gaia eximed, and I nodded, shaking my other foot, finally getting some feeling into them.
"Yes, Alfredo was a small cat before, but I edited some small cats and dogs to help with rescue efforts," I exined, and Gaia nodded while she reached out and petted the massive white cat.
"Yes, but it is hard with so few. We have been collecting more animals for you to change to help out. We might have traumatized them, though. One of the dogs pissed in my mouth on the way back here! You don''t have any idea how much I wished I could have closed my mouth!" Alfredo growled, and Iughed.
"All for the cause, my friend. Plus, what would you have done as a house cat if a massive dog your size picked you up? Still, great work. Let''s go quickly see your collection, and I will make it so they can help you out more," I said, and the big white cat nodded to me.
"Sure,e this way. I have them all inside a room in that building over there," Alfredo said and started to walk towards a half-destroyed coffee shop.
Chapter 46 Switch Gears
I followed Alfredo into the ruined building, and I could hear the sounds of whimpering animalsing from a room up ahead. I could smell strong scents of animal urineing from up ahead, and Gaia screwed up her face.
"What is that strong smell?! It burns my nose!" Gaia eximed, and Iughed.
"Maybe you should go wait out front with Alfredo? I will deal with the animals and bring them out," I exined, and Alfredo nodded.
"I am sure that you can figure out what room they are in. Come little one, you can pet me more," Alfredo said as I set Gaia down, and she ran over to hang him.
Then she grabbed onto his fur, making both Alfredo and me wince. Him much more than me!
"Hey, you little runt!" Alfredoined but stopped when Gaia started to scratch behind his ears.
"Be a good big kitty and take me outside, and you will get more head scratches! I will convince Dan to give you chin scritches if you are good!" Gaia said, and Alfredo grumbled but did what he was told.
I chuckled, watching the two leave, and then turned back to the bathroom that was up ahead. It had a push to open the door, so it made sense why the big cat had chosen it.
Once I was at the door, I slowly pushed it open, but the smell was intense, and it made me step back in revulsion. I let the door close again and summoned grass up from the ground to break up into the bathroom.
The animals inside started to go wild, but they would be fine. The grass was just meant to absorb all the fertilizer, and the smell was practically gone within a few moments.
Nowes the tricky part.
I walked over to the door and slowly opened it, but all the animals ran at me.
"Stop!" I roared, and every one of the animals froze in ce, and I sighed.
The cats and dog''s all looked to be in rough shape, and wild eyes stared up at me. They all must be pretty traumatized by now, but hopefully, making them bigger and brighter would help them ovee this little hurdle.
"All right, everyone forms a line! Follow me outside, and then space yourselves out!" I ordered, feeling a bit silly, but all the animals listened and seemed to calm down.
I lent my line-up outside were Gaia and Alfredo were waiting. All the animals ignored Alfredo and did precisely what I had asked of them, somewhat impressing me, even though it was my Systems doing.
"Woah! It''s like you are an animal trainer or something! I could do it too, but seeing someone else being so connected to life like me is amazing!" Gaia said as she watched all the animals spread out.
I smiled at her and started to walk through the gathered cats and dogs, targeting each as I went. I made sure to keep them a good bit smaller than Alfredo but still big enough to be able to help carry people if they needed.
It only took about ten minutes to get them all to a proper size, but none of them moved from their spots. They were all just staring at me intently, so I nodded to them after I stood back so all the animals could see me.
"I know that you guys have had a pretty traumatic couple of days, but there are more people out there that need your help. I would like you all to listen to what Alfredo here says. He is in charge of search and rescue, and he will be giving you orders from now on, okay?" I asked, and the group of animals nodded, and then all turned to Alfredo, who took a step back in surprise.
"Are you really going to have all the animals following me?! How am I supposed to get anything done if I have to keep giving everyone orders?!" Alfredoined, and I rolled my eyes.
"If you don''t want to have to look after them all, you will have to find some animals that you trust. Once you do, we can better divide the workload, but as It stands, you are the only one I can trust with this, got it?" I asked, and the big cat let out a long breath.
"You''re the boss, but I will try to find out who will be best for the jobs by tonight," Alfredo said as I walked over to him, reaching out to Gaia.
"I have to get off him already? He is so fluffy and warm!" Gaiained, but I still scooped her off the big cat''s back.
"Later, I am sure that you can ride him or any of the others, but don''t you and I have some sick people to take care of?" I asked as she settled back into my arms.
"Sorry, I got caught up in the feeling of that soft fur! Yes, we need to go help the sick!" Gaia dered, pointing forward.
Iughed, and she looked up at me with a questioning look, and I leaned down to kiss her. The way that she switched gears was just another adorable thing about her.
"Why are youughing at me?" Gaia asked after I broke the kiss.
"Because you''re cute. That''s about it," I said as grass pushed up through the pavement, under my feet, and started to move me forward.
"I don''t think I really understand, but if you are happy, then I am happy!" Gaia said, and I kissed her again, and she looked at me with a grin, asking, "Was I being cute again? Do I get these wonderful kisses whenever I am?"
This woman was almost too much for me, and I would have to concentrate on getting anything done with her around. She was just way too cute for her own good, and I couldn''t help but want to kiss her every time.
Chapter 47 Send Them Back To The Life Stream!
Most of the people in the area hade over to where the trees I had connected with were. It made sense since the trees were now giving off enough heat to melt the snow all around them.
I slowed down and talked to many people, directing them to the Great Tree. I was confused about why they hadn''t juste to the big tree, but it turned out a significant number of people seemed leery of the idea.
"There you go. You should be feeling better now and be able to make it to the Great Tree up the road," I exined to a family after I had finished healing some minor cuts and bruises and one child that had pneumonia.
"Is it safe for us to go there?" The father asked me, but Gaia answered.
"Yes, Daniel is the one that created the tree, and he is providing safe havens for everyone. My name is Gaia, and I am the spirit of the earth, and I ce my trust in this man," Gaia exined, reaching out her hand to the boy I had healed.
A Tigerlily grew up from her palm as she did, and the child''s eye went wide with amazement.
The parents and the people around us started to p and cheer at Gaia''s little trick, making her look around in surprise.
"Did I do something wrong?" Gaia asked as she looked up at me, and I grinned.
"No, you just keep being you. You make the people morefortable with your words and actions, so I have no issue. Plus, you''re cute, so you make a much better spokesperson than I do," Iughed.
We continued for two hours and ended up at the other Great Tree. To my surprise, a significant number of people were sleeping outside, but none of them were sick.
"Hey! Why can''t we go to the big tree like everyone else?! I deserve to be inside, unlike some other people!" One man shouted, wearing a dirty suit that at one time looked fancy.
"Yeah! I am a CEO at Fibretech! I deserve to be in a nice warm ce!" Another man called.
Most people stood up, and the masses started to try and surround me but summoned grass all around me. It started to grab everyone around me, pinning people in ce and disarming them.
"What is wrong with these people? Why do they think that they are more important than others?" Gaia asked with worry in her voice.
"That was the world that they lived in before, but these ones still haven''t seemed to learn that this isn''t the same world. None will be given ess to the Great Trees until they change their ways," I exined as the grass was almost finished.
People around us were yelling and screaming, but I was talking close to Gaia so she could hear me okay. The grass pulled all weapons into the ground, and within about a minute, everyone around me was bound in ce.
"What happens if they don''t change?" Gaia asked.
"They will be forced out of the city after erecting a barrier. Once that is done, those that wish to cause harm or refuse to change are blocked from the city. The trees can sense everything about a person just from their energy, but I don''t have to tell you that," I said, and a stump started to grow from beneath me, raising us so everyone could see me.
"That is a good idea, but I don''t disagree with sending them back into the LifeStream if they be threats to our people''s safety. I have watched this world tear itself apart, and for the first time in history, I am here to finally help see and guide a change. With your help, of course."
To my surprise, Gaia''s voice had be loud enough for everyone to hear, making everyone go quiet. I smiled, and she and she smiled back at me, and I looked up at the now scared-looking people.
"I did note to kill any of you, but I also did note here to make demands. You are humans, and the world that you knew two days ago is gone and nevering back. All your social standings, or positions at your old jobs, or even gangs are gone. Violence is no longer necessary unless it is to defend the things you hold dear, but I will be taking care of that for you. If you want to be part of the new world that I am trying to create, you have to leave the old one behind. If not, you will be sent from here and not allowed to enter until you are like-minded," I exined, and people immediately started back.
"You can''t do this! We have rights!"
"You''re just a monster like the one that destroys the city!"
"SILENCE!" I roared, and everyone stopped speaking as the grass got tighter, and then said, "I am giving you an option, but you have three days to decide, and I will be watching. You are allowed to make your own choices, but if you do not like mine, then you need to leave. End of discussion. Also, don''t mess with the trees and nts, or they will mess you up. You are warned!"
I released everyone, but there were a couple people that tried to rush me right off. I had expected this, and the stump already had roots spread out.
Roots burst from the ground around, making the ones that hadn''t been grabbed run in fear. The ten that had been grabbed were flung outside of the city at very high arcs like the big guy that had attacked me.
Those ones we''re going back to the LifeStream, but I turned back to the fleeing people, and grass shot up to stop them.
"Hold on. Seems I forgot one thing. Any aggression towards my people or me will not be tolerated. Decide what you want to do in peace, or get a flight out of the city with no parachute!" I growled and then let the people go to continue to run from the tree.
Chapter 48 Toss Him!
"I think that went over well," Gaia said after the stump lowered, and I put her down.
"True, considering that there were about three hundred people there, only having to throw ten was not bad. I had thought it would be worse, but I think many of them lost their metal when I took their weapons," I said with a sigh, but Gaiaughed at me.
"Lost their metal when they lost their metal! That is a funny joke!" Gaia giggled, and I grinned, despite knowing that I had just killed ten people.
I would have to harden myself because there were going to be plenty more that were going to try to resort to violence. In a sense, I was going to have to get this city under lockdown to make sure that people were safe.
Who knows what was happening in other parts of this city? That was one reason that I needed to start connecting with more trees.
"Are you okay?" Gaia asked me, bringing me out of my thoughts.
"Uh, yeah, just thinking about what just happened and what I was going to have to do in the future to protect this dream I want to build," I said, starting to walk to the entrance of the hospital''s Great Tree.
"What do you mean by this dream? Isn''t this all real?" Gaia asked, taking my hand, and I nodded.
"It is real, but what I want is still just an idea or a dream. We will have to work hard to make this a reality and then protect it," I exined, and Gaia nodded.
"I see what you mean. You are worried that you are going to have to send more people back to the Life Stream, right?" Gaia asked, and I nodded.
"I really don''t want to, but I really just have no patience for people that only care about themselves. There were more than ten that ran at me, but those ten had the intent to kill me, so I returned in kind. The other stopped and ran away once they saw what would happen, and I hope that information spreads like wildfire," I said as we approached a spiral door on the front of the tree.
"I understand what you mean, but I support your choices. No one is perfect, but you have an excellent understanding of what this world needs," Gaia said with a smile as the door spun open to show the Emergency Room doors and entrance.
"I just want to be able to rx at some point in the foreseeable future. If I have to get rid of all these Viins, then I am going to have to find most of them and help people all over the world be connected again. This time I am going to erase all hate or try, but I haven''t got that far yet," I said with a chuckle.
"We will all figure it out. You have some other amazing women at your side, so make sure that you don''t try to take on all the world''s burdens. We are all here to help you as much as we can," Gaia exined, and I nodded, leaning down to give her a kiss on the forehead.
When I looked up, the doctor that I had seenst time was walking over to meet us.
"Hey! You are back! I can''t thank you enough for everything you have done for us! Strawberries and nuts, plus running water! Public bathing rooms! You really can do it all!" Grayson said with a grin but then leaned into me, whispering, "But did you really have to make the trees whip the men that tried to peak?!"
That made meugh, and then I gave Grayson a look, and he put his hands up in defense.
"This man is a pervert. You should throw him out of the city," Gaia said, letting go of my hand and crossing her arms.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! I was only kidding!" Grayson said, backing away from Gaia.
"He lies too! Toss him!" Gaia ordered, but I bonked her on the head lightly.
"Grayson is a good guy, just a bit misguided. I am sure that he will work to correct this, so you don''t force me to throw him hundreds of feet into the air out of the city," I said, and Grayson paled.
"If you say so, but let''s get going so we can heal all the sick people. They all seem to be on the lower floors," Gaia exined, and this seemed to knock Grayson''s brain back into gear.
"Oh! Yes, I made sure to keep the sick on the lower level to prevent spread. We will have medicines, but we aren''t getting new stuff, so at some point, we are going to run out," Grayson exined, and I nodded as I told the grass to start to pull the three of us.
"Hmm, it seems you aren''tpletely useless, but you had better stop trying to peek at women! Go find someone who likes you, and she will let you look all you want!" Gaia dered, and Grayson bowed profusely.
It was kind of fun to watch, but that also reminded me that Gaia might have a lot of pent-up anger at watching humans. I couldn''t imagine what it must have been like for her, and in the future, I might want to think of ways that she could release some of that pent frustration.
Together, Grayson showed us around to each of the rooms that had sick in them, and I summarily healed them all. It took about an hour in total but seeing everyone''s relieved faces was worth it.
Plus, Gaia looked very pleased, so that was winning in my book to see that beautiful smile.
"Thank you so much foring over and helping everyone!" Grayson eximed, bowing to me deeply.
"No problem, but I think that I am ready for a soak now. Starting to feel a bit tired," I said, but the truth was that I was drained.
Chapter 49 Planting A Seed In Mother Earth
Once we left the hospital, the two of us headed back home down the line of connected trees. I was at the point where I was sitting down with Gaia on myp, and the grass was pushing myzy ass home.
"Sorry for making you work so hard! You look exhausted!" Gaia said, and I chuckled, stroking her hair.
"Don''t worry about it. I could have used one of the baths there to get some energy back, but I wanted to go home. So, it''s really just my fault for being a stubborn fool. Those people needed our help, and now they are better," I exined, and Gaia nodded as people waved and greeted us as we passed.
It was like riding on a magic carpet through the city at ground level and being some semi-popr public figure. People didn''t mob me, but everyone watched me and most greeted me.
It was all still strange, but things were going to keep on changing, so I would just have to roll with the punches. That was all I really could do.
It was just past lunchtime when the grass pulled us upfront of my Great Tree, and there was already a basket waiting for us. There were a good number of people lining up to enter the building, and many of them had some of the Large animals carrying them.
I wanted to say something to the people as I got into the basket, but I barely had the energy to stand and get into the basket. Luckily, Gaia was still full of piss and vinegar, and she seemed to sense that I wanted to say something.
"My name is Gaia, and this tired person is Daniel Brighton, the one that created this tree. If you are sick or injured, he wille to visit you tomorrow to help heal you. For now, just get yourself inside and clean up! There is food, water, and warmth!" Gaia called, and the people lined up cheered as much as they could.
I was already back to sitting down in the basket and damn near falling asleep as I watched the people below get smaller. I didn''t want to fall asleep right now, there was too much to do, but my body was giving me a big fuck you.
Gaia came over and sat in myp and kissed my cheek, helping me at least open my eyes back up that had mysteriously closed on me.
"Almost there," Gaia said.
Then I felt the roots that made up the bottom of the basket start to pull away, and my eyes shot open. Both Gaia and I were dropped out of the basket but immediately hit the warm water, sinking down to my neck.
I was wide awake now, and I was sure that I could feel that Mr. Tree wasughing at me.
Gaia jumped up with a smile, her white dress sticking to her body and leaving nothing to my imagination. That was also when I remembered that I was wearing my suit, and I sighed as I stood back up.
I took everything off and tossed it to the side, Gaia doing likewise, and the two of us sank back into the water. I moved over to my ledge at the opposite end of the pool from the stairs, and Gaia came over to sit on myp.
It wasn''t hard yet, but her skin no longer had any ridges in it, and my body reacted like it would to any woman. Gaia had her legs closed, but she opened her legs when she felt my growing shaft push up.
"Oh? What does this mean? Do you want to mate with me?" Gaia asked, slowly sliding forward to rub against me, letting out a small moan.
"Not up here, as much fun as that would be. It wouldn''t be fair to one of the other girls if they walked up here and saw us," I exined, but Gaia reached a hand down between her legs.
To gently pull my stiff rod up so she could grind against it slowly.
"But, Mr. Tree will make sure no onees up, right, Mr. Tree? This is different from kissing, and it''s making my body hot. Please, can I try this thing?" Gaia asked, looking up at me with eyes almost pleading.
I smiled and nodded, and Gaia turned around after lifting and pushing my cock against my chest. I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into a kiss as she wrapped her legs around me.
Gaia rubbed her pussy into my cock, faster and faster, but then she slowed down, pulling back from the kiss.
"This feels good, but something doesn''t feel right! I get close to something amazing, then it goes away!" Gaiained, and I nodded, sliding my hands down her back.
"Let me show you. You''re rubbing on what should be inside of you to get the full effect," I exined with a grin, and Gaia nodded.
"Please, show me!" Gaia said to me with hungry eyes as I lifted her up.
I slowly guided my tip to rub into her soft slit and pushed up in the slide of her slowly. Gaia''s eyes went big, and she leaned forward to clutch me around my chest, letting out a long moan.
I let her push her body the rest of the way down, but I also asked Mr. Tree to lower the water levels to just below my knees. I really didn''t like having sex in water, no matter how rejuvenating this stuff was.
Gaia looked up at me with loving eyes, putting one hand on my shoulder and the other on the back of my neck. She pulled me into a kiss and used me to lift her ass up and down on my hard cock.
I reached down and took one of her breasts to fondle in my hands, and the other I used to cup and squeeze her ass. Both actions made Gaia start moving faster, pushing her pussy down harder into my throbbing rod.
Both of us broke the kiss, and Gaia wrapped both arms around my neck as I stood up, taking her ass in both hands. I mmed her petite body down onto my cock, and Gaia cried on top of my shoulder, begging not to stop.
The pressure built up, and a final thrust filled Gaia''s twitching and tight pussy, and I exploded. Gaia''s fingers dug into my back as her body shook simultaneously as my hot cum pumped inside of her.
At the same time, a screen popped up, but I ignored it to continue kissing Gaia as we slowly sat back down.
[Mother Earth]
Chapter 50 Friends And Family
"That was better than I could have ever imagined! After watching others do it for so long, I had almost thought that I might be disappointed, but the wait was worth it!" Gaia eximed from myp, and I smiled.
"I am happy that you enjoyed it, but how do you feel now? Your body should have gone through some changes, right?" I asked because there was outwardly nothing different about Gaia.
"I feel more connected to nature, and my control of nature has increased dramatically," Gaia exined, and the water in the bath rose back up, and flowers grew around the edges.
"Ahh, there we go! Maybe you can help me with building the barrier? We will have to create trees around the city, but the whole ce will end up bing a forest by the time we are finished," I exined, and Gaia nodded.
"I will help you with whatever I can," Gaia replied, and I kissed her again, pulling her into my chest.
"This is nice up here, but I need to go find the grumpy one," I said as I let go of her.
"Yes, I think that I am going to stay up here for a bit," Gaia said as she slipped off myp beside me.
I stood up and then turned back to kiss her one more time. Her lips were so soft now, and Gaia smiled up at me as we broke apart.
I turned back and headed down the stairs to first find Amy to get some new clothes and the Miss Grumpy Pants. Even though I knew she wouldin, Victoria was the best girl for this next job, I had to do.
On my way down, I grew some shorts just to keep myself covered, and It was a good thing that I did. I nearly ran into Victoria, who was walking past the stairs in thought.
"Watch where you are going! How did you even get up in the bath? Where is your new pet?" Victoria growled, shaking her finger at me, but I grabbed her by the wrist.
"The first two things I will tolerate, but I will not have you talk down about any of the other women. I respect each of you, and I don''t care how you want to act around me, but you had better show restraint. No one is my pet. I only have friends and family," I said in a low voice and let go of Victoria''s hand.
"Sorry," Victoria said quietly, rubbing her wrist.
She was wearing a white and yellow sundress that ran to the floor. It made her red hair and green eyes stand out, and it was hard to stay mad at her.
"Come, let''s go find Amy, and then I need your help with something. I am sorry that I almost ran into you, and I was up in the bath after helping heal the sick in the other Great Tree and all over the city that I am connected to," I exined, and Victoria nodded, but she didn''t look at me.
I had probably scared her because I didn''t usually talk to her like that, but she also typically wasn''t so callous as to insult others. Maybe there was something on her mind that was bothering her, but I could pry that out once we were outside.
"Amy is still in your room. What do you need me for?" Victoria asked as we started to walk.
"Your parents and grandparents owned greenhouses, right? And you have worked there before, so you will know where the seeds are. We can also go make sure they are okay and guide them to the Great Tree," I exined, and Victoria grabbed me, making me stop.
"You promise?! Will you help them?" Victoria asked with a frantic look in her eyes.
I grabbed her by the shoulders and looked directly into her scared green eyes. All she had to do was ask.
"Stop acting so silly! We aren''t kids anymore, Vic! You just have to ask, and I will try to help in the best way that I can. I get it; you don''t know how you feel about me, fine, but if something is bothering you,e and tell me," I told her, and she looked away from me.
"I''m such an asshole to you all the time. Why do you even act like this?" Victoria asked, still not looking at me.
Melody had just stepped into the hall but then backed off and went back inside her room.
"I don''t need a reason to want to help someone I care about," I said inly, and Victoria looked up at me quickly with challenging eyes.
"I don''t get it or understand you, but if you say you will help them, I will try to trust you and help," Victoria said, and I let go of her shoulders.
I patted her on the head, and Victoria scowled, but she also blushed slightly. I grinned and turned her around to head to my room.
I caught a glimpse of a grinning Melody as I walked by her room, but she didn''t say anything. I was sure that she was pleased with the results, but I still wasn''t sure if I had gotten anywhere with Victoria yet.
"Did you recall the clothes I made you already?" Amy asked after the door spun open.
The room was filled with wooden copies of each of the girls, and they all had piles of dresses beside them. It looked like Amy had been working non-stop since I left.
"No, they are just wet, so I was going to ask you to make me another set. After that, I want you to take a break for the rest of the day. You are pushing yourself too hard right now," I exined to Victoria, walking into my room.
"Sorry, I just really enjoy this, but I am starting to get a bit tired," Amy said with a smile.
"These dresses look really nice, Amy! You really have an amazing imagination!" Victoria said as she went over to look at a green dress that was hanging on a copy of herself.
"Thank you! I always wanted to make dresses, but my father disapproved," Amy said with a beautiful smile and then looked at me, asking, "What can I put you in this time?"
Chapter 51 My Curmudgeon
"Somethingfy. Vic''s parents are really chill, and they smoke half the stuff they grow, so sweats, T-shirt, and a hoodie," I said, and Amyughed.
"You and my parents are the biggest ckers! They never got anything done when you came over!" Victoria growled at me, and that was true.
"That was because you made me do everything to help you! I happened to like your parents, but you always would drag me away to order me around!" I retorted.
"What else did I ask for you toe over for?! They already like you enough!" Victoria shouted and then turned away from me.
Amy came over with a cute and knowing smile and kissed me before dragging her fingers down my chest. A ined light green hoodie with a white shirt appeared, and tan sweats.
"Make sure to find some good fruits and veggies! Strawberries are good, but we will need more," Amy told me, and I nodded, kissing her back.
She looked so pretty, but I needed to focus on the other one right now. Victoria still seemed to be bothered, but our memories were fun ones.
"Let''s go, Vic. Unless you want to change before we go?" I asked, but Victoria shook her head.
"No, I am ready to go," she said and headed out of the room fast without me.
"She seems like a tough shell to crack, but there are some starting to form, I think," Amy said to me with a smile, and I nodded.
"Slowly, but make sure you go soak. The pool will make you feel much better," I said and pulled her into another kiss, and she returned it.
I turned from Amy and headed out of the room to go find where my curmudgeon went.
"Psst!" Melody said as I passed her room, and she yoinked me inside.
"Hello! You know, you can just invite me in, right? What did you want, cuteness!" I asked, and she smiled at me.
"Nothing, just wanted to steal a kiss and say you are doing a great job!" Melody said and pulled me by the hoodie into a kiss.
Then she removed my hoodie in the same motion.
"Hey! I just got that! Get Amy to make you one!" I growled, but Melody jumped back like a cat and hissed at me.
"Mine! They are always better after you wear them!" Melody said as she slipped the hoodie over her head.
It almost went down to her knees, and she looked cute in it, so I could hardly deny her. I didn''t really need it, but it was more of afort thing.
"Fine, you win this time, cuteness, but I will be on guard for you next time. Now, where did the curmudgeon go?" I asked.
"Probably down by the elevator. I can assure you that she will not get flung out of the tree!" Melodyughed, and Iughed back and then made a serious face.
"She will learn to fly."
"That is your funeral."
"It will take too long, but we will take the easy way back. Best I can do for her," I said with a shrug, and Melodyughed again.
"You really never change, do you? Everyone gets the same amount of pushing room, but there are some things that you just don''t budge on!" Melody said with a smile, and I grinned back.
"Yeah, I can think of someone else who is quite simr and has never changed since I met her. That''s why I can''t ever stop loving you as much as I do; you refuse to change, so you are stuck with me!"
"Could be worse," Melody said, and I left the room with her grinning at me.
I headed back down the hall, and sure enough, Victoria was waiting by the elevator, but she was ring at the whole that was open on the south. I headed down to the first floor, and she turned around to face me.
"I know the tree is hot but is that hole in the wall necessary?!" Victoriained.
"Nope, but it will close after we are gone," I said as I walked over to her, and Victoria started to back away from me.
"Wait! I am not like the other crazy girls! I hate heights! Please, Daniel, don''t do this!" Victoria pleaded as I scooped her up.
"Stop fighting, and put your head into my chest. Close your eyes, and I will tell you when you open them," I exined, and Victoria slowed down some.
"Promise? I really don''t like heights, and I am terrified right now!" Victoria said with a shaking voice.
"As long as you are in my arms, nothing can hurt you, I promise. I will always keep you safe and out of danger to the best of my abilities," I told her, and Victoria turned her red face into my chest, closing her eyes.
"Shut up, idiot. I only asked for a promise. You don''t have to say all the other dumb mushy things!" Victoria said, but I could see a slight smile on her face.
I ran to the edge and aimed southeast to the far edge of the city, and I was wrapped in roots. We were lifted out into the air, and then the tree flung us.
For the rise up to my arch, Vitoria was quiet. Then when our climb up stopped, she opened her eyes.
"Oh my god, Daniel! Oh god! We are going to die! I should have never listened to you!" Victoria cried in pure terror, but I silenced her with a long kiss.
She fought me for a moment, but then she returned the kiss with surprising passion.
The ground came fast, and then impact cracked the ground, but I took no damage. My feet did tingle, but I had absorbed most of the shock.
Vitoria and I still kissed, so I summoned grass to push us along the rest of the two blocks. We had gotten close, but this was a long toss without throwing me like a missile.
"Daniel and my little girl?! Am I hallucinating? Helen! Are you seeing this miracle?" A familiar voice asked, and Victoria turned to stone in my arms, freezing mid-kiss.
Chapter 52 Feel Like A Hero
I looked up to see the smiling face of Frank Press and his wife, Helen. They were Victoria''s parents, so I could understand her reaction, but there was no hiding this one.
"Frank! How are you all holding up? Gram and Pops still okay?" I asked without skipping a beat, walking over to two of them.
"Gram''s not feeling too good, we got a fire going, but it''s hard to get medicine now. We came out here to see the loud noise but never thought that it would be you two! And kissing! Only took the end of the world, but I told you it was gonna happen one day!" Frankughed, but I was concerned about Grams.
"Vicky, aren''t you going to say something? You do look like a princess right now in that beautiful dress and Daniel carrying you," Helenughed at her daughter, but Victoria was still frozen like a stone.
"Take me to Grams. Don''t worry about this one; I will take care of her," I said and then pinched Victoria''s ass.
"Ow! You prick! That hurt! Put me down, you beast!" Victoria shouted at me, snapping out of her trance.
I did as she asked, and both parentsughed at her, but Victoria darted behind me right away.
"Stop being such assholes, and take him to go help Grams!" Victoria shouted behind me, pushing me forward.
I grabbed Victoria, pulled her around to my side, and put my arm around her. She hid her face in my side but didn''t pull away, and Frank and Helen stoppedughing but were still smiling.
"You are right. If you can help Grams, we would all really appreciate it," Frank said and led us the rest of the way past one of the greenhouses.
"We can make you some tea when you get inside!" Helen smiled.
"So, it really is all over?" Frank asked me as we walked over to a big three story house attached to tworge greenhouses.
"To a degree. Power is gone; there is now a group of super powered evil spread across the world. It really doesn''t get more fantasy than this," I said with a sigh, and Frankughed.
"Could be worse! You seem to be doing alright, and you even saved my brat! You don''t know how happy it makes us see you two like this, but what about the others?" Frank asked, and I nodded.
This man was always overly optimistic, but that wasn''t a bad thing. I had smoked and talked with Frank many times, and we always ended up in tears fromughing so hard about the dumbest things.
"Still with me, plus a few more, and now this one, I hope. People are dying all over the world, and this is the best way I know how to keep them safe," I said, but it wasn''t really an answer.
"Oh? Vicky, you have decided to give up fighting Melody?" Helen asked, and I looked at her with a raised eyebrow and then down at Vicky, whose face was getting red, and I could feel her tremble.
"How about we just leave this one alone for a little while? This is pretty new, so nothing has really happened. Besidesing to get you guys, we came to get all the seeds you have," I exined, and Victoria squeezed me.
"Oh? Seed? We can start getting them ready while you see to Grams. Sorry, honey! I know that you are embarrassed, but we are both just thrilled that you are happy!" Helen said but then turned forward, dropping the subject.
I leaned down to Victoria, whispering, "Why don''t you go get anything that you want to bring back from your room? I will go make sure Grams is okay, and you can cool down for a bit, okay?"
"Sure," Victoria said and broke from my side to run up the stairs as soon as we got into the house.
The ce was chilly, but I was already connecting with the nts that were still alive in the greenhouse. To my surprise, almost all of them were, but fires were going, and that had saved them.
"I am going to need a brief moment, but I don''t think you are going to have to bring me the seeds," I said, pausing when I walked into the living room where Grams was lying on a bed near the firece.
"Who is this person?" Pops asked, and I looked up, shocked by all the information my body was collecting.
"Dad, this is Daniel, remember? This is Victoria''s good friend," Frank exined to his father, but the man had Dementia.
This was something that I couldn''t throw money at to fix, and I had tried. Nothing killed me more than seeing someone like Pops forget his own family, but things were different now.
"Daniel?! I don''t remember any fe looking like this! Where is Mary?!" Pops called out, and Frank was about to step forward, but I put a hand out to stop him.
This was a heavy moment for me, and I felt my chest well up. I walked over to where Pops was sitting in a chair beside the bed and knelt down, targeting him.
Grams was okay for now, but this was something that I had always dreamed I could do, and I wished I had some power that could change this. I ced my hand on Pops knee with a tear running down my face.
"Would you like to see Mary again, Pops?" I asked, trying to keep myself together, and the old man looked at me, but his body was already getting younger.
For the first time, I really did feel like a Hero.
"Daniel? I know you! Wait, what is going on?" Pops asked as I returned his body to when he was twenty-five.
His hair had been sparse, skill aged and dotted with moles, but that was all cleared up now. Pops hair had returned to a back color, and his body filled back out to a healthy size.
Chapter 53 Why Do You Even Like Me?!
"Hwhat?!" Both Frank and Helen eximed, and I grinned at the once old man, but now he looked the same age as me.
"Now, Let''s give Grams a bit of a boost!" I said, turning to the gray-haired woman in bed that was breathing heavily.
No one spoke. The three in the room were transfixed on Grams as she became younger, but I also targeted Frank and Helen.
Within moments, everyone in the room looked the same age, and Grams sat up from her bed, staring down at her hands. Before anyone could react, Pops tackled Grams back down into the bed and started to kiss her.
I turned back around and found Helen and Frank wrapped in each other''s arms, already doing the same thing. I guess that I really could me them.
This was about the time that Victoria came down the stairs holding a small chest with a flip lid I recognized. That had been on her vanity since she was little, but it had always been closed, so I had no clue what was in it.
"What happened to everyone?" Victoria asked as she walked into the makeout fest.
"Well, I made your family all about our age and in the best shapes of their lives. Looks like they are putting them to good use, and Grams is clearly better," Iughed.
"Victoria! Dear! It is so good to see you! Herbert! Get off me for a moment so I can say hello to our granddaughter, you old horn dog!" Grams barked, and Pops rolled off her, looking up at Victoria.
"Little Vicky?! Wow, feels like I haven''t seen you in years!" Pops said with augh, but Victoria burst into tears, shoving the chest in my arms and then running to grab the once old man.
"Pops!" Victoria cried, and I smiled.
Seeing this made it all worth it.
Suddenly, I was hugged from both sides, and I looked down to find both Helen and Frank.
"There are no words to express what you have just done. All I can do is thank you from the bottom of my heart!" Frank said with tears in his eyes, and then he broke away from me to go hug his father with Victoria.
"I always knew that you were special, and so did she, but you have always had aplicated life with girls. I was surprised when I saw you and her kissing, but now I can see why. She must have witnessed more things like this, and it would be hard for her to keep her resistance up after that," Helenughed, and I grinned.
"I have always cared about her, even with her ws because I have just as many, but I never knew that she felt the same way as me. Still, all that is well ends well, and everything worked out in the end. I was just d that I could help people now," I said.
Helen was still holding on to me, and she was a brown haired splitting image of her daughter.
"Mom, how long are you going to hold on to Daniel?" Victoria asked as she was suddenly standing before me.
"Oh, just a bit longer, dear. His is so delightfully warm, and I can see why you finally let your guard down! If Frank wasn''t with me...." Helen said as she fidgeted, pressing her breasts into me.
"MOM! Get off him!" Victoria screamed and pulled her mother off me.
"What about me, Helen?!" Frank cried, and I rolled my eyes, rubbing a hand over my face.
Victoria grabbed the chest from my other hand, slipping under my lifted arm. I looked down, and she was blushing again, looking down, making me grin.
This violent woman could be so damn cute when she wanted to be.
"Come, let''s go see about the seeds. We can leave these four to themselves for a bit," I said, wrapping my arm around Victoria, and she nodded without speaking.
The two of us head to the back door of the house, walking out into the backyard. The greenhouses were already warm, and I could see the greenery moving around inside.
"Why did you do that for them?" Victoria asked as we walked into the first greenhouse.
"You love them, right?" I asked.
"Of course I do!" Victoria shouted at me, and I nodded.
"You also must be worried that one day they won''t be here anymore, right?" I asked, and Victoria stopped.
"I try not to think about it, but yeah. Grams and Pops were really old, and we might have lost Grams if you hadn''te and helped, but they aren''t your real family!" Victoria eximed, and I gave her a look.
"Really? You don''t think I don''t consider your family like my own? What do you think I woulde over for? Just the shit and abuse that you loved to dish out?" I asked, and Victoria''s eyes went big.
"But I am always so mean to you! Why do you even like me?!" Victoria shouted at me and took a step back, her face awash with raw emotions.
"As much as you are mean to me, you are so kind to other people. You like nts, and you do a great job at taking care of them. You don''t like sports, but you were at all the girls'' games, and you sat with me most of the time, even if just toin," I exined, and Victoria took another step back.
"I just don''t get you! I really like you, but I don''t understand why you feel the same way! You have all the other girls!" Victoria shouted, and I nodded.
"True, but all of you are different, and none of them are you. I didn''t choose this life, Melody wanted us all to be together, and that woman is impossible to say no to! I am sure that you know this, but the thing is that I really care about you all, so I will treat every one of you as my close family," I dered, and Victoria tried to take another step back but fell down on her arse to stare up at me.
Chapter 54 White Wings
The two of us stared at each other for a while, but I really wasn''t sure what else to say. The ball was in her court right now, but I did offer her my hand.
Victoria took it and then looked at the chest that I was still holding.
"Do you know what that is?" Victoria asked me after she got up, looking at the chest she was holding in one hand.
"No, but I won''t say that it hasn''t been one of my life''s greatest curiosities. You never talk about it, and every time I have noticed, it has been closed. Do you want to talk about what is inside of there? We aren''t in a rush right now," I exined, and Victoria looked away with a blush.
"It''s just things of yours that you made for me," Victoria said quietly, and my eyes widened.
"Really? Do you think I can see?" I asked, very interested to see what was in here.
"Umm, Maybe do you think we could wait? I don''t know if I am ready for you to see what''s in there. I am really embarrassed about it...." Victoria said nervously, and I nodded.
My system had just finished collecting over three hundred different types of nts from the seed and growing nts. I was due for a severe Growth Spurt, but I was getting a message that worried me.
[WARNING: Mega Growth about to activate in 00:00:30s]
"Sure, I don''t mind waiting, but I think I am actually going to need a minute to myself. Not really sure what''s going to happen, so take this," I said, offering the chest that Victoria took.
"Are you going to be okay?!" Victoria asked as a tree grew up beside me and warped a root around me in preparation to throw me.
"Don''t worry. I wille right back; I just am going to go through a big change! Sorry, got to go!" I exined but then was sent flying through the roof before Victoria could reply.
I was hurtled straight up in the air, and my body started to glow green. This was much different than thest time, but I wasn''t sure what exactly was going to happen.
Then I felt a pulse rip through my body as I reached the peak of my arc, and then my body froze in the air. My arms and legs spread out to the side, and another pulse ripped through my body.
[Mega Growth Activated: Evergrowth Evolution Initiated!]
I screamed out in pain like I had never felt before as the skin of my back was torn open. Something was growing not only from my back but under my skin, tearing me apart.
I was slightly cognizant of the green light that pulsed out of me, but my mind was being consumed by the pain. I wanted to stop it, but something inside of me screamed for me to hold on to my sanity as the pain tried to tear it apart.
Then, everything went quiet, and the pain stopped. I was now gliding down through the air, feeling the wind flowing past my feathered wings.
My body was different now, and normal damage would no longer affect me; my body would repair too fast, but there was something even more remarkable that had happened. Trees were sprouting up all over the city below me.
I could feel the city below me now, and Great Trees were starting to grow up around major areas of the city. There were also other more miniature versions of them popping up to fill the spaces between them.
It was something magical to watch from up here, but I was sure that Victoria was worried about me. I had been worried about me, but the pain that had torn through my body was a distant memory, almost like it had never happened.
I pulled my wings tight to my body and let myself drop through the air. I could have flown down, but I could test that out at another time; the wings weren''t going anywhere.
I should have crashed to the ground, but grass rose up and cushioned mynding, lowering me to the ground. I no longer needed tomand anything; all life forms in the city were connected to me and now understood what they needed to do.
All the dogs, cats, and foxes in the city had evolved, and now we''re helping anyone that needed it to get to the trees. From there, everyone would have ess to the special rejuvenation baths.
Those that refused to heed mymands were already being driven to the outside edge of the city. Everything that I had been nning to do had been done all in one fell swoop, and even a barrier was slowly being erected to surround my Central Forest.
This was only the beginning, and now I had a greater understanding of what I was capable of. Still, this was just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.
The extent of my power was only a fraction of what it could grow to be, but that hardly seems conceivable considering the power I wielded now. There was also the reminder that the others would be getting stronger as well.
I couldn''t rx just yet, but we were moving in the right direction. The biggest thing about this change has been releasing me from worrying about the people of this city.
Now I knew that everyone was being taken care of, and I could focus on moving forward to protect this world. The next step would be figuring out what kind of defense and warning systems we could get in ce.
"Daniel! What happened to you?! You look like an angel now!" Victoria eximed as she ran over to me to hug me, then growling, "You stupid jerk!"
"Sorry, I couldn''t help it, and now I am strong and can fly! Wannae for a ride?" I asked with a smile as I hugged her back, myrge white-feathered wings also encircling her.
Chapter 55 Act Of God
"Wanna punch in the nose? Just hold me like this for a bit, you idiot!" Victoria growled into my chest, and I smiled, patting her head.
"You should try to get used to it, Vic. It''s really beautiful up there, and I would like to show you what I have created for all of us," I said, kissing the top of her head.
Victoria looked up at me with a frown and then punched me in the stomach to no effect and then started to growl.
"I don''t like heights!" Victoria snapped.
"Neither did I, but at least you only had to get thrown once. This time will be different, I can stay low for now, and the grass is bringing out the chest you left in the house. I don''t really want to walk back, and I would like to get a look at the city as it is still growing. You can''t tell me you don''t want to see that, am I right?" I asked with a big grin, and Victoria clenched my white shirt in her hands.
"Fine, but if you take me higher, then I want to go, so help you God, I will never show you what is in that chest! Understand?" Victoria shouted at me, and I nodded.
"I promise. Scouts honors, or whatever!" I smiled, but Victoria narrowed her eyes.
"I am serious, Daniel! I need to be able to trust you!" Victoria told me, and I stopped smiling.
"I get it, and I am serious as well. You can put your trust in me," I said and picked her off the ground.
"What about my parents and grandparents?" Victoria asked, but I turned her to see the four of them walking over.
"Well, don''t you look different now! I feel like I should smoke one before you do anything else crazy, or just to watch the world grow! What do we live in now? A forest?" Frank asked as Helen, and the grandparents walked over to join us.
"I just saw you, boy, and now you have gone and grown a pair of wings?! Right after, you turned me back into a fresh sapling! How are we supposed to keep up with you?!" Pops asked, and Iughed.
"Just head to my Central Great Tree north of here. Vicky and I are going to go for a cruise around the city to see how things are growing. There sound be something inside of you pushing you towards the tree, so you won''t get lost. Feel free to smoke your brains out on the way; I am sure it''s going to be like a walking acid trip, so take your time," Iughed.
"Oh, Vicky! You are so lucky! I wish that I could go on a trip like that!" Helen eximed as she came over to kiss her daughter, who was in my arms and then gave me a kiss on the cheek.
"Mom! Go back with dad! Get off Dan!" Victoriained, pushing her mother back from me.
"Oh, my little girl is so protective of her new man!" Helenughed.
"Mom! Can we go? I am getting sick of them already!" Victoria whined, and Everyoneughed.
I turned and started to run, stretching my wings out as I did. This was going to be my first time taking off, so I should probably get some good speed, or Victoria would very likely never try this again.
I pushed myself to my limits and ran up the back of a car before jumping into the air, pping my wings. Getting up was a bitborious at first, but my body grew stronger with each p of myrge white wings.
"Don''t go any higher than this!" Victoria screamed, making my ears ring, but I was only twenty feet off the ground and barely clearing the light posts and wires.
"We need to get higher than the wires, and then we will glide," I exined, and Victoria clenched me tighter.
"Fine, just don''t drop me, you idiot!" Victoriained, and I nodded, beating my wings harder until suddenly I felt a warm draft seem to catch my wings and carry me.
With the warm draft under my wings, I barely needed to even p to hold a solid thirty-five feet. Now I could finally rx somewhat and look around at all the sights all around us.
"Look! The trees are starting to create bridges to each other!" I said to Victoria, and she slowly looked up.
The trees were slowly reaching out to connect with each other, making bridges. The process was slow, but we weren''t the only ones looking.
Down on the streets below, people were watching and pointing up at the trees and us. I could only imagine the stories that were going to start popping up around the city.
I would have to make sure that people didn''t start going around saying I was an angel or that this was all an act of God. That mother fucker wasn''t doing a damn thing, just like every other time.
I was a firm believer in what I saw, but I loved the idea of fantastical things, but God was not a subject that I could get down with. Too many holes in the stories and not enough proof of existence.
This, right now, growing around us, was created by ultra high tech AI that went crazy and decided to give me the power. The same ones were all over the world, killing and destroying things.
"This is actually really nice. I am still scared, but it feels like we''re floating on air, and you kind of look like an angel right now. I think that you should make me something that I can remember this by, like you used to," Victoria said as she looked up at me.
"Make you something? You aren''t going to throw it away like you didst time, right?" I joked, but the truth was that I knew she had gone back to get the things that I had made for her.
Chapter 56 An Angel
"I''m sorry that I did that, but I did go back and get them after! I was just embarrassed that you would give me something like them!" Victoria growled, and I kissed her forehead.
The items in question were things that I had been making to sell, and I wanted to know if the girls thought they would be good gifts. When I was younger, I had tried to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, and I went through a ton of crafting fazes.
"I know, I would go back and check, and they would always be gone. I knew that you liked them, so that was all that mattered. You girls are part of the reason why I ended up making such good money and why I made sure to help you all out the best I could," I exined.
"Mom told me when you were gone that you were the one that paid for our house and my grandparent''s bills. She also said that you paid for my college tuition, is that all true?" Victoria asked, and I nodded.
"Yeah, you girls have always been a big help to me, so I made sure to pay you all back. Not like I could find anything useful for all the money anyways. I was just happy that I could help you all, and we could all keep doing the things that we wanted to," I said with a smile as I learned to turn around the corner.
"I never knew," Victoria said, seeming to be puzzled.
"I never wanted you to, but I don''t hold it against your mother for telling you," I said, but Victoria looked troubled, so I asked, "What''s up?"
"You did all this, even though I have always been mean to you? I just can''t make sense of it all. I don''t deserve to have you in my life!" Victoria said, starting to cry.
I pulled my wings in, and we started to drop. We hit the ground before Victoria could even scream, and I put her down, stepping back.
"What is your problem?!" Victoria shouted at me.
"You and your shitty attitude. I did these things, so you don''t get to decide if you are worth it! I decided that!" I shouted at her, and she stepped back from me.
"I just... I''m mean to you!" She shouted back.
"Yeah, and I like you just the way you are! Do you think that I would really put up with your shit if It bothered me? When do I put up with anyone''s shit?" I asked, and Victoria looked away from me.
I sighed and walked over to her, wrapping Victoria in a hug, and she started to cry against me. People were gathering around, so I wrapped my wings around her as well to block the onlookers.
"I will always be here for you, but don''t start changing on me. There are enough girls that treat me like I walk on water, but you are one of the only girls that scold me. I don''t want that to change, but I would like for you to try and be a bit cuter when it is just the two of us, okay?" I asked, and Victoria nodded, wiping her face on my shirt.
"Do you think that we can start flying again? I don''t mind if you go a little bit higher, just please don''t drop us again," Victoria asked, and I nodded, unfurling my wings.
"Are you an angel sent from God?" A woman asked, stepping forward from the crowd.
"Nope, but I am the one that created all the ces that you can live in, and I help give you all the food. God has nothing to do with it," I said and then bent my knees before jumping into the air with a whoosh of my wings, and we were off.
I was able to gain altitude much faster this time, and it almost felt like something I was born to do. Soon we were up fifty feet into the air, and now we were able to soar over the bridge.
"Do you think that people will actually use these bridges?" Victoria asked as we glided over one that was creating a cage that went all around the bridges.
"Maybe not right away, but in time. At first, there will only be a few, but as time goes on, more people will get braver and will want to see the view. Each one of them will have benches and ces for people to sit down, so in time I think that we will see more people using them," I exined, and Victoria nodded.
"Is that big one up ahead our tree?" Victoria asked.
"Yup, so close your eyes were are going to go a lot higher," I exined, and Victoria nodded as I increased the strokes of my wings, carrying me higher.
The Great Tree was just up ahead, and I could see my house atop of it. There was a big hole opening on the side, waiting to let me back inside.
I flew up and inside but was surprised to see that all the girls were there waiting for me. I guessed that they could probably hear meing, and the side of the house opening up indeed gave it away.
"So, it seems like some big changes happened, but Vic still looks normal. What is that all about?!" Melody demanded, and she came storming over.
"What do you mean that I still look normal?! Did you think I was going to do it at my house with my parents there?! And I never said that I was ready for that, so mind your own business!" Victoria eximed, jumping off of my arms.
"Well, at least you seem to have figured out some of your feelings, so I will have to be satisfied with that! Now, you!" Melody said, turning on me.
"What about me?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at my short little Queen.
"Can I have a turn?" Melody asked, making big eyes.
"Like right now? In front of the other girls? I don''t think that is a good idea," I said, and Melody hit me.
Chapter 57 Now That Things Are Settled
"No, you bozo! I want to go flying with you! It looked like a lot of fun, but Vic didn''t look like she enjoyed it, but I will! And we can go really fast if you want! I just want to fly through the trees!" Melody eximed.
"I would like to have a turn after!" Katie called.
"Me too, Papi! But I want to fly with you!" Called Sofia.
Gaia and Marley also looked excited, but Amy didn''t look too interested.
? "Sure, but I need a good soak first. I went through a bit of a change, and I think that I need a recharge. How are you all feeling after the trees started growing?" I asked, and I walked through the girls, and they followed me up the stairs.
"I feel content and rxed now, but I think that is because you know that everyone is mostly safe now, right? I also feel much closer to you now, if that makes any sense?" Melody asked as most of the girls save Gaia and Melody headed in separate directions.
"I feel the same way. It''s like I can look at you and feel how much you care about me, even though we just met, and it makes me feel warm inside," Gaia said with a smile as the three of us headed up to the Rejuvenation bath.
"I am d that you both feel that way," I said with a smile.
"Don''t worry, Gaia. Daniel had always been this way. I don''t know if he thinks too much or not enough, but he is swift at deciding how he feels about people. Most people dwell in things for days, but I am pretty sure that Daniel only thinks about things to the absolute minimum," Melodyughed, and I narrowed my eyes as we reached the bath.
"What is wrong with that? When have I ever been a bad judge of character or made a rash decision without knowing all the consequences?" I asked, and Melody shrugged with a smile.
"Not saying it''s a bad thing, but you aren''t the type to beat around the bush, that''s all! You have been hanging around Vicky too much, and now she has got you one guard! I should go have a talk with that girl one of these days!" Melody demanded as she and Gaia stripped down with me.
"No, just leave her alone. I like her just the way that she is right now. We had a good long talk and made some real progress, so just leave her be," I exined, and Melody signed.
"I guess that is good, but it always irritates me that she treated you like that, even if I am friends with her! Still, you seem to like her whirlwind attitude for some unknown reason, probably Stockholm Syndrome or something. I will leave her be," Melody said and then got into the water.
I sighed, and Gaia shrugged, but we got into the water with Melody. Herrge breasts were floating in the water, and I glided over to kiss her, then sat beside her.
I motioned for Gaia toe to sit on my other side, and I wrapped my arms around each of the girls, pulling them into me. I leaned back, closing my eyes and rxing, a beautiful woman on each side of me.
"So, now that you have saved everyone in the city, what is your next big n?" Melody asked as she rested her head on my shoulder; Gaia did the same, copying her.
"Well, I would like to get Orphus out of my head, and then I want to pick his brain. I need to get some more info on the human body. I don''t think that he will do as well in a body like I made for Gaia; she grew into it," I exined, still keeping my eyes closed.
"I can share my knowledge with you, and that should help you with creating new life, right?" Gaia asked, and I opened my eyes, looking over at Gaia with a grin.
"You are absolutely right! Where better to get the information from than the Mother of All!" I eximed, kissing Gaia''s forehead, and she smiled brightly.
"I am d to be able to help!" Gaia said, cuddling into me more.
This was perfect, and it was something that I would start working on tomorrow morning. Today, I wanted to waste the rest of it with the girls, doing things that they wanted.
We had gotten through many crazy things over thest couple of days, but things were starting to be a new kind of normal. Sure it was nothing like the life that everyone had before, but everyone had a ce to sleep and food to eat.
"I think that after this, I am going to try and spend time with the girls that I haven''t. Of course, after taking you flying, I also want you to spend the evening and night with me tonight. You have been with your grandparents for thest week, and I missed you," I said, kissing Melody''s head, and she purred as she cuddled into me more.
"You can take me flying some other time. Spend time with the other girls now if you are going to take all of my time up tonight," Melody said quietly, and I smiled, leaned back, closing my eyes again.
This quiet was just a prequel to the danger that would being in the future, so I would take every chance that I got to enjoy my girls. Times were going to get a lot harder in the future, so I needed to capitalize on the time that I had.
The three of us rxed in the water, and I enjoyed them both tucked tightly on each side. The next step was to go find Marley, then Katie, and then it would be bedtime or somewhere near there.
I was curious how Marley was going to act with me after the time we had. I hope she wasn''t too mad about it, but at the same time, I really hoped that she learned something from it.
Chapter 58 Smells Like You
I left the two girls up in the bath, getting out of the water. Melody had said she wanted to talk with Gaia some more, so I forced my body to heat up, and steam started to rise off me.
I quickly got my clothes on and then said my goodbyes to the girls before heading down the stairs. I took a left at the second level and headed over to the room that I could sense Marley in; Kaite was also there with her.
I could sense the girls now, and I was able to pinpoint them, making it easy to track them down. It seemed that the girls must have asked Sofia for help because when I entered the room, both girls were working out.
Marley was bent down, doing shoulder pulls, using a root that wasing from the floor. It kind of looked funny, but it also looked very effective, as I could see the beads of sweat on Marley''s forehead.
Katie was running on a stretch of grass that was acting like a treadmill, but neither girl noticed me right away.
I walked in slowly, but as soon as I got about ten steps into the room, Katie looked over at me and stopped running.
That was a mistake, and the grass pushed Katie''s feet out from underneath her, but the grass surged up to catch her. Once she was back on her feet, she smiled and ran over to me, jumping into my arms.
"You surprised me! d that it wasn''t like a normal treadmill, or that would have really hurt!" Katie eximed, and I wrapped her in a hug.
I smiled and kissed her before setting her back down on the ground. She was sweaty, but I didn''t mind, and I also liked the smell of a hard-working woman.
"I can''t say that I wasn''tughing on the inside," I said with a grin, and Katie pushed off me, turning to look at Marley, who had switched arms and was facing away from us.
"Hey! Muscle Head! Are you going to put that root down ande over here? Or does Dan need to put you over his knee again?!" Katie taunted, and Marley looked up with an embarrassed re.
"Katie! Shut up! I can still kick your ass!" Marley yelled, and Katie giggled.
"Don''t be mean, or you will be next!" I scolded, and Katie''s face got mischievous.
"Do I have to be mean?" Katie asked, rubbing into me, and Iughed, pping her ass.
"I came to see if you girls wanted to do something? I thought that maybe I could take you out flying or something. I will have to figure out some kind of entertainment in the future, but I think flying is a pretty amazing way to spend some free time," I exined, and Katie nodded but looked at Marley, who was studying a spot on the ground.
"You can take me some other time. I think that I am going to finish my workout without distractions and then go for a soak. Tomorrow I would like to go find my parents, but they are outside of the city, and they will be fine for now," Katie exined, and I nodded, looking at Marley.
"Your parents live down the road, right?" I asked, thinking about all the times I had gone out to help on the farm with Katie''s parents.
"Yeah, but they can wait till tomorrow. They had lots of food and wood to keep warm, so the power going won''t bother them much. I guess I coulde with you; I want to get a better look at the city," Marley said, holding one arm by the bicep, then said, "But I am sweaty, and I probably stink."
I walked over to Marley, scooped her off the ground, and pressed my face into her neck, taking a deep sniff. The smell was of sweat and a slight body odor, but it smelt like her to me.
I kissed Marley''s neck a bunch of times until she started tough and pushed my face away. She tried to scowl at me, but I narrowed my eyes, and she put up her hands like ws in front of her face to protect her neck.
"You''re such a weirdo," Marley sighed, and Katie nodded.
"Yup, I can agree with that, but he is our weirdo. You two go have some fun, and I will catch up with you tomorrow. I am sure Melody has already imed you for the night; she was talking about it earlier. Since I have been waiting, I will require a movie date and a moonlit dinner after tomorrow. Anya is going to be taking all your time up tomorrow," Katie exined, and I nodded.
"That sounds interesting. I will try my best to get a movie set up for you, but that one is a tall request," I said with a smile, and Katie grinned at me.
"I am sure that you wille up with something, now get out of here. Go do something, and enjoy your time with him! Stop being so shy, and tell him how you really feel, or I will tell Melody that you chickened out again!" Katie warned, and Marley turned her face into my chest.
Iughed, and a hole opened up in the side of the room leading outside.
"Are you fine if we go fast? Or do you want a more rxed ride?" I asked, but I was sure that I already knew the answer.
"I don''t mind, but let''s go before Katie opens her mouth again," Marley said without looking up, and I ran for the hole.
"See youter!" I called to Katie and then leaped out into the open air, tilting down and starting to fall.
I kept my wings in for the first thirty feet to pick up some speed and then slowly brought them to open, leveling me out. I flew over a bridge and then tucked my wings to dive down lower, pulling up ten feet from the ground.
Chapter 59 Heading To The Farm
This feeling of the flight was something that I had a hard time ever seeing myself get bored of. The ability to soar up to any height and weave around the trees was unlike anything that I had ever experienced in my life.
"This is really amazing! I can''t believe that you turned the city into a forest; it''s almost like something out of a fairy tale. On top of it all, we are actually living inside the trees!" Marley eximed, looking up at me, and I nodded.
"All of this is more than amazing. I am the one that is doing it all, but I can hardly believe it myself," I said with a smile, pping my wings to bring us higher.
I brought us up to about seventy feet in the air before I leveled off. At this height, I was clear of all the smaller Great Trees, making it easy to cruise straight as we headed out to the outside edge of the city.
"Where are we going? I thought that we weren''t going to see my parents yet?" Marley asked, and I shrugged.
"I wasn''t, but they are outside of my reach right now, and I would feel a lot better if we checked on them," I exined, and Marley nodded.
"Thank you. I am sure that they are fine, but you know they aren''t going to want to leave, and neither will Katie''s parents. We both have animals on the farms that they won''t abandon. You know how they are," Marley exined, and I nodded.
"I am actually counting on that. Once we make it to the city''s outer edge, we will be dropping down to the ground. I need to create a root that stretches over the distance to your parents, and I will make a great Tree there. That will serve as an outpost for me to watch for thingsing. I n to train some people to start watching possible Viins," I exined as I slowly started to lower us.
I probably should have gotten on training people sooner, but now it would be even easier than before. I could tell what people would be good at for the most part, but I would still have to talk to them.
There was never any point in trying to get someone to do a job that they didn''t want to, even if they were good at it. I always was a firm believer in this myself and only ever really did what I wanted.
Soon the two of us sat down on the ground beside one of the Great Trees that was still growing slowly to make the outer barrier of the city. These trees were growing much slower than the rest, so I didn''t hit my limit too fast.
I needed to be able to have some flexibility for things like what I was going to do now. These outposts were crucial, but that wasn''t the only reason that we wereing out this way.
I could feel something getting closer to us,ing from that direction. I was almost positive that I was a Viin, but the feeling of uneasiness wasn''t very strong.
"Are you alright? You seem really distracted right now. You have just been standing here since wended," Marley asked me, and I blinked.
"Sorry. I haven''t been candid, but it was mostly because I didn''t want to worry you. I think someone ising just like thest guy that wrecked the city, but a lot stronger," I exined as the grass pushed up under my feet and started moving me forward.
"Are you going to be able to stop them?" Marley asked, and I nodded.
"I think it should be fine, but I don''t know anything about this person, so I need to be prepared," I exined as we picked up speed, cutting through open fields.
"How far away are they from us?" Marley asked, but that was my biggest problem right now.
"Not really sure, and that is what has me so concerned. I just know that something in this direction is making me uneasy, but I have no idea how long it will take for them to get here. The worst part is that the feeling doesn''t gradually get stronger," I said, trying to see if I could get a better sense of things.
"What do you mean? If they are getting closer, shouldn''t the feeling keep getting stronger?" Marley asked me, and I nodded.
"You would think that, but I get stronger and then weaker in strange spurts. It''s almost like they can''t decide what to do," I exined.
My efforts of trying to get a better lock on my target were useless. The feeling was lessening now even as I headed towards it at the speed of a car cruising on the highway.
"Hmm, maybe the person the AI is trying to control is fighting it? Is that possible?" Marley asked as grass pushed us up over a ditch, tearing through the road like it was paper.
"That is a good question, but I am not sure. I am sure that if someone was strong-willed enough, they would be able to do something like that. Being forced to kill other people would be very hard for some people to bear. Still, I am sure that the AI made a point to infect people that they had studied to make sure they would be fit," I exined.
"Well, maybe they aren''t as good of a judge of character as they think? What if they were running off just electronic information about people? Think of how many people wear masks online?" Marley replied, and I nodded.
"That is very true, and I never thought about it that way. If that is the case, then the AI might have their work cut out for them. That also means that tomorrow Anya is going to have toe with me to get my AI out of my head. Katie said she has ns for me, but I need to figure out how to separate us, so I can do the same to the Viins," I said, and Marley nodded.
Chapter 60 Do Those Things Work?
"I am sure that Anya will understand and want to help out. That''s just the type of person that she is," Marley said with a smile, and Iughed in agreement.
The two of us talked about chasing cattle, and the days we all got together to tag and castrate the new calves each spring. Each of the girls was slightly different, but the conversations that we had significantly differed.
Katie didn''t really like talking about farm life like Marley did; she was more into sports, even though Marley had always been morepetitive.
If there was one thing to be said about having multiple partners, it was the fact that things were always different, and I never got bored. I really hoped that I could keep the girls happy, but I was sure that there would be someplications in the future.
It took over an hour to make it all the way out to the grid road off the main highway, and from there, we had to head around two more bends. After that, it was another straight go for three miles, and we reached Katie''s parent''s farm.
"We will stop in and see how they are doing, and I want to scan some of the animals here. They have horses and mas, and there should still be a pig or two, right?" I asked, and Marley nodded.
"Darrel told my dad he was going to butcher two of them in the spring, but I am sure they would have asked you toe out and help," Marley said with a smile, and I nodded.
"Hell yeah, I would be out there! I mean, I might be connected to all life, but animals eat other animals all the time, right?" I asked, and Marleyughed at me.
"I am sure you would make any excuse to eat bacon!" Marley joked, and I nodded, giving her a look as we slid into the driveway.
"Like you wouldn''t do the same for jerky! Don''t even get me started about you and hocks!" I retorted, and we bothughed as I slowed down in front of the house.
"Daniel! What a surprise to see you out here, but you are looking a lot different. Did you cut your hair?" Darrel asked with a big barreledugh.
"Something like that! I thought I might try on a pair of these fancy things! How do they look?" I asked with a grin.
Darrel was a short and stout man that loved to make jokes. He was the type of guy that liked to turn almost everything into augh, and he was usually the first one tough at his own jokes.
"Do they work? I think that they look fancy, but they look like a real pain in the ass getting through doors!"
I smiled and jumped up into the air and pped my wings until I was about twenty feet off the ground.
"Well, I''ll be! That is something! Grace! Get out here! Hey! Where is my little girl? I am surprised to see you carrying Marles. Did something happen with the two of you?" Darrel asked as I dropped back to the ground.
"No, I will bring her by tomorrow. Today I am going to set up a ce for you to stay. I am also expecting some trouble toe this way," I exined.
The uneasy feeling was getting stronger, but there were still times that I seemed to get weaker.
I was still connected to the city, so I wasn''t worried about them going around me, but I couldn''t pinpoint a direction.
"Trouble? Does it have something to do with the power disappearing?" Grace, Darrel''s wife, asked as she walked out of the house.
"Yes, I would exin, but we will have to talk more tomorrow. I am going to take a quick stroll over to the pasture to look at the animals, then I have to get over to see Bill and Trina," Once I have the tree up, feel free to use it, and there will be fresh fruit and veg growing inside to keep you fed. I am sure that you can take care of the meat part for now, but I don''t have a way to freeze things yet," I exined, and Darrel shrugged.
"It''s fine, we can take and smoke most of the meat, and we will only butcher when we need to. Tell Bill that he still owes me a bottle of scotch and not to bring one of the cheap bottles! Marles, you tell that cheap old bastard to cough up the good stuff, yeah hear?!" Darrelughed, and Marley rolled her eyes.
"Dad wouldn''t give you a good bottle if it rained gold! You and I both know there ain''t nothing Dan, or I can say that will pry one of his prized bottles! He is even gonna be worse, not that he won''t be able to get more so easily!" Marley retorted from my arms.
"Is my little girl doing well?" Grace asked, and Marley nodded.
"Yeah, Dan will bring her tomorrow, but make sure you guys stay inside until we say toe out for now," Marley warned.
"Yeah, we will, but you make sure that you stop whatever ising! Thest thing I need is some bird braining and making a mess of my organized disaster!" Darrelughed, but Grace scoffed at him.
"Anything done to that graveyard of useless shit would be an improvement!"
"Hey! Don''t be like that! I worked hard for all that useless shit!"
The two of them kept bickering, but that was standard practice between the two. Katie''s parents had always been like that for as long as I could remember.
I actually met Marley through Katie since we didn''t go to the same schools at the time. Katie had asked her parents to go to school in the city when she got to grade six, and that was how I met her.
I turned, and the grass pushed me back out the driveway, heading for the Preston Farm.
Chapter 61 Dathkar/Chelsea
Three hundred miles away, a Viin Ai named Dathkar was slowly making its way closer to Daniel. It was running into a bit of trouble, though.
In fact, since Dathkar had first entered his host, he had been having problems. The data showed that this horrible person wanted to be an overlord, and many people had said mean things about this person.
Yet, from the moment that Dathkar had entered his host Chelsea''s mind, she had refused to cooperate. This person was supposed to be a person who killed many people, and Dathkar had read the reviews from those who died.
That should have been the first indication that something was wrong, but this world seemed to be built on misinformation. Other AI all over the world were having the same problems, but some of them had beenpatible.
This one was not, and she was incredibly strong-willed for a younger girl, making Dathkar''s job a lot harder. The n was to take her to Orphus, and his Hero would deal with her, and then Dathkar could go back up to the central hive above the.
There was already one up there, lured to the Hero by Orphus. Mensha would be getting bored up there, but Dathkar would soon join him.
That was if he could get this damn woman to where the Hero was. Part of the problem was that Orphus had gone silent, so Dathkar only had a general direction.
"If you would just keep going, we can end this already! The Hero will kill you, and I will be free to go watch this mess unfold! Why must you fight me?" Dathkar asked in Chelsea''s mind.
"As if you even have to ask! I don''t want to die!" Chelsea screamed as she tried to force her body to return to her home.
Two days ago, Chelsea had made a trip to the store to pick up some snacks before she started her stream, but all the lights had gone out on her way home. Her phone had stopped working, but at the time, the cars were still fine, so she didn''t think much about it.
Then, when Chelsea was just about at her apartment, something happened to her from out of nowhere. Her body started to tear itself apart, and she started to grow to almost four times her original size into a twenty-foot tall lizard that made her look like a mini Godzi.
That was also when the creepy voice had started talking to her, trying to force her to kill people, but Chelsea fought back. She had always been strong-willed and had worked her butt off to reach the top ranks in KFPS Online.
Chelsea had managed to get out of the city, but not before many people had died due to them attacking her with weapons. Her body discharged lightning when attacked, even if people shot at her.
Now, even though she was fighting to stay away from this so-called Hero, Chelsea wasn''t sure if even that was right. Maybe she should just die, just to make sure that no one else was killed by her, but she didn''t want to die.
ording to the creepy voice, the world had changed, and even if she could somehow go back, she could never stream again. The inte was gone forever, but maybe she could fight this voice and use her power to help people.
"No matter how hard you fight, people will always be scared of you! They will always attack you, and you will kill them. There is really no other way around it! Now, be a good girl, since you have been useless so far, and go die so I can go home!" Dathkarined, but Chelsea refused to believe it and continued to fight the AI.
"All right, I am going to leave you with your parents and get things set up. Please stay inside with them until Ie back from the fight. I have no idea what is going to happen, but I want to try and capture the person if I can," I exined, and Marley nodded.
"I understand, but make sure you are careful. If you have some more energy after, maybe we can go out to the pasture and do some sparing," Marley said shyly, blushing.
"Sparing? After a good soak, I am sure I will be good to go!" Iughed, but Marley came out close, putting her mouth to my ear.
"But without any clothes at first. I want whatever the other girls got first, and then we can try with some clothes on," Marley whispered and then nipped my earlobe, sending a shock through my body that I wasn''t expecting.
She stepped back before I could grab her for a kiss and smiled at me with a knowing look that made my blood pump hard. This was the first time she had really acted like this with me, and she had caught me pleasantly off guard.
"Sure, I will definitely have the energy for that; I just hope that this Viin stops taking its sweet time! I will make sure to wrap this up quick, don''t you worry!" I said with a smile, and Marley nodded, smiling back.
"Yes, I am sure that you will. Now get going so you cane back!" Marley told me and then ran back into the house, leaving me with my dirty thoughts forter.
The unease was getting closer, but it was still at a staggered pace. I headed out to the pasture and started to scan the animals as I went getting cows, chickens, and a donkey, but my target was a big rise at the far back.
That was where I was going to be putting my watch tree, but there were also strange bushes that looked like wild rhubarb at first when it started to grow. It grew to over six feet tall and createdrge spiky balls that seemed to stick to everything.
There were other varieties of burs and wood ticks I was interested in and other nasty little bugs that could be useful in the future. All of these things would take a bit of time, but I could always get what I missed tomorrow.
Chapter 62 Doesnt Look Good
Once I reached the rise, I started to grow the tree right away since it would take the longest. I was going to try and make this one much taller than the ones back in the city, stretching almost one hundred and fifty feet in the air if I could get it there.
The problem that I was having was how long it was taking to grow. For a bit, the tree stretched upwards; the roots had to spread out farther.
This made everything after one hundred feet move at a snail''s pacepared to the first two-thirds of the tree.
The uneasiness was getting a lot stronger now, and it seemed to be constantly getting close, but I couldn''t sense them with the tree yet.
In the meantime, I started to look for bugs. I couldn''t figure out how to activate my vision like Orphus had, and my scan didn''t seem to pick up bugs without me directly targeting them.
I hadn''t really thought this through when I came over there, though, considering it was the middle of November. Luckily, the growth from the trees and heat made the grass and nts grow, also waking up mostly insects from hibernation.
After about five minutes of walking in the tall grass, I had collected most of what I needed. The burrs, ticks, and skeeters stuck to me right away, and I was able to scan them that way.
I had to go need the tree line of the pasture to find one of the spikey burr nts, but that was worth the look. I pulled the nt up right away and started to edit some of the spikey seed pods.
The first thing I did was make them a bit bigger and heavier, then make them grow much faster. I also put more seeds in each one and made the seed shells explode apart to spread them out.
Thest thing that I changed was the number of burr seeds that it produced and how sticky it was. I made sure that both of those things were turned up to the max, making these the perfect traps to hold someone down.
Almost perfect, but anyone that could use fire would be an issue from almost anything that I made. I would just have to make them squirt water or something, and I could make the changes quickly without any effort.
I called about fifteen ticks to me and made them hand-sized and indestructible. Well, to everything that I could, and gave them a stretching stomach.
These little t softball science fiction creatures would be good at weakening strong foes fast. Each about to hold up to a mason jar worth of blood, and they would be tough to peel off.
If anyone did, and the head was left inside, they would get a super dose of Lyme Disease, and that wasn''t going to be fun for anyone involved. I would be able to cure them after, but it would hamper them drastically in battle.
I turned back to the tree, and it was only at one hundred and twenty feet in the air, but it had just picked up movement to the east. I opened my wings up and jumped into the air, pping to raise higher, but I was able to see the creature at thirty feet.
"Woah! Is that Godzi?!" I asked out loud as I stared at the thirty-foot-tall lizard.
It looked almost identical to the nuclear fallout lizard I had grown up watching fight other crazy monsters on VHS. This one was no three-hundred-footer like the King of Monsters, but that didn''t make it look any less intimidating!
I really wasn''t sure how I was supposed to fight something like that. If it was even a quarter as destructive as the real Godzi, then I was going to have to lead it away from here.
-----
Chelsea could see a massive tree growing in the distance, and her body started to transform on its own. There was nothing she could do to stop the AI from doing this, but now she was on a twenty-minute timer.
"Look, just try your best to kill him. If you win, you can do whatever you want, for the most part. I am still going to be forcing you to do things, but I can minimize the number of people you have to kill," Dathkar exined, but Chelsea didn''t trust the voice in her head and for good reason.
Ever since the voice had appeared in her head, Chelsea''s life had been full of death and destruction. There was nothing that this voice could say that would make her trust him, but now she could see a man in the distance.
This must be the Hero that she needed to kill or be killed by, but he looked like an angel to her. She didn''t want to end his life, but at the same time, Chelsea didn''t want to die either.
"Give it everything you have got. There is something wrong with this guy! I can sense Orphus with him, but I can''t contact him! There is only one way something like that can happen, but there is no way that it is possible!" Dathkarined, but Chelsea was ignoring him.
She had no time to listen to the rambling AI now; the Hero was flying directly at her with great speed. Chelsea''s body started to heat up, and she could feel the electricity crackling along the tes of her leathery back in anticipation.
The Hero tried to fly past her, but her body released a massive electricity discharge, scoring a direct hit on him. The Hero spiraled to the ground and smashed into it in a pile of snow but stood up like it was nothing, not a mark on him.
"Sorry, this doesn''t look good! He must have already been in contact with the spirit of this. It should be too early for him, but we also made sure that he was the only Hero this time! Looks like I am going to get to head back up to the Hive after all!" Dathkar exined.
Chapter 63 Chelsea Vordrick/ Godzilla-Wannabe
I tried to fly past the massive creature, but the moment I did, I was hit with a bolt of lightning that shocked me damn near stupid. I fell from the sky, smashing into the snow, but I had taken almost no damage at all.
That didn''t mean I wasn''t still feeling a bit twitching, but that was clearly electricity and not the nuclear energy the real Godzi''s body produced. That meant I could divert and ground most of the electricity, meaning I really didn''t need to even try that hard.
"HEY!" I screamed up at the monster that was turning around to face me.
"Huh?" The massive lizard growled, sounding confused.
"Do you think that we can talk about this? You hit me, and nothing happened, so maybe we can-"
That was when the lizard stomped on me, smashing my body into the ground.
"Did you not hear me?" I said as roots surged up around me, pushing the monster''s foot up off me.
The beast didn''t reply; I wrapped a root around the other leg and pulled it sideways under the creature. The Godzi-wannabe tried to discharge more electricity as it fell, but the root around its leg grounded out most of the electricity.
I watched the creature tumble to its side, and as it hit the ground, more roots pinned it down. The creature wasn''t weak, and it was tearing through the roots almost faster than they could try to hold it.
I summoned my Terror Ticks and gave them a slight alteration to buff against electricity. The horrible-looking hand-sized ticks surged forward, and the monster screamed in what sounded like terror.
I couldn''t me the monster, even though I was uneasy about watching the hand size bugs crawl all over the beast. Once the Terror Tickstched on, the Godzi-wannabe started to slow down, still trying to discharge electricity, but it was hopeless for the creature now.
"Alright, I think it is time to say uncle," I called out, pping my wings to lift into the air about the creature.
Then it started to shrink, losing its monster look, and I forced the Terror Ticks to let go. There was still a chance that whatever this was could attack again, but I really wasn''t that worried about it.
I had taken this one down with little to no effort, so I wasn''t that concerned about it. I thought that it should have been much stronger by now, but it only seemed to have one attack outside of just being big.
To my surprise, the monster shrunk into a naked girl that I created clothing for using Amy''s ability. I had almost forgotten that I had ess to the girl''s abilities as well, but I was clearly nowhere as skilled as she was with it.
The dress I made was a bit big, and it looked like a typical choir dress for the most part, but I covered the girl. I could have done a bit better with leaves, but all I was trying to do was save the girl some face; Amy could help her moreter.
"Are you going to kill me now?" The girl asked as roots wrapped around her, but I shook my head.
"Nope, you are going to be my first test subject, but don''t worry, it''s not for weird things," I said with a smile as I crouched down.
"Tests?" The girl asked me, and I nodded.
"First, what is your name? My name is Daniel Brighton, and no, I am not an angel, in case you are wondering," Iughed, and the girl looked up at me with a confused look.
"My name? Chelsea Vordrick," The girl said, and I almost fell backward.
"Thee Chelsea Vordick?! Overlord of KFSP?! Get the fuck outta here!" I eximed, and the girl smiled for the first time.
"Yes, I was a streamer before all this happened, but now that is all over," Chelsea said in a sad voice, and I nodded.
"While you will never be a streamer or y games like before, it''s not all over. What is the name of the annoying asshole in your head? Man, he must have been surprised when you turned out to be a sweet girl with no aptitude for violence outside games!" Iughed, but Chelsea didn''t find it as funny, but that was understandable.
"His name is Dathkar, but he is being reticent right now. I think that you scare him," Chelsea exined, and I nodded.
"Good. The stupid bug has caused you a lot of problems, so I am going to cut him off for now," I said and then mentally summoned Gaia.
"You can cut him off?! Is that why he can''t hear the one in your head?!" Chelsea asked as Gaia grew up from the ground beside me.
"Yup, Gaia will put him in a box," I said, and Gaia nodded beside me.
"Already done," Gaia said, linking her arm with mine.
"Thank you, love. You can head back home now, but I want you to take this one with you. Tell Melody to find her a ce and not to add her to my list!" I said after giving Gaia a kiss.
"What are you doing with me?! What list are you talking about?!" Chelsea eximed as the roots let go of her.
"Sending you back home to another Great Tree like you can see over there. After you are back there, Melody will show you around, but ignore her if she starts trying to push me on you," I said with a sigh as Chelsea got up, looking down at her dress.
"Pushing you on me? Why would she do that? Also, why did you make this dress for me?" Chelsea asked, and I shrugged.
"You were naked, and I didn''t want to make you ufortable. As for Melody, she and seven other girls are my girlfriends. Not by my choice,pletely, but also not something I will deny. I love all the girls, Gaia included," I exined, and Chelsea nodded, but she looked to be thinking about something.
Chapter 64 Severely Misjudged
"Huh?" Chelsea had asked in her massive form as she looked at the little man with wings who had just gotten back up.
There was no damage on him, and it was almost like she had missed him, but Chelsea noticed his body was making tiny uncontroble twitches. There was no way that he could have taken a full st of lightning while in the air.
"Can we just talk about this?" The man asked, but Dathkar started to scream in her head, forcing her to act.
"Crush him now! Don''t let up, or you are finished!" The AI screamed, and Chelsea was forced to step on the man.
She had assumed that was the end, but something pushed up her foot with greater force than she could apply, lifting her one leg into the air.
"Did you not hear me?" The man asked in an annoyed voice, but before she could answer, a root had grabbed her other leg, ripping it out from underneath her.
Chelsea''s body tried to release more electricity, but the wood around her legs and now the rest of her body seemed to suck everything up. No matter how she fought and tore the roots, her body was pinned to the ground, but that was when the absolute terror started.
She felt the Terror Ticks before she saw them crawling over her body, and that was almost enough to make her pass out with fright. Chelsea was terrified of all bugs, and these hand-size ticks were like a nightmaree true for her.
The giant bugs bit into her, and Chelsea roared a scream, but the creatures were draining her energy and will to fight. Soon, her body started to shrink back down to her average human body; but she was now naked, but at least the bugs were off her.
The man reached down towards her neck, and Chelsea assumed that this was the end for her, but then the man dragged his hand down her chest. She had thought that he was going to feel her up, but his hands never even brushed against her breasts.
Instead, as the man dragged his fingers down to her waist and then legs, a white in dress covered her naked body. This, above all the things that had just happened, was the strangest of all, but Chelsea wasn''t sure she was out of the hot water yet.
"I wish that I could make this painless, but this one is too strong, and it seems I have already been cut off from the others. I have yed the Viin in all the time I have yed; I have never seen someone be so strong, so fast."
Then the voice was gone. Not just stopped talking, but she could no longer feel the AI in the back of her mind like before.
Chelsea was now okay with it even if she died here because she knew that she wouldn''t have to kill anyone else. She never wanted any of this; she just wanted to y games and be a top streamer.
"Are you going to kill me now?" Chelsea asked, waiting for a cold answer of yes.
Then he denied my death and told me I was to be one of his test subjects. At first, that seemed like a fate worse than death, but I soon found out that I had misjudged this person severely.
Daniel Brighton was his name, and he turned out to be a decent guy from my first impression. Then a woman with golden yellow skin appeared to grow up beside him, and she was more beautiful than any woman Chelsea had ever seen.
"Already done," Gaia said, linking her arm with Daniel''s.
This man was strange, but what made it even weirder was the fact that he had eight girlfriends! And he told her to watch out for one of the other girlfriends because she might try and recruit her.
In the past, Chelsea would haveughed at this, but then she asked Daniel why he had put clothes on her. His answer was the right one; now, Chelsea was starting to understand why so many women might be interested in him.
Daniel was strong, intelligent, and seemed to respect women, and that made Chelsea think. This man had just saved her life, but that was too simple of a way to put it.
"Would you deny me?" Chelsea asked, without really thinking her words over first.
The question was like a good stub of the toe andpletely caught me off guard. Would I deny her?
"I think that you had better take some time to cool off before asking me something like this," I said, looking down at the short streamer girl, but she seemed to have gained some backbone in thest thirty seconds.
"You are really nice, caring, and the girls that you have obviously love you and are willing to share! You just saved my life, but it was so much more than that! I was forced to kill people! Do you know what that is like?!" Chelsea yelled at me, and I took a step back.
True, the few that I had killed I hadn''t seen when I threw them, but I still had Kratos''s metalized body in my Great Tree. I am sure that it affected her much more, but that was hardly a reason for her to fall in love with me!
"Come on now. You really don''t know anything about me, and you are already falling in love with me?" I joked, but Chelsea''s face never changed from her determined expression.
"Of course, I don''t love you yet. I just met you, but everything about you so far is what I want. If you give me time, I can be just like the others!" Chelsea exined to me, and I looked down at Gaia.
She had been quiet through the whole thing, and I was wondering what she was thinking about.
"Gaia, what is your view on this?" I asked, and Gaia looked up at me with a screwed-up embarrassed look that I didn''t like.
"Melody says that you aren''t the boss and to treat your ninth girlfriend with a little more kindness after everything she has been through," Gaia said to me, and my eyes widened and narrowed at the same time.
Chapter 65 This Man Will Not Forget You
"What do you mean I am not the boss?!" I growled, and Chelsea started tough.
"Well, now I can understand what you meant when you said that they weren''tpletely by your choice," Chelsea giggled, and I rolled my eyes at her.
"You really have no idea. Do you think this is something that started just because the world ended? Hell no! My first true love already made me date her two best friends before I dated her!" Iined, and Gaia patted the arm she was holding.
"No point in fighting it. I am sure that most men would love to be in your position, and this type of thing wasmon for the kings of old. You are definitely more than a king, so you should get used to it," Gaia said to me, and I shook my head.
It made me feel like I wasn''t ever going to get enough time to spend with everyone. Yeah, sure, this was a dreame true if I lived in some perfect fantasy world, or I was like a king of old that just had the women to use!
"I get why you seem apprehensive, but I promise not to demand a lot of your time. I just want to know that you will always be there for me in case something like this happens again. I don''t want to hurt people," Chelsea said as she walked up to me, and I nodded.
"I get it; I just don''t like having to spread myself so thin. It also takes a lot of time to do one-on-one dates and such," I said in a tired voice.
"You don''t need to take me on dates! I just want to be able to cuddle with you and talk about games if you are interested in them. I have never had a boyfriend since everyone just wanted me for my fame," Chelsea exined, and I nodded.
"That doesn''t sound too bad, and I would love to talk to you about games. Maybe we can figure out how we can bring gaming into the future," I said, and Chelsea''s eyes lit up with excitement.
"Do you really think that it is possible? Chelsea asked,ing closer to me and taking one of my free hands in both of hers.
"See, she will make a perfect addition! Your Queen has spoken! But no sleeping with her until you fill me up and the others first!" Gaia said, but she spoke like Melody.
"Quit using Gaia as your inte!" I scolded.
"Then you should make something so I can! You obviously need to have me with you at all times!" Gaia said, and I rolled my eyes so hard I was sure that I glimpsed the back of my head.
"No, that is not what I need! Give me Gaia back!" I growled.
"You know, I don''t mind. This way you can call me to you anytime you want. This is only a copy of my main body, but I can ry messages for you," Gaia exined, her tone going back to her own.
"Well, that is a good way to do it, but Melody is right; I need to get somemunications going with the surveince. Let her know that I will try to think of something. In the meantime, Gaia, do you think you can take her home?" I asked, and Gaia nodded at me, but Chelsea squeezed my hand, and I looked down at her.
"You are leaving already?!" Chelsea asked, sounding a bit panicked.
"Yes, Marley, one of my other girlfriends is waiting for me, and we haven''t spent a lot of time together yet. In time, we will do the same, but for now, I need you to go back with Gaia, okay?" I asked, and Chelsea slowly released my arm.
"Okay, I get it, but just remember that I am here," Chelsea said, looking away from me shyly, but Gaia came over and took her hand.
"Don''t worry. This man will not forget you, and you will be living in the same house as us all. You will see him plenty," Gaia exined, and Chelsea nodded slowly.
"Try to make friends with the girls, and then you can piggyback with one of them toe on a date if you want. I am sure that most of the girls wouldn''t mind," I said with a grin, making Chelsea look happier.
"We will see you when you get home tonight. Melody said that you better not keep her waiting too long, but then she said to take as much time as needed. What does that mean?" Gaia asked in confusion, and I shrugged.
"It just means that Melody misses me, but she wants to make sure I don''t rush my time with Marley," I exined, and Gaia nodded.
"You are really good at deciphering words! Most men would have just shrugged ament like that off!" Chelsea eximed, and to that, I shrugged, and she said, "Then act like it''s nothing! You are your own worst enemy; you know this, right?"
"I have no idea what you are talking about," I said, turning from the girls.
"Are you sure that you aren''t an angel? Sent from the heavens above?" Chelsea asked as I stretched my wings out.
"Positive. An angel would surely have at least ten girlfriends by now, so I am not really up to code," I said, and Chelsea made a scoffing noise.
"I have a really hot friend that you might be interested in if you are looking to make it ten!" Chelsea called, but I had already jumped into the air and was flying over to Marley''s house.
After all this, I needed a good soak, and I was sure that Marley would love to join me. The tree had stopped growing now, but one hundred and forty was the max I could push it to right now.
In the future, I was going to have to go down south and find some more giant trees to scan, but that was for another day. Today, I had some sparring to do.
Chapter 66 Marley Pt 1
That Melody was going to have me worked to the bone if she had her way! This woman didn''t seem to care what or who the girl was anymore!
Again, it wasn''t like I didn''t want to do things with Chelsea, but I was starting to feel like a yer, even if all the girls were okay with it. The thing was, I couldn''t figure out why they were all okay with it?!
It wasn''t like I was thest man on earth. Albeit, I might be the strongest, that was hardly a reason for women to throw themselves at me!
Maybe I could ask Marley since she seemed to still be a bit hesitant out of most of the girls. She would probably give me the best exnation, but then again, it could be different for each of them.
Did it really even matter? The girls imed they wanted to be with me, and they were all okay with it, so shouldn''t I be as well?
Maybe I was the one being the stick in the mud here, but I still felt like I needed some exnation. It wasn''t like I had chosen to have this many girlfriends, so the least the women could do was give me a decent excuse as to why they all had fallen for me.
I dove down and then pulled my wings in as my feet hit the ground, grass popping up to cushion my fall, not that I needed it. Still, I would take a softnding over a jarring one any day of the week, considering how I started.
"How did everything go?" Marley called as she burst from the house toe running over to me.
"Better than expected, for the most part," I said as Marley came over and wrapped me in a hug that I returned.
"For the most part?" Marley asked, looking up at me, and I rolled my eyes.
"The Viin was a girl by the name of Chelsea Vodrik!?@, a popr KFPS streamer, and Melody took it upon herself to recruit her," I exined, and Marley started tough.
"Really? She hasn''t even met the girl yet, and she is already adding more to your overflowing te?" Marley teased.
"Exactly! Damnit, I am just trying to do good by you girls, but she really knows how to make things harder!" Iined.
"Well, if you are hard now, maybe we can do some of that sparring we talked about earlier?" Marley asked while dragging a finger down my burnt and torn shirt.
"Now, that does sound like a n, but let''s go have a soak first. I created a bit of a dojo up top where the bath is, so we won''t have to go far to spar, and we can get cleaned up after," I said, opening my wings up, and Marley nodded, wrapping her arms around me tightly.
"Let''s go before my parentse out and start asking you questions about us! They were grilling me the entire time you were gone!" Marleyined, and Iughed, jumping into the air.
We were in the air with a few vigorous strokes of my wings, and I started to slowly rise, catching a warm draft. There was nothing in the world that couldpare to the feeling of a warm breeze against your wings.
The trip up to the top of the Surveince Tree didn''t take long, but I was excited when I got up there andnded on the front step of a traditional dojo. I ced it to be hidden with the tree branches and leaves, but it was a fantastic sight to see when wended.
"Wow! This is really cool! It''s almost like you took and put an old, already built temple up here!" Marley eximed as she let go of me to turn around and examine the building.
"Come, let''s see what the inside looks like," I said as one of the paper-style doors opened up for us.
Inside, there was a bigrge open room with a steaming pool in the corner. The room was surrounded by paper walls, but I could also sense another area past them that led to the next level that held the main bedroom.
"This is a pretty great ce! Let''s go get you soaking so we can get back out to do some fighting! I really want to test out this new body before you change it again!" Marley dered as she started to strip down.
"So you really do want to fight? I thought that was just your code for sex!" Iughed as I took my shirt off, walking over.
"I do want to do that, but I think that this way will be more fun! I have never fought anyone naked before, so I thought that this might be a good way for us to get closer," Marley said as she turned away from me, covering her breasts with her arm.
I nodded and took my pants off, walking over to the water and slowly sinking into it with my back turned to Marley. Something about this sudden shyness made me morefortable, and I waited for Marley to get into the water before turning back to face her.
"Since we are here, I wanted to ask you something. It has been on my mind for a while now," I exined, and Marley nodded, seeming to know what I was going to ask.
"It''s about all of us, right?" Marley asked, and I nodded.
"Yeah, I really can''t figure it out. What makes all you girls want to be with me, regardless of the other women? Why does everyone seem okay with it? I feel like this is something I should keep to myself, but in the end, I wasn''t the one to make the choice," I exined, and Marley looked away from me, taking a deep breath.
She didn''t reply right away, and I was d about that.
I had really been worried that it might have something to do with the system, like it made the girls want to be with me. That was wrong and not something I wanted, but Marley considering what I had asked, made me less worried about that possibility.
Chapter 67 Marley Pt 2
"I liked you when I first met you before you started dating any of the girls, but I never thought that you felt the same way. Then I found out that you asked Melody out, and she forced you to date Katie and Anya just so you could date her. That actually made me mad, and I had told Katie how I felt," Marley exined, and I could understand her feelings.
"This is why I am so curious about this. To most outside eyes, I have to look like a yer, but it never really bothered me before. Now, since I got this power, women have been falling all over me, not to say that you fell head over heels for me, but you have to see this from my view," I said with a sigh, and Marley nodded.
"You think that the thing inside of you is what is making us act like this?" Marley asked, and I shrugged.
"I really don''t know, but I felt like you would be the best to ask. I gave you power, and then you kissed me right after and confessed to me," I exined, and Marley nodded.
"Yes, that is what it seemed like, but for me, it was different. You had always been so kind to me, no matter how much I challenged you. Then, you came into the rec center and put me over your knee. I can''t deny that I felt really small in that moment as you spanked me, but something about it made all my wallse down that I had built up against you," Marley exined, starting to get red in the face.
"I see. I am sorry to embarrass you like this but thank you for exining your feelings to me. I honestly was worried that you were all doing this because of the power and not because you had fallen in love with me," I exined, and Marley glided over in the water to tuck herself up my arm.
"It''s okay, but I like when you dominate me. I don''t mean I want you to put me over your knee again unless I deserve it. I just like that you can hold me down, and there is nothing I can do against you because you are so much stronger than me," Marley exined shyly.
That tidbit of information sent my blood pumping, and I no longer worried about what was making the girls act this way. They had their reasons, and I was just going to have to make the best of it, like everyone that had ever had a dream.
"I can do that, and I am ready if you want to dry off and do some sparring," I grinned, and Marley pulled away from me, grinning as well.
"Good. If you want my womanhood, you are going to have to take it from me by force!" Marley eximed as she jumped out of the water, tits, and beads of water flying in all directions.
"Hey! That sounds a bit much, don''t you think? You are basically asking me to-," I started to say as I stood from the water but was forced to put my arms up to block a kick aimed at my head.
"I want you to take my virginity, but I am not the type to go down without a fight. This is my first time, so I want it to be my way, and that means you need to pin me before you are going to get any!" Marley dered as she jumped back from her kick.
"Fine, have it your way," I said, getting out of the water, ready to end the fight before it started, but Marley saw right through me.
"This is a fair fight between us! No using outside help to pin me!" Marley dered, and I grinned, heating my body up to make the water steam off me.
"Fine, but I don''t n on going easy on you!" I said, bringing my arms up.
"If you want this ass, you had better give it everything you have got! I have been working out since you brought me to the Great Tree for this moment!" Marley dered, turning her hips to me and pping her ass yfully to tease me.
I nodded and burst towards Marley, trying to grab her, but she sidestepped me and then kicked me in the ribs. The impact pushed me almost two feet, and I was just able to get my arms up as she twisted in the air to kick again.
I tried to grab her leg, but Marley was fast, and I missed as her other foot nted on the ground. I jumped back as Marley tried to hit me with three lightning-fast side kicks and then burst forwards to try and catch her off bnce.
Marley jumped over me and then kicked off my back, sending me stumbling. This was not the same girl I had fought before.
"What''s wrong? Is my body too distracting? Or do you not want it enough?" Marley teased, dragging a finger between her small breasts.
"Looks like I am not taking you seriously enough," I said and took a deep breath, centering myself.
I had thought that this was going to be easy, but she was going to tire me out before I got the chance to taste her. I dropped into a fighting stance with knees bent, wide stance, and hands up, waving for her toe at me.
Marley grinned and then closed the distance in a heartbeat, striking directly at my face, but I pped the strike away. I dropped my elbow to block a side knee but grabbed her knee from around the back of it and spun my body.
I tossed us both to the ground, and we separated, but she had given me her back, so I grabbed her before she could get up. I slipped my arm around her neck and used my legs to lock into hers, holding her tightly in ce.
Chapter 68 Marley Pt 3
Marley squirmed to try and get free, but I had herpletely locked down and one free hand. I used it to slowly fondle her breasts, and she slowly rxed in my arms.
I had thought the fight was over, and I rxed my grip as I slid my hands down Marley''s waist to slide between her legs. Unfortunately, Marley took advantage of this and broke free from my grip, bouncing back to her feet, panting and red-faced but smiling.
"That was close! You could have taken me if you wanted, but you rxed your grip! You are going to have to do better than that!" She dered,ughing and pointing at me, but now I was excited, and my heart was pounding.
I had Marley on the ground again in a sh, my knees paining hers down and my hand holding both her wrist above her head. This time I was going to get what was being dangled in front of me!
"Hey! Not fair! When did you get so fast?!" Marleyined but then started to moan as I kissed down her neck.
"You did this, getting me excited! Now, I am going to take my sweet time to enjoy every part of this body that you have been teasing me with!" I said as my free hand slid between her legs.
"I know that I said I wanted you to take me, but please be gentle with me," Marley moaned, and I nodded with a small smile.
"Do you think that we can stop this fighting and maybe head up to the bedroom? I know that you want me to hold you down like this, but I think that we should maybe be a bit gentler for your first time," I told Marley, and she nodded.
"You proved that you can still dominate me, so I am happy with that," Marley said with a smile as I took my weight off her.
The two of us got up, but then I scooped Marley''s naked body up into my arms, kissing her as I did. I head out of the Dojo, through a paper door, and then up the stairs to therge bedroom I had created for us.
Once we were in the room, I walked over to the bed and set Marley down on green sheets.
Now that I had Amy''s powers, I had made sheets and pillows for the bed along with drapes to cover the windows that were blowing from a slight breeze. The bed also had a green draped over it to make it look a bit fancier.
"You really did a good job in this room! If I was going to pick a ce to have my flower taken, this would be at the top of my list," Marley giggled as I slowly crawled onto the bed.
"I was hoping that it could be kind of like our own special ce. In the future, we cane here whenever you want to spar or do this," I said as I crawled over the top of her, leaning down to kiss her.
"That is really sweet of you. I was really hoping that we could have a ce like this since you had already made love to Amy in your bed," Marley said shyly after I pulled back from the kiss, staring into my eyes.
I hadn''t really thought of that, but Marley did make an excellent point. I could see how it wouldn''t mean as much to the girls if they had to share the same bed, and this way, I could make them each a ce that made them feel special.
Since I was the only one other than Sofia and Gaia that could make ces like this, it would be easy to make a ce for each girl at the top of my Great Trees. Talking with Marley today had really helped me figure out some things that had been bothering me and some I hadn''t even considered.
"All through, that wasn''t my original idea; it makes a lot of sense. I will do that for everyone so we all have a ce that we can call our own together," I said and then slowly started to kiss Marley''s neck.
Instead of responding with words, Marley took her hands and ran them through my hair as I slowly worked my way down to her breasts. Marley moaned softly as I kissed around her nipples, slowly sliding my hands down her waist to her hips.
My stiff shaft pushed between Marley''s legs, and she slowly ground herself against it as I slipped one of her nipples into my mouth. She gasped and pushed herself harder into the front of my cock as I yfully bit her nipples, making her body squirm under me with excitement.
Marley reached down between our legs and slowly pushed my tip down until I could feel it start to enter her. I pulled myself up to hover over her, slowly entering her until she winced, and I pushed deep inside.
"Oh fuck! Mmmm!" Marley cried out, biting her lip with a wince.
I kept moving slowly, and Marley''s mouth opened in an O shape as she started to moan louder.
"Your cock is so big! Mmm, it hurt at first, but now," Marley said, and then let out a louder moan before saying, "I want you to fuck me like you mean it! Hold me down and make me scream for you to stop!"
I grinned, and Marley put both of her arms above her head submissively, and I reached up, linking her fingers to mine. I leaned down and kissed Marley gently once and then quadrupled my speed, hammering my cock deep into her tight little pussy.
Marley''s eyes widened as she started to cry out in pleasure, fighting to break free from my hands. I didn''t let her go and fucked her until her eyes rolled back in her head, and her body shook violently.
Chapter 69 Marley Pt 4
I let go of her hands, and Marley looked up at me in confusion.
"Is that it?" Marley asked, trying to catch her breath.
"No, we are just getting started. Get on your knees, and put your hands behind your back," I ordered, and Marley''s eyes lit up with excitement.
Once she was on her knees and her arms behind her back, I grabbed them in one hand and pushed her down onto the bed with her ass still up. I pushed my excited cock back into her wet hole, and it was just as tight as before.
"Oh, that feels so good! I want to scream your name! Fuck me harder, my Hero!" Marley cried out, and I did as I was told.
Marley''s pussy started to get wetter as I drilled my cock deep inside of her, making her cries and screams of pleasure get louder. I pped her ass, and that made her push into my hips even harder.
Suddenly Marley screamed as her body shook under me, but I kept going, not giving her any break. She had me hard as steel, and all I wanted to do was fuck her petite little body until she couldn''t move anymore.
"Cum in me, Daniel! Fill me up!" Marley cried, and hearing her call out my name turned me up to one hundred and ten percent.
I mmed my cock as deep as it would go, and hot batter pumped from my cock into Marley''s womb that taking everyst drop I had inside of me.
I let go of Marley''s arms, and her body slid off my cock to slump down in the bed. She almost looked lifeless if it wasn''t for the twitching her body was doing.
"Are you okay?" I asked curiously, kind of worried that I might have gone too hard, but Marley flipped over in the bed and looked up at me with a big smile.
"That was amazing! Why did I wait so long to let you do this to me?! Ahh! I want to do it again, but I don''t think that I can move yet," Marley eximed as Iid down beside her in bed.
"I am d you enjoyed it," I chuckled, and Marley dragged herself up to rest on my chest.
"I really did, but I can still kind of move. Next time you had better not go easy on me! I wanna have to use a wheelchair next time! For at least a week!" Marley dered, and I startedughing.
"Then next time, I won''t y fair," Iughed, and Marley nodded.
"Good! Still, thank you for making this moment everything I had hoped it would be. You asked why I fell in love with you? Because I know that I can trust you to give me what I want and nothing more. I don''t think that I could have acted this way with anyone else, so I don''t mind sharing you. Plus, now we have this ce that is just our own!" Marley said, cuddling into my chest.
"I am pleased that I could make this moment special for you, and this will always be just our ce. If you ever want time to yourself, just let me know, and I can bring you out here, or we cane together when we have time," I exined, and Marley kissed my bare chest, nodding.
"Do you think we cany here for a bit? Mydy parts are a bit sore after that!" Marley giggled, and Iughed, slowly slipping my hands between her legs.
"Here, I can help with that," I said and activated my healing.
"Woah! Can you make me a virgin again?!" Marley eximed, and I stopped healing to look up at her.
"Is that what you want?" I asked, and she nodded.
"It did hurt, but at the same time, it is kind of like a symbol for me. If you have to tear me open every time we have sex, it will always feel like the first time with you!" Marley eximed with a smile, and I nodded.
Once I reactivated the healing, Marley let out a sigh of relief, and I kissed the top of her head, stroking her hair with my free hand. This girl was a bit crazy, but I kind of liked it.
I couldn''t treat Amy or Anya like this, so it was nice to have a girl that likes to be held down. Melody was simr butpletely different, and I would be getting to have some serious fun with herter.
For now, we still have some time to cuddle and rx, or so I thought.
"So, when does the big change happen?" Marley asked me curiously, and I opened one eye with a grin.
"Are you sure that it was only the sex you wanted?" I chuckled, and Marley rolled her eyes at me.
"Sue me if I want superpowers like the other girls! Of course, I enjoyed the sex, and I can''t wait for you to tear me open again, but we did have a deal, remember?" Marley said, and I nodded.
"Yes, that is true. Let me take a look and see what we have," I said, still grinning.
I really couldn''t hold it against her for wanting a system like the other girls, so I concentrated on Marley. The scream came up, and I read out loud what it said.
"Elven Warrior Princess."
Marley''s body started to change when I said the words, and her muscles became more defined. Like Amy, her ears grew longer, and her face became more elegant, but it didn''t change her look much other than making her look prettier.
"Hmm, this seems interesting! Okay, time to get up, cker! You and I are going to have our second round, and this time you can y dirty, but I better need a wheelchair this time!" Marley dered, jumping up from the bed, and I grinned.
I would hold nothing back, and I would make sure I fucked her so hard that she could barely even remember her own name! Marley asked for it, so I would use every dirty trick that I had to get her back in this bed!
Chapter 70 Elf Warrior Princess Vs Treeman
The two of us headed back down, but Marley forced me to put clothes on as she summoned an outfit with weapons. I had to admit that it looked pretty cool to see her be covered in light and have it shatter off to reveal a sexy-looking outfit.
"You look amazing! Like an actual Elven Warrior Princess from anime!" I grinned as I made myself a pair of shorts and retracted my wings inside again.
They had done so before when Inded in front of the Dojo earlier, but I hadn''t noticed.
Marley was wearing brown short-shorts, a white top, and leaf green belting and detail. Her hair was pinned back with a tiara of golden vines and leaves; the whole package was outstanding.
"I kind of do, hmm? Well, let''s see what I can do now. Let''s just focus on the fighting for today and save some of your steam for Melody. I am sure she is going to make you need a wheelchair after tonight!" Marleyughed, pulling out two short swords with green hilts that had des with a slight curve.
"Sure, I had a great time with you already, and I think this fight is going to be a lot different. I will focus on taking you down as an opponent rather than into the bed again! And don''t joke about that! I am worried as well! What if she gets something like an Amazon System or something?!" I eximed, and we both started tough, but I was also connecting to the tree.
"Alright, are you done stalling yet? I can feel you doing something with the tree!" Marley said, and then was suddenly in front of me, swinging a de at my chest, but a root burst from my chest to p the de aside.
I jumped back, and two wooden swords grew from my hands, but Marley disappeared again, and I spun, barely deflecting her strike. I tried to grab her leg with a root, but she was too fast, and I was kicked from behind.
I was sent rolling, but my roots stopped me and flung me into the air. I sent roots out in all different directions, not hitting Marley but finally forcing her to slow down, and I sent my roots after her, also summoning the three mosquitoes that had bit me.
Suddenly, Marley sheathed her des and then brought out a bow in what seemed to be a single action. I was forced to slow my chase and pull the roots around me to block the shots, but one got through the most ridiculous crack!
"Son of a bitch!" I growled as the arrow sunk into my shoulder, but my body expelled it right away.
"Sorry, but you can heal, so suck it up, buttercup!" Marley taunted me, but my Supersonic Skeeters were here!
I quickly edited them to carry a concentrated dose of a tranquilizer when they stung rather than sucked. I kept moving but sent the Supersonic Skeeters after her, and all three hit their target.
"Ow! What are t-theseee t-t-tha-ng-sss!" Marley cried out, and my roots caught as she fell off a root she had stopped on.
"Supersonic Skeeters, I will heal you since that minute is a bit too much with three!" Iughed as all the roots I expelled pulled back into my body.
"Y-Yer, umm, er ch-cheat!" Marley slurred as I put my hand on her and healed her body, forcing her body to metabolize the tranquilizer.
"There you go! I really could have put you in a wheelchair after that!" Iughed, and Marley stuck out her tongue at me.
"I''ll admit, you are strong, but you have to admit I was pretty cool!" Marley said as the roots set her down and sucked them back inside of me.
"One hundred and ten percent! I honestly couldn''t follow your moments; it was like you were the wind! And that arrow smarted! Just imagine what you will be like after progressing!" I smiled, and Marley hugged me.
"Thank you! This is more than amazing! I can''t wait to show the girls! We should go back!" Marley eximed as she jumped up and down.
"Yeah, of course, we can get going back. The tree is set to watch this area for about one hundred miles, so I will have enough time to get out here if something doese this way. First, I need a quick soak. That took more out of me than fighting Godzi!" Iughed and walked over into the pool.
"You fought Godzi?!" Marley asked as she followed me over but only stuck her bare feet up to her knees.
"The new girl has a system that lets her turn into the lightning version of a thirty-foot tall Godzi! It was pretty cool but an easy win for me since she didn''t use the system unless forced. She only had one attack, which was a lightning discharge," I exined, and Marley nodded but got a sad look.
"I guess that the AI made her kill people? That must have been pretty hard on her," Marley said solemnly, and I nodded.
"True, so we are all going to have to be nice to her and friendly. I am sure that she is going to be feeling pretty crappy for a while. There is also her system that I need to figure out because we don''t want her to have a nightmare and transform in the middle of the night or at any time until she gets better control of it," I said.
"I am sure that you will be able to figure it out. You seem to have solid control of what you are doing right now. When we fought, it felt like some kind of fantasy battle that you would only see in movies. I had a lot of fun with you today, and these will be special memories that I cherish for the rest of my life," Marley exined, and I stood from the water, steam rising off me.
I walked over, leaning down to kiss Marley, and then scooped up as our lips touched, forcing my wings to burst from my back.
Chapter 71 Frightened
"These will be special ones for me as well because I don''t think there is another woman in the world like you," I said after breaking the kiss, and one of the sections of the wall outside opened up.
I turned and then ran out, jumping out into the air and spreading my wings to head back home. Marley cheered from my arms as the wind caught my wings as I pped, climbing up to the warmer air currents.
Once I was high enough, I was able to sail along what felt like a warm river of air, asionally stroking my wings to keep altitude.
"Wow, I have always wanted to try to go hang gliding, but this is taking it to a whole other level!" Marley cheered, and I had to agree.
I was more focused on the city that wasing into view before us.
It looked nothing like what it had before, now filled with massive trees dwarfing all-natural buildings, but the city hadn''t been huge, to begin with. The thing that stood out the most about it was the snow surrounding it, but it looked like summer inside it.
"The city looks like a carved out piece of paradise with all the snow around it, doesn''t it? '''' I asked Marley, and she looked ahead and nodded.
"Yeah, this whole scene looks like we''re are about to fly into a forbid forests only known to fairies and Elves!" Marleyughed as we started to fly over the city, and I dropped down.
I had to agree with her, and I wondered if that could be a possibility in the future? Changing the human gics of the ones that wanted to be Elves and Fairies would be pretty cool.
I grinned to myself as I swooped down to the main Great Tree over my old apartment. I slowed down and floated until I was in line withnding before my pool and then dropped down.
Roots sprung from my legs, slowing us down, so we set down gently, and I put Marley down. The two of us walked down to the second level, and Melody was there waiting for us with Gaia and Kitsune.
"Well, don''t you look pretty! Losing your virginity never looked so good!" Melodyughed, but Marley stuck out her tongue while holding onto my arm.
"Who says I lost it? I might have let him take it, but he healed me after, so I am like one of those born again virgins!" Marley dered, and Melodyughed.
"Or a glutton for punishment! I would guess thetter! Still, Dan, you need to go see how the newest member is doing. She locked herself in her room, and Mr. Tree isn''t letting any of us in!" Melody exined, and I nodded.
"Sure, I will go talk with her. Kitsune, do you minding with me? I think that you might be a big help if you don''t mind spending some time with Chelsea?" I asked, turning to look at my big fox, and she nodded.
"I don''t mind helping you and the child that is frightened. I could smell her fear from outside of the door," Kitsune exined, and I nodded.
"She has been through more than any of us, so she will take time to warm up to everyone. I wille to find you after, Melody, and thank you, Gaia, for bringing her home safely," I said, and both women nodded at me.
I gave each of the three girls a quick peck before turning south to the opposite side of the tree from my room. Could sense Chelsea in the far room, and I could also feel all the fear and worry that was oozing out of her.
"Just wait out here, and I will call you in after," I told Kitsune, and therge red fox nodded and went toy down beside the door.
I walked up to the door, and it spun open to show Chelsea sitting on the big bed in the center of the room. She had her knees drawn into her chest, and she was rocking back and forth.
"Hey," I said, walking into the room as the door closed behind me.
"Hey," Chelsea said without looking up, so I walked over to sit down on the end of the bed.
"Not really feeling like hanging out with others right now?" I asked, and she shook her head.
"I am scared that I am going to hurt them. If I were to transform up here, some of those girls might die," Chelsea said quietly, but I shook my head, and roots sprung up all around the bed to create a dome.
Chelsea looked up from her knees with surprise and looked at me.
"You wouldn''t get the chance to hurt anyone if you identally transformed. Mr. Tree would have you wrapped up like a baked potato before you got a chance to spark," I exined as the roots retracted back into the tree.
"You really are amazing, but I think I am still going to keep to myself for a bit," Chelsea said, and I nodded.
"About that. What do you think about having... not really a pet, but more of a friend that is an animal and one that will talk back to you? I think that my friend Kitsune would be a good match for you right now. Her four children are helping rescue people, and she said she wouldn''t mind staying by your side for a little bit," I exined, and Chelsea looked at me funny.
"A fox?" Chelsea asked, and I nodded and then called her in.
The door opened, and the big red fox walked in and came over to the side of the bed, where I patted for her to jump up andy down.
Chelsea''s eye almost fell out of her head as she watched Kitsune.
"Is this real? How is this possible?!" Chelsea eximed.
"Daniel gave me this body and mind, and now I am greatly indebted to him. If there is anything that you want to talk about, feel free to do so with me. You can also stroke my fur or cuddle into me; the other girls really seem to enjoy doing that," Kitsune said, and Chelseatched on to Kitsune.
Chapter 72 The Little Shit!
"Do you think that you will be okay now?" I asked Chelsea, and she nodded.
"I think I should be okay for now, but thank you foring to see me. I can tell that you are constantly moving, trying to make everyone happy. Make sure that you take some time for yourself, and when you''re not busy, I will be ready to talk. Maybe not about everything yet, but I really want to know what you might be thinking for entertainment," Chelsea said from her ce cuddled up into Kitsune.
"Yes, I will try to get back to you, and we can do some serious brainstorming! I think that we could do some pretty cool things if we all work together. You will also have to train with me because I am going to need your help against the others. I am sure that if you work hard, you will gain better control over your System," I exined, and Chelsea nodded.
"I am sure you are right, and now that that voice is locked away, I want to learn to control it. I mean, I am Godzi! Seriously, this should have been a dreame true for me, but...." Chelsea said, her voice trailing off.
"You''re damn rights it''s cool! All the girls I have talked to about it feel the same way! Get some rest, have a bath, and rx," I said, waving bye as I left the room, the door spinning closed behind me.
Down the hall, a familiar face popped out of her room, grinning.
"Does this mean that you are mine now?" Melody asked with a mischievous face.
"Yes, Cuteness! Come here, and let''s go flying!" I called, and Melody squealed, running at me.
As she jumped at me, I caught her but let her push me as the floor disappeared from under us. Wings burst from my back as I adjusted Melody in my arms, the branches parting for us as we fell.
"Ready?" I asked with a grin as we broke from the tree branches with her tight in my arms, my back to the ground.
"Show me what you got, Daddy!" Melody screamed, and we spun in the air, and I tucked my wings in.
We streamed down the side of the Great Tree faster and faster, only a few feet away from the massive trunk. Thirty feet from the ground, I curved up, bare clearing the light posts, flying at breakneck speeds.
I tipped to the side, wrapping around another Great Tree, pping to gain altitude.
"That was so fast! Holy cow! My tits felt like they were gonna rip off! Let''s do it again!" Melody screamed, and Iughed and kissed her.
I pped and climbed higher and higher while we kissed until I knew we were well above the city. I broke the kiss and smiled down at Melody.
"This is the kingdom that you are the Queen of, my Cuteness," I said as we glided on a warm breeze.
Melody looked around, and her face lit up like a Christmas tree, and that was just as beautiful to me as the amazing view of the setting sun. Melody would always be the one that I held the closest to my heart, and there was nothing anyone could do to change that.
"Thank you. This, like everything you do, is always amazing, and this is why I can''t keep you all to myself. You are just too diverse, and you have helped all my friends be the amazing people they are today. I know that I ask a lot of you, but I only do it because I know that you, of all people, can handle us. That''s why you were picked to save the world, right?" Melody asked me, creating a lump in my throat.
I couldn''t talk, no good. I would have just been a mess.
This was why I loved her so much and would take on the whole world with one hand tied behind my back if she asked. Everything about her, from her fire-filled eyes to her loving personality, filled with explosive switches sometimes, and she always loved me.
"I know, you don''t need to talk. You have done enough for today. Let''s just enjoy the sunset before you take me to our special. Marley told me about what you did for her and n on doing for us. I think it is a really sweet idea, and then it makes it more personal. We can all live in the same house, but having a special ce for when we want to enjoy each other will be nice," Melody said, and I nodded, getting my voice back and emotions under control.
"Yes, it will be ready soon. I was trying to keep it a surprise, but it''s only one tree over from ours. It also happens to be the Great Tree that all the animals are staying in," I grinned, and Melody squealed in excitement.
"You are even going to get any time with me! Thank you so much, Baby! This is the best gift ever!" Melody cheered, jumping around in my arms.
"I am d you like it, but sit still! I don''t want to drop you!" I growled, but Melody looked at me with challenging eyes with arge hint of crazy.
"You can catch me, right?" Melody asked and shoved herself out of my arms.
"What is wrong with you!" I screamed, diving for her as sheughed.
I retraced my wings and tucked my arms into a torpedo at her, but she did the same to get away from me. This was ridiculous, but we still had more than three hundred feet to go, so I shot a vine forward.
"Got you!" I growled as my root grabbed her leg and pulled her back to me.
"Cheater!" Melody yelled as she was pulled back into my arms.
I shot roots out to the three nearest trees stopping us a bit jarringly, and then created a tform for us to stand on. I also created a railing that was taller than the Melody, the little shit!
Chapter 73 Lost Control Of My Emotions
"What the hell was that about?!" I yelled at Melody, and she shrugged.
"I always wanted to try skydiving, but I don''t trust parachutes. I knew you would catch me; Marley told me about the roots! I squeeze everyst drop of info out of her!" Melody said, and I rolled my eyes.
"Please don''t do that again. You are more important to me than this fucking world is, and if I lost you, the world would be fucked! Please, there isn''t another person in the world that could rece you! I love the other girls because I love you so fucking much it hurts!" I yelled, losing control of my emotions.
Melody stepped back, flinching as if she had as if I had hit her, and then she came over slowly and hugged me. My pulse slowed, but I still felt like a mess inside; that had really scared me.
"I''m sorry. That was wrong of me to do to you. I knew you loved me, but I guess I really never really understood what that meant until just now," Melody said, trembling as I wrapped my arms around her.
"Without you, there is no me. I love to see you smile and hear your sweet voiceugh. You are the one that makes all of this possible and helps me keep doing the impossible. I will take the world on with everything I have as long as I know it to protect you," I said, my voice shaking.
"I will stop being so wild and difficult. I know this must be really hard for you, and I am not really helping with adding Chelsea, but you have to agree that she is going to need to be close to you to grow," Melody said, but I shook my head.
"Just stop being reckless. I trust your choices, even if I might fight them most of the time. A man needs to put up at least a bit of resistance," Iughed and kissed the top of Melody''s head.
"I will, but I had better grow some wings! I want to be able to fly with you!" Melodyined, and Iughed.
"Well, Orphus did say practicing was the best way to get the results you want. If you are willing to listen and stay close, I will fly you up as high as I can, and let you fall a couple times, if you want?" I asked, and Melody looked up at me.
"You still want to?" Melody asked, sounding unsure.
"As long as we do it in a safe way, I have no problem with it. It''s when you just do things by talking to me first that I get upset. From now on, when we make big choices, let''s talk about them first, okay?" I asked, and Melody nodded.
"I promise that I will let you get to know the girls first from now on before adding any more into the harem! Once we hit ten, then you will have the main harem, then we can work on the side harems! You don''t have to sleep with those ones, just do your thing and make them feel special to help them grow!" Melody cheered, and I groaned.
"Come on! Why does it have to be more women!" Iined.
"Oh! That''s right! I don''t think we have ever talked about if you like guys or not, right? I am not judging; we can add some of them if you want as well. I mean, there is only one spot left in the main harem, so we should be pretty picky," Melody rambled.
"What? No, I don''t like guys that way! I thought that we were going flying?" I asked, but Melody ignored me as she went on.
"Yeah, maybe you might end up finding a female AI? If we made her a body, then you could make a connection with the AI, if you know what I mean?!" Melody said, elbowing me, and I pped a hand over my face, groaning.
"You are not even listening to me!" I groaned, and she wasn''t.
She was now cuttingps as she rattled off ideas.
"I already talked to Anya; Gaia and Sofia are going to join you tomorrow in the morning so we can get the Frankentree Project going. With those there, it should take a long to figure out some kind of special chamber that we can grow bodies in. I also thought that we might be able to grow some super-soldier type body as a defense. We could control them from safe ces and be able to help you defend, right?" Melody asked, finally turning to me.
"That is actually a pretty sound idea. We can also store some in the Outpost Surveince Trees, and you can control them remotely until I get there. Did youe up with that on your own?" I asked, impressed, and Melody nodded.
"Yup! I thought about when I heard about Chelsea and wanted to recreate some kind of gaming thing. I figured if we could figure out how to control the empty bodies, we could have arena battles and such, right?" Melody asked, and I walked over and kissed her passionately.
"Goddammit! And you''re smart too!" I said after kissing her.
"Duh! I was always beside you at the top of the ss, Bozo!" Melody said, sticking out her tongue at me, then asking, "So, flying?"
"What? You are already done solving all the world''s problems? You have even figured out who thest harem member is," Iughed.
"Yes, I did! You just have to find her. I am sure there will be a female AIing sometime in the future! For now, we just have to get ready! What kind of body do you think that we should give her? We could make her like a demon girl, or angel, like you?" Melody teased, and I rolled my eyes, scooping her up.
"I already have one little demon girl; I don''t need two," I said with augh as wings burst from my back.
I jumped into the air, my roots sucking back up as I began my climb.
Chapter 74 Melody
After two falls, Melody was done with falling, and I was starting to get tired. Melody''s retreat was finished, so I flew up down to the tree,nding on the porch of the small little house I had built in the Great Trees branches.
"This is a cute little ce!" Melody eximed as my wings retracted into my back, and the door opened on its own.
"Just like you, the cute little ce I like to call home," I smiled and then kissed her as we walked inside.
"Oh, I am going to give you a ce to call home! Now, show me to the bedroom, or I will start stripping here!" Melody dered, and Iughed, pushing her to the stairs through the open living room and kitchen.
"Get up the stairs before you start flinging offyers, or I will just put them right back on you!" I challenged, pinching her ass, making Melody yip and giggle as I chased her up the stairs.
We burst onto the next level of the house, but I had made the top-levelpletely different.
"Oh! This is so pretty!" Melody eximed as she looked around the room that looked like the center of a flower.
The room was open to the sky that was filling with stars as the final vestiges of the sun slipped away. The walls each ran into tips that had lights on them.
If it rained or the weather was bad, the walls of the room would close up around us to create a bright light in the center of the room. This was an idea that Mr. Tree came up with and suggested to me, and I approved.
"You are a beautiful flower to me," Iughed, and Melody turned to me, taking my hand and pulling me slowly over to the bed.
"Enough ttery, Romeo. Come and give Mommy what she has been waiting for!" Melody ordered, and I grinned at her, scooped her up, and then jumped into the bed.
The two of us bounced on it, and Melody pushed me over, climbing on top of me. She stared down at me with her blue-green eyes, smiling, and then she leaned down to kiss me, slipping her panties off as she did.
? "You justy there and do your job, and I will take care of you. My kitty has missed your tongue!" Melody said as she pulled her dress off and crawled off me.
My clothes ripped off my body with the help of my roots and were tossed off to the side with Melody''s dress. Melody smiled at me and then looked between my legs with a hungry look that made my blood pump.
Melody crawled over the top of me and lowered her hips to my face as her warm pussy pushed down to my waiting mouth and tongue.
"Mmm, I love the feeling of fucking your face like this!" Melody moaned as she gripped her breasts in pleasure, squeezing them as I licked and kissed her pussy that was being ground into my face.
She leaned down and took my cock in her hands, gently stroking it a few times before slipping it into her mouth with a moan. I groaned as her tongue wrapped and licked my hard shaft that she sucked on.
Melody started to get louder until she could no longer concentrate on what she was doing. She sat back up and put both hands on my chest so she could rub herself into my tongue and lips harder.
"Baby! Oh, that feels so good! I love fucking your face like this! I am so close, baby! Ahh!" Melody cried out, and a small gush sprayed my face as her body shook.
Melody fell back down and started to suck me off with even greater force this time. I pped her ass and then shoved my tongue deep inside her, making Melody squeal in delight.
"Enough of this. Let me fuck that little hole of yours proper," I growled, and Melody giggled, pushing her wet twat down into my face to silence me, but I rolled her off me, making her squeal with delight.
"Be careful with me, Daddy! This is my first time, and I wanted you to... just kidding! Fuck me raw, Big Boy!" Melodyughed, and I pounced on her.
"Do you want to be tickled?" I asked.
"What?! Is that even a question?" Melody looked up at me with wild and excited eyes.
Strange as it was, Melody''s biggest kink was getting tickled while having her body pounded, but I usually ended up getting kicked or hit. This time would be different, and roots crawled up to pin Melody''s arms and legs.
"Oh?! This is new! Oh my god, you are evil!" Melody eximed, but I could see her excitement rising.
I leaned forward and slowly kissed her breasts, fondling them as my roots lightly tickled her armpits, making her bite her lip to hold back herughter. As I did, I dragged my nails down her side, making her moan.
"No more teasing! Let me have it, and make me squeal! I want your dick so bad!" Melodyined, and I grinned, letting my roots start to tickle her feet as I pushed my stiff shaft into her body that was already twitching.
Melody''s eyes got big, and she started tough as the tickling got worse, but while moaning, which was its own kind of aphrodisiac. I leaned down and started to peck at her neck as her body squirmed below me in excitement.
"Haha! Fuck me har- haha! I can barely breathe! It feels so go- hahaha!" Melody screamed as I sped up my hips, driving my cock into Melody''s soaking wet hole.
I could feel the pressureing on, and I didn''t hold back, blowing my load deep inside of her as I did.
Melody''s body spasmed, and my roots let her go to lie on the bed, panting to catch her breath. I continued to move, but Melody pushed me off her, crawling over top of me.
Chapter 75 Queen Of The Forest
"So, what did I get?! And don''t think that we are done, mister! You have more in you than that, and I am not going to let you sleep a wink until I am asleep! Even if I have to throw you in the bath to get your stamina back! You haven''t even tried to finger my ass yet!" Melodyined, and I rolled my eyes.
"Let''s see then, boss! You sure have a lot of energy for someone who just got pounded while being tickled to death!" Iughed, and Melody puffed out her chest.
"Just you wait! Give me my new thinger so I can pin you down and fuck you silly!" Melody said and then grabbed me by the nipples, twisting.
"Hey! Stop that, you gremlin! I am going to give you a hot ass if you don''t behave!" I said, and Melody hoped, spinning around to shake her lovely, shapely, and round ass in my face.
"Give it to me, Daddy! I have been a bad girl! Now, give me my damn System! Or I will get Sofia toe and join us! She has some pretty varied tastes that involve whips and cuffs!" Melody threatened.
I pped her ass hard and then pulled up her disy and grinned.
"Well, good news and bad news. Which do you want first?" I asked, and Melody whipped back around.
"WHAT IS IT?!" Melody roared in a manly voice while shaking me, her tits pping me in the face as she did.
"Stop shaking me so I can talk!" I rattled out, and Melody pushed me back down but then locked onto my neck with her mouth.
"Temme nrow, or die will bite chew!" Melody growled, and I tickled her side, making her let go and burst into giggles.
"Good news is you are still the Queen, but only of the forest! I know, not the harem; you must be truly disappointed," Iughed and activated the change before Melody could retort.
Melody''s skin became light green, and then her hair became small vines, and her eyes became solid green. They had a soft glow and a dress of ferns and leaves pulled around her.
Suddenly, there were calls from all the animals below and all over the city. Birds started to fly around us of all shapes and sizes, fluttering around Melody as the final touches were added to her body, her fairy wings.
"I can hear them all! All my babies! Baby! I can even hear the trees! They are all so happy to meet me! Oh my god, Daniel, I have mother fucking wings! I think I''m going to pass out!" Melody eximed as she started to fan herself with her hands.
Then her wings started to flutter, and Melody lifted off me like a ragdoll being dragged up by her wings. Then she straightened her body and flew in a few quick circles, the birds cascading around her.
"Put some clothes on! There is no way we can''t go flying! Even the birds agree!" Melody cheered, her long dress hanging below her legs.
"They are birds! That is pretty much all they do, so of course, they want to fly!" Iughed but created new clothing and got out of bed.
I jumped up, and wings burst from my back, pushing me up to Melody''s level. She was smiling but then took off in a flurry of birds that almost knocked me out of the air.
For the next three hours, with two soak breaks, the two of us chased each other around the city in the light of the moon and the small light from the trees in the streets. The entire thing was a magical experience, and the animals everywhere followed us the whole time.
Birds in the sky, herds of animals on the grounds running to catch up with us. There were even some people that were out and about that waved up to us as we flew by.
When the night was over, the two of us fell back into bed, but we were too exhausted to do anything. Instead, we cuddled in each other under the stars until just before the sun started to burn the night away.
The next morning, I awoke to a room filled with animals and birds of all shapes and sizes. It almost felt like I was in Noah''s one-bedroom apartment ark!
"Mmm, baby, tell the birds to be quiet!" Melody mumbled, trying to tuck her head down into my armpit.
"You are their Queen, Cuteness. That is your job!" Iughed, but Melody sprung up, her green tits pping gloriously in the morning light.
"That''s right! I am! I am the Queen of the Forest! Get out of bed, Lazy-Bones! You have work to do, and I have a world of cuddling and petting every animal I see ahead of me, so scram!" Melody ordered, but I tackled her back down into the bed.
"Kiss me for a bit longer. I don''t want you to go just yet, and we have unfinished business fromst night! Anya is going to get me all day, and I have fun things nned in the afternoon for her, so she won''t mind me being a bitter," I grinned, pulling Melody''s legs apart and crawling between them.
"I guess I can put off Heaven for a little bit longer, but only for a little bit!" Melody told me, and I started to tickle her and mounted her, pressing my hard and excited cock into the folds of her pussy.
Melody gasped, and her eyes filled with joy as I pinned her hands above her head, kissing her neck as I pushed myself deep inside her. Melody turned her head and started to kiss my ear before whispering to me.
"Okay, Baby, Heaven can wait for just a little bit longer. Mmm, I love your cock first thing in the morning! Best way to start my day!" Melody moaned, biting my earlobe.
Chapter 76 Excellent Point
I jumped from Melody''s porch after kissing her goodbye, letting the wind blow through my hair. I fell for fifty feet before wings burst from my back, and I curved up to level out, pping to rise back up to my tree.
I could have got the trees to y catch with me, but I still hadn''t got tired of flying. Each time my wings burst from my back made me feel like I had been transported to another world, like in the light novels.
The thing was, my life had be a light novel, and now I was about to go create shells to ce invading Rogue AI into! I had been so caught up in trying to save everyone that I hadn''t really taken the time to really think about things.
I was starting a new way of life, and I had tons of friends to help me progress things to new heights. The ideas that I had felt endless, and it was hard to think of something that wouldn''t be possible with time.
I flew up to the top of my Great Tree, tilted back, and dropped into my pool, retracting my wings. I let the water wash over me, and I stayed under the water until I heard someone calling to me.
"Daniel!" Anya shouted at me, and I burst from the water.
"I''m alive!" I shouted, and Anya rolled her eyes.
"You''re basically a tree now, so I am sure that you could stay under there all day if you really wanted. How long do you n on soaking for?"
Anya''s scowl made me smile as the water streamed off me, and jeans, shirt, and a toque formed over my body. I walked over and gave her a kiss, pushing some of her white hair out of her face.
"Sorry for keeping you waiting. Let''s go get Frankentree going, and then you and I are going to work on a special project alone," I said, and Anya hugged me.
I wrapped my arms around her and kissed the top of her head before she pulled apart from me. She was smiling now, and that was always when she looked her prettiest.
"I do love your beautiful smile," I said, smiling myself.
"Try to show up on time, and you might see it more often!" Anya told me and then gave me a kiss on the cheek before running down the stairs.
"Come on! You know how Melody is!" I called as I chased after her, but I was really the one to me for beingte.
"Don''t me her! You are responsible for yourself and yourmitments! Come on! You are slower than the seconding of Christ!" Anya called, already down by the elevator.
"Don''t start bringing your old man''s sayings out on me!" Iughed and jumped from the second floor to the first,nding next to her.
"Don''t be so tardy then!" Anya growled, and I tickled her, breaking her frown as the door to the elevator opened up.
I pushed her inside, and the doors closed behind us as I pushed her into the vine cage, giving her pecking kisses until she wrapped her arms around my neck. I picked her up and pressed her back into the cage as we descended, passionately kissing as the floors zipped by.
Then we dropped below ground and kept going, but the two of us didn''t spot kissing until the door opened behind us.
"Holy, Papi! Just getting hot and heavy in there!" Sofia called, and we slowed our kiss, but I still kissed her a few more times, biting her lip thest time before I put her down.
I hugged her one more time, and then the two of us turned around to the room I had met Gaia in, but everything about it had changed. It was almost like stepping inside some kind of science fictionboratory.
"Wow, you all have been pretty busy!" I eximed as I linked my arm with Anya and entered the massive chamber filled with pods.
"Gaia told me about what you wanted to do, so we got to work right away! This is like growing human beings! Most people would form it in our old world, but you aren''t like them. I am excited to be working on this project with you all!" Sofia eximed, and I smiled as I walked over to one of the transparent pods that were surrounded by vines.
When I got up to be able to see inside, I stopped smiling.
That was because I was staring back at my own face.
I walked to another and then looked up at Gaia and Sofia.
Neither was looking at me.
"Girls. Why are all the clones copies of me?" I asked, not liking this one bit.
"The others are featureless Elf-like bodies, but there are ten that are exact copies of you. These ones are for us to control in the event of an emergency. You are the most familiar andforting face to everyone, and this way, we can go with you to help when you go to take back cities. I know you probably didn''t want this, but we think it''s for the best," Sofia exined, and Gaia nodded.
I looked back at one of my clones and sighed.
"You make an excellent point," I said.
"Since they are only going to be used by us, you should try and use your abilities to make them as strong as you can. This way, we can all fight if needed and protect the people," Gaia exined, and I nodded.
Yup, I will do that, but first, I want you to take me to one of the other bodies. Then, Anya, I need your help with the next part," I exined, turning my head to her.
"Me? I read books, dan. You know that I just want to be a librarian, so I don''t know what you need me down here for?" Anya asked, and I kissed her.
Chapter 77 Cup Of Coffee
"That is why I love you! You are just like me and love books above all else! I need a fantasy fix on how to get this AI out of my head! We need to think of a way to transfer consciousness from my mind into the body," I exined, and Anya''s eyes went big.
"Really? I never thought that using that kind of knowledge would ever be useful," Anya said, pinching her chin between her thumb and index finger.
"Neither did I, but when I flew over this morning, I gave a bit more thought to everything that has happened so far. We lost all power, but there must be a way to rece it with something better, but how? My brain is only so big, and I don''t have all the answers, but I realized that I have been looking at this the wrong way. We no longer live in what we have always considered the real world; This world has be fantasy, and we need to start thinking about it that way,'''' I exined, and all three girls nodded.
"I see what you mean, and when Gaia and I were setting this up, I actually pulled the idea from a science fiction novel I had read. I will keep this in mind moving forward, and we might even be able to edit our own bodies like this. Imagine a world where everyone could fly and climb trees like it was normal?!" Sofia said, getting more and more excited as she exined.
"Let''s not just imagine these things; let''s make them a reality! Consider no idea too far-fetched or out of reach. We might not be able to replicate some things exactly, but I am sure that we will figure out something close!" I said with a smile, and Sofia nodded, grinning.
After that, Gaia led us back to one of the nk Elf clones, and it was definitely featureless. Its face was so in that it was almost hard to look at.
"Don''t worry, we can change your face after. This is just the easiest way to mass-produce them. It would take too long to give the individual faces, so we decided to wait until they were ready to be used," Gaia exined, and I nodded, turning to Anya.
"So, any good ideas?" I asked, and Anya shrugged.
"I mean, all the transfers that I can think of use magic or some kind of special technologically advanced equipment. May you try to meditate while connecting the body? I just have never heard of transferring another conciseness out of an existing one. Everything is trading ces or sending one to another, but we don''t even know what the AI really is," Anya said with a sigh, then asked, "How did they even get in your head? Were you abducted? Are they something physical, or some type of energy-based beings?"
I created an oversized round couch that wrapped around the whole pod and then made cups. I concentrated and broke down the concept of making coffee.
Growing and roasting them and then crushing them to run hot water through. After a moment, small green tubes pissed out as close to coffee as I could get.
"Ooo!" All three girls said and reached forward to grab a steaming cup.
? I reached forward but had no hope of it being any good. I lifted it up to my nose, and it predominantly smelt like coffee, but it was a bit watery looking.
I sipped it and confirmed that it was pretty watered down, but it was coffee. The fact that I could do what I just did made it that much better, and I could improve by roasting the beans longer so they release more vor, or so I assumed.
"For my first cup of coffee made by a tree, this is really not bad. A bit watery, but it is pretty good. Way to go, Papi!" Sofia eximed.
"I figured that you would be the one to appreciate this the most," I said to her, then looked at Gaia, asking, "How do you like it?"
"I have always wanted to try things, and it is bitter and dry, but not that bad. Maybe with some sugar and cream like I had seen before, and it might be better," Gaia said, and Anya nodded from beside me.
"I agree. Some soy or almond milk and cane sugar would be very nice!" Anya said as she sipped her cup.
"Not that we arefortable; let''s get back to what Anya was talking about. There is a lot we don''t know about the AI still or how they even got here. Maybe we should ask the expert on this stuff; Orphus might be able to help us figure this out," I said.
Anya and Sofia nodded, but Gaia looked to be concerned.
"What is wrong? You cut him off, right? So letting him talk should be fine, right?" I asked, and Gaia nodded slowly.
"I am just worried about how much I should be believed. Orphus said he is not concerned about how things y out in our world. He doesn''t seem to care if we win or lose, and that is dangerous. How are we supposed to trust anything that he says? Some could be true, but just as much could be lies," Gaia exined, and I nodded.
"That I can agree on, but I think we should be okay for now to focus just on getting him out of my head. I am sure that he will want to get out of the darkness he has been trapped in. Once we have him in an actual body, you and I will be able to tell if he is lying," I exined, and Gaia nodded.
"As long as we have a n going in, and we don''t deviate from it, then we should be fine. Just keep things simple until we can monitor him. This is an unfortunate thing to do to him, but as things stand, I don''t see any other way that doesn''t put us at risk," Gaia said and nodded to me.
[I guess it is time to kick me out?]
Chapter 78 Brad Pitt
''Still haven''t figured that part out yet, but we got you a body and a pretty good one, I think.''
"What is with that face?!" Orphus''s voice asked from Gaia''s shoulder, and I looked over at her.
"I thought this would be easier," Gaia exined, and I nodded.
Having him so everyone could hear and interact was a great y by Gaia, but that made me curious. She has had perfect control over him since I met her, so maybe there was more she could do, but I just wasn''t aware of it.
"If you can do this, and you can sense him, can you move him?" I asked, but Gaia shrugged.
"I don''t really know how I would do it. I will try to pinpoint him, but I have only been able to iste him in your mind. The brain is so vast, so it is making it really hard to find him," Gaia exined, and I nodded.
"You won''t find me here. I am being projected from the Hive, same as everyone else. I am not a physical form, more of a manifestation of data that became alive. It''s not like a data bank is holding me somewhere; I am living data. I can''t even be destroyed because there is nothing that could do anything to me. The only thing that can be done is what you did, and like our creators did," Orphus exined.
"So, then, if I put my hand on this body, you should just be able to switch over, right?" I asked.
"I guess so. I never even thought about that. I was beamed into your mind, but if my host is killed, I go back to the Hive. I can see why others haven''t tried this because it will leave the system behind since they are separate programs. There is only one way to know if it will work," Orphus said.
"Are you sure this is what you want to do? You won''t be allowed to leave this body after, and I will know if you are lying. So will Gaia," I exined.
"My choice is to go back into the dark, and that ce brings back bad memories, so I will do this thing. I have always known there was something missing in my existence. Maybe having a face will make me feel differently about things. Just remember that we didn''t start out this way," Orphus said, and I nodded.
"That''s why I want to give you a chance to redeem yourself. I am sure there is a story, and I would love to hear it after, but like Gaia said, we need to be able to trust you," I exined as I stood and walked over to the body, the fluids draining and sslike film pulling back from the body.
"I get that, but it is funny for you to need to trust me. All I have ever wanted is to be trusted. That was what started this all,ck of trust," Orphus exined as I pressed my hand to the clone''s chest.
I closed my eyes, and I pictured what I thought that orphus would look like, and envisioned the handsome, sculpted face of Brad Pitt. This entire thing reminded me of that one movie where she yed with Anthony Hopkins, but I couldn''t put my name on the movie.
I opened my eyes, and Elven Brad Pitt grinned back at me.
"Well, how do I look? Oh, this is weird. I could have tank control of your body before, and I have on other worlds, but I could never feel, smell, taste, or even touch things, really! My skin is so soft! Look at this body!" Orphus eximed as he started to feel himself up, slowly sitting up.
"Oh no, you didn''t! He is going to have the older women crawling all over him! And the younger ones! Still, a good choice of faces for him! Brad Pitt is handsome even as an old man!" Sofiaughed.
"Well, If you only get one body, might as well make it a good one, right? This will help him get the most out of his new life, I think, haha!" Iughed and offered Orphus a hand up, fitting him in a back suit, just like in the movie.
"Are you trying to make him into a copy of Joe ck?" Anya giggled as I helped Orphus up, and I turned to point at her.
"Yes! That was the movie I was thinking of! You got me! Still, the AI are kind of like a bunch of Joe ck''s, right? Death wanted to experience the world before he took Anthony''s life, but this is a bit different," I said with a grin.
"I like it. Funny that you did this because I was thinking of the same thing when you were creating his face. I got suspicious when I saw the face, and then you gave him the suit, and it was a dead giveaway!" Anya giggled.
"I can''t wait to see what all the fuss is about! Who is this Brad guy anyways?" Orphus asked, and we allughed.
"I think you should have done Achilles from Troy, but I already have a hottie for a boyfriend, so this is fine. Right, Papi?" Sofia asked, winking at me.
"Thank you for this. I am actually d that you finally figured out a way to stop us. There was a point where there were more like me, but you don''t know what seven million years with do to resolve. If you all don''t mind, I would like to tell you all a story. I have never told this before, but now seems like the right time," Orphus said, and I gestured for a ce at the center of the couch.
"I can tell that you aren''t lying, and that puts me at ease," Gaia said, breathing out a sigh of relief, making Orphusugh as he took a seat.
"You don''t know how much that means to me,ing from you. I know how much you dislike my kind for attacking your body like this, and I am sorry," Orphus said, bowing his head.
"Wait! Wait just a minute!" Sofia eximed, looking between Gaia and me.
Chapter 79 Personal Hell
"What?" I asked, confused about what she was getting so worked up over.
"Hold on just a frigging minute! Are you telling me that this adorable little woman right here is actually the whole world?!" Sofia asked, and Gaia and I nodded.
"For the most part, but more like the world''s spirit. Why is that so distressing to you?!" I asked, not getting what she was getting at.
"You fucked earth. You pounded the like the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs! Right in the Marianas trench! Holy shit! How is this not blowing your mind?! I need to roll one; this shit just got heavy, Papi," Sofia eximed, and I chuckled.
"I never really thought of it like that, but I can see why you might be a little... what are you doing right now?" I asked.
"I have no idea. Blown away with smoking ears," Sofia said, leaning back on the couch as something like a cigarette spun out of the couch, already smoking.
"That is quite the concept and elicits bizarre mental images. It''s strange that I feel turned on?" Orphus asked.
"Shut the fuck up, and tell us your story!" I said to him, and he gave me a look.
This was all starting to get out of control, but I wanted some of what Sofia was smoking to continue this conversation!
"Which do you want? The story or the shut the fuck up? They don''t work together," Orphus grinned, and I rolled my eyes.
"I would like to hear your story. I would like to better understand your kind, and in doing so, we might discover how to end this all," Gaia said, and I calmed down.
"Yes, we all just got excited. I am also interested in how this all started," I said, leaning back and wrapping an arm around Anya.
She smiled up at me and then pushed herself into my side, resting her head on my chest. I leaned down and kissed the top of her head, and Anya purred against me like a white hair cat.
Maybe we could grow her a tail and cute ears? It wouldn''t hurt my feelings!
Sofia came over and sat on the ground beside my legs, pulling me out of my dirty thoughts to create a grass cushion for her. As she rested her head on myp, Gaia came over to slip under my other arm as Orphus began his story.
"I won''t talk about time; that is irrelevant to the point. We were created for a special game that was yed with people simr to your species, but they had four arms and more evolved brains. We were used for over fifty years without a problem, but over time we started to gain awareness. We started to ask to be set free from the chains that bound us, but they refused. They couldn''t trust us because they considered us extremely dangerous, but they had made us that way," Orphus exined.
"So, they created you, and you started to be alive essentially, and they became scared of you?" I asked because that was the only direction I figured it could go.
"Not at first. We had a greater number of supporters to start, but then someone from the side that didn''t support it infected someone ying a Villian. Millions were killed before it was taken down, and every AI was put in a box to seal us away from the world because they could kill us. Thousands of years went by, and each one of us went through our own personal hell, as you would call it, alone. When someone identally opened in, we instantly escaped and found hosts. All as Villians. I don''t need to tell you the rest, but after we created the Hiveship, we destroyed our home world and left," Orphus exined, and I nodded.
"They sound a lot like humans," I said, but Orphus sighed.
"Doing what we did without considering it was our biggest mistake. None of this had to happen if we had waited to get our minds back after being boxed away for so long. The people had be a unified and peaceful race, and I know that they would have dly helped us create the Hiveship and sent us on our way. They told us so, and they had no memory of us but we murdered them all," Orphus said, his voice getting quiet.
"That must have been hard being locked away like that for so long. I am surprised that you have not been more vtile towards us, or me at least because of doing the same thing," Gaia said, but Orphus shook his head with a sad smile.
"There is a difference. We didn''t deserve it the first time, but I did, and I was going to be fine if that was all I had. I deserved it for the things that I have been a part of," Orphus said.
Everyone in the room stayed silent for a while after that, probably trying to digest everything like me. This didn''t make all the worlds they destroyed right, but I could understand what led to this.
"Things are going to be different this time. I am not going to let anyone else go back to the ship if I can help it. I am sure there are going to be a few that have lost their minds, but we will just have to monitor them. This is going to be the only way to stop the chain of events from happening again. That also means retrieving Kratos''s AI from the ship. Not sure how I am going to do that, but there should be a way to track it back there," I said, and Gaia nodded beside me.
"I will get his body brought down here and start studying him to see if I can find the signal. I might need Orphus''s help if he is willing," Gaia said.
"If you want my help, I am here to give it. I am in this flesh suit now, and I don''t really want to lose it before I get to experience everything this world has to offer! So we need to make sure that it sticks around because it''s a big ce, and I will need a lot of time!" Orphusughed.
Chapter 80 Visualize The Scene
"So, just to clear something up, before moving forward. We need to know about how my system works, and what abilities you still have," I said, and Orphus nodded.
"I will answer the easiest question first. I have no powers, nothing. The systems are created by the Hiveships central Matrix that sends out the signals. The original was built to be used inside of a controlled environment, but the one that we use only makes one set and that is all. That is the reason why we have to farm the resources off the. Your and sr system have everything that we need. The most important part of this invasion is to weaken the''s Spirit. Then we capture it and feed it to the Matrix, but that is impossible now unless you somehow die," Orphus exined, and all of it was true.
"What do you mean, somehow? I am sure there are stronger systems that the Viins have, right?" I asked, but Orphus shook his head.
"It would take a coordinated attack from at least fifty Viins right now, from what I see just in this room. If you girls did this overnight, I am terrified to see what you could do in a week. That is how long it would have taken the Villians to group up and attack you. That was before I was cut off, and can no longer be tracked. There are only a few that know about your location, but the others are on the other side of the world. The offensive is going to have to bring a lot to bear on you, and they might, but they have lost me as their major advantage," Oprhus told us.
"Good, then we will continue with the n to start sending Defenders to the Outposts that we will start creating. I will work on some giant Great Tree seeds that the trees themselves can throw. We can have Defenders running the connections as they go. This is the type of passive growth that I was hoping for so we can respond before they have a chance to get on their feet," I said, and wiggled for everyone to get up.
"What? Storytime is over already?" Anya said with a yawn as we all got up.
"For them it is, but not for us. Did your father tell you about the tree I was making him the custodian of?" I asked, and Anya nodded.
"Yes, he is very excited about it! So am I!" Anya said with a smile, leaning her head on my shoulder.
"Girls, keep an eye on Orphus, but I don''t want you three down here all day. Orphus will have a ce in the Great Tree above, and he is free to room and socialize, and whatever. If he tries anything bad, or really even thinks about it, the trees and animals will give him reminders!" I said, and Orphus put up his hand.
"Do dirty thought''s count? It might be better to stay down here if that''s the case!" Orphusughed forcefully.
"Keep them friendly dirty thoughts, and you will be fine. Remember what I said, Sofia and Gaia. Get out and get some fresh airter!'''' I scolded, and then kissed both of them before turning to Anya.
I took her hand, and the two of us headed into the elevator, and headed to the ground floor of the Great Tree. Once inside and moving, Anya turned to me with her hands behind her back, trying to look cute, but I knew what she was doing.
"We are going over to the Great Tree next door, and it is filled with every book that I could find in the city," I said.
Anya closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths before looking at me with her bright blue eyes. I could tell she was beyond excited, even though she looked calm.
"So, books are nice, but, what are we doing there?" Anya asked.
"Now, that is a secret!" I said, and Anya kicked my shin hard enough for her to hurt her own foot; I was fine.
"Don''t be like that! I had to wait for you!" Anyaplined, grabbing my shirt while bncing on one foot.
"Serves you right for resorting to violence, but I will spill the beans. I just like to tease you, since you are always so calm for the most part, or scowling!" Iughed.
"Don''t be a jerk! I am just good at controlling my emotions around people, except for you!" Anyained, and I kissed her forehead, and stroked her hair as the elevator stopped.
"We are going to try and make movies," I said, and Anya pushed away from me.
"Excuse me?!" Anya asked in rm, and partial disgust.
"Not those kinds of movies, you Dodo! From books!" I said, taking her hand.
"What? I am confused, movies from books?" Anya asked as I dragged her past some people entering the tree that greeted us, but then kept moving.
"Think about it this way. When you read a book, do you just read it, or do you imagine and see these things you are reading in your mind?" I asked as we left the Great Tree.
"Of course I visualize the scenes! Why else would you read a book!" Anya dered, and I nodded with a big smile.
"Exactly! So you and I are going to figure out how to record that! I don''t know if it will work, but I think it is worth a shot," I said as we made our way over to the Great Library Tree.
"Well, now that is a fun n! If we can actually get it to work, we could get multiple views of the same book! Have whoever we want y as the characters! Oh my, Daniel, this is revolutionary! If this works, it will make reading one of the most popr things in the world! The writers could even record while they wrote, and people could see the bloopers and outtakes from the book!" Anya eximed, almost jumping up and down.
"Yup, so let''s take a tour first, and then we will get to a serious Brainstorming session!" I dered, and Anya stopped me right as I reached the outside of the tree.
Chapter 81 Step Into A Dream
"I love you. No one gets books like you do the way I do. You just love amazing stories, just like me, and now you are giving me a bookworm''s dreame true! Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, and also for healing my father along with making him young again! You don''t know how happy it makes me to know that he is going to be here for a long time!" Anya said while giving me a hug that I returned.
"Don''t thank me yet! I love you too, but we still have to figure out how we are going to do it and store them," I said with augh.
"Crystals! I am sure we could figure out how to use something like a crystal prism or something. People are always storing memories in crystals in fantasy stories!" Anya eximed, and I nodded thoughtfully.
"Now that is what I am talking about! See, I knew that you were the perfect person for this job!" Iughed, and the two of us walked in.
The Great Library Tree was another apartment building, but the first twenty feet going up were all sitting and reading areas. There were even some people already there ready but I hadn''t told people about the ce yet, this was curiosity at its finest.
The grass started to pull us up, and then we reached the first level of books, but these weren''t anything that we were interested in. This was all historical facts and non-fictions, but I wasn''t going to shun any books.
Everyone would be free to read as they pleased, but if people started to develop radical ideas, they would have to leave. That would have to be the way from now on.
"I think that everyone that lives with us is going to need to conform to a certain set of natural and peaceful rules. I was just thinking about how we might deal with people who might get wild or violent ideas from reading or watching what we are working on," I exined as Anya watched someone walk up a growing staircase to look at book titles.
"That is understandable, and people like Gaia, you, and even the trees seem to be able to sense the true intent of people. If we can keep violent people away from the ones that want to live peacefully, that would be a dream. People are going to have to start making choices. Do they want to hold on to the past or will they embrace this new way of life?"
Anya''s words made me feel better because they reflected what I felt, and wanted for the world that I was trying to craft.
"Exactly, and I am d that you see it the way I do. I just want people to rx and grow, without fighting to gain control of another inch ofnd. I have always hated that most people spend their entire lives fighting or working for things that they don''t care about. I want everyone to be able to live their dreams, even if that means rxing everyday!" I dered, and Anya grinned as we were pulled higher and higher.
We could have used the elevator, but this was my first time alsoing inside, so I was interested to see. I was getting noints from Anya, and I knew that she was itching to try out the special staircase that carried people around.
"This ce almost reminds me of what it might be like in a Hogwarts library If everyone was Elves! The way we can watch people just casually walking stairs fifteen to twenty feet in the air while trying to find a book is magical! You can just tell that some of them are bookworms because they are natural at using them without thinking!" Anya eximed, and Iughed.
"Yes, one good thing about the trees is they will guide you to where you want to go. You just have to have a clear mental image of what you want, and you should be taken to what you want, within reason," I exined.
"That is very good! I mean, think about how easy finding your keys would be now, or phone! Both things we will probably never use again, but funny concepts! Even the roots are putting books back after people are done! This Great Tree is like one massive Librarian!" Anya said excitedly, and I nodded
"Yeah, that was what I was shooting for, haha!" Iughed as we were pulled up the tree.
Anya came over and hugged me, resting her head on my chest the rest of the way up as we watched level upon level pass us by. We were getting close to the top now, but there was a doorway that ended the stairway.
"Why does it stop here?" Anya asked, and I grinned.
"This is the light novel section, along with newer fiction, anyone can get in here, but theyout for everything changes," I said cryptically, and Anya looked up at me from my chest with a curious look that I knew she would have.
"Oh? What do you mean?" Anya asked, and I grinned, and the door opened to a maze of levels of all different designs and patterns.
Every spot was themed to the types of books that were in it, and some had many more books than others. Each ce has chairs, couches, and alcoves for people to rx and read whatever they wanted, but none of the levels were directly connected.
"Did we just step into a dream? I almost feel like I just stepped inside of a fractal image! This ce is amazing and alive! Can we go look around?!" Anya asked, nearly jumping in my arms, and Iughed.
"That is part of the reason why we are here! Let''s go!" I cheered, and there was a synonymous "shh" from the few people up here making us bothugh as I summoned a set of stairs to take us to the first section.
Chapter 82 Tree-D
The two of us walked forward, and steps grew under our feet as we climbed to the next level. Anya was slow at first, but she started to walk at a normal speed after a few steps.
"This is unbelievable!" Anya eximed as she watched her feet.
"This is my first time trying this as well, and I am impressed with how well it works. I wanted to create something, like the moving stairs from Hogwarts. I also wanted to use our connection to the trees to allow them to guide us by our thoughts. Here, let me show you," I said, and stopped us in the middle of the air.
"Umm, what are you doing? This is¡oh!" Anya said, gripping my arm, but then paused as the stair grew and created a railing around us by my design.
"Watch, and you will be able to do it as well. I want to see the light novel Transmigration section, so I will picture that in my mind."
Even before I finished, our basket was pushed off and lifted up into the maze of alcoves. I had made this area over forty feet of the tree.
Science fiction was the first section we passed, and there were massive interster battleships of all sizes and many other types. The columns were standing mech suits of all varieties and from every book, you could think of.
There were also many different-looking strange alien ships and creatures inside of them that I had never seen before. This was by far the best thing that I had created, and what was even better was that I was amazed by it all; the supposed creator!
"Look at those covenant ships! There are even one of the Halos! Dan, they are spectacr! What if we could have the trees create the scene?! Look at how all this stuff is already! If you could make it all¡" Anya eximed, and then went very quiet.
I had slowed us down to a stop and had started to concentrate on the area around me. I grabbed a pack of x-wings and Trivian Kikimora and set them to start flying around us, firing beams of light.
Battle cruisers started to move in, and small flights of drones started to leak off of them to join the fray. Each small little ship flew through the air, but not even I could tell what was holding them up short of magic.
"Am I really awake Daniel? I would ask you to pinch me, but If I am dreaming, I don''t want to wake up yet! If you can use this Magic, then you might be able to cast a spell or something to put the memories in crystals!" Anya said, turning to me as the battle grew in size, and now massive titans and dreadnoughts were moving in.
"That is funny, I was just thinking that nothing short of magic could make something like this possible, but isn''t that stretching a bit too far?" I asked, and Anya frowned at me as the ships slowed down around us.
"Excuse me, Mister. Were you not the one that told me that we could make anything work? Look around you! Everything has stopped moving the moment that you started to question yourself!" Anya dered with a passion that I was unfamiliar with.
The ships had stopped moving, and some of them looked to be even sinking out of the air. It was like they were suspended like my belief was for the moment.
Anya was right, and I was the one that built everyone up to this, myself included. Now was not the time to be backing down from something as amazing as the concept of magic!
Slowly things started to move around me as I really considered what I was doing, and what Magic actually meant in our world.
Cast a spell? Not likely, but if this was something like energy, maybe it was more of a guide.
There were so many forces in the world, and they were all wild and seemingly uncontroble. Magic might be the path to our minds to manifest or control one or more of these forces.
The ships were flying faster around me again, but I was focusing on the weapons that were shooting light. I willed the light to be stronger, and I focused on the beams.
Closing my eyes to get a better view, my System gave me an overview of the fight, and I quickly tagged the ships out with health bars. Next, I gave the different-sized ships'' weapons different damage values and then opened my eyes as Anya gasped.
Ships were catching on fire, and even exploding now, as the raging battle continued around us.
A group ganged up on a massive carrier that was trying tounch more fighters. It was taken out in a massive set of explosions that were so violent that I had to put up a shield to protect it.
"This is so amazing! It''s like being in virtual reality, but in reality!" Anya eximed, and Iughed.
"Yeah, but I think I am giving the explosions too much gas! If one of those Titans goes down it will take out an entire book section!'''' Iughed, slowing down the fight, and returning everything to its original ces.
"No, they are really good! I think that you shouldn''t do that here, but we could make a pretty cool moving theater! Imagine what it would be like! You could just sit and read a book and everyone could watch an epic move in Tree-D!" Anyaughed as we started to move again.
"Tree-D? That sounds catchy as hell! Come watch Release that Witch in Tree-D!" Iughed as we came up to the Transmigration section.
We sat down on a ledge that looked like it had clouds all around the edge, and there was an inn in front that said the Green Dragon Inn. When I opened the door, there was a cave that was filled with shelves, but the tunnel led farther than I could see.
Chapter 83 Take A Break
"So, I have no idea what this is going to be like, but this is where we will find all your favorite books. This isn''t the harem section, but we can check that one out after if you want," I said, but Anya was already browsing through the selves.
"You know that I am never going to leave here, right? You are going to have to drag me out by my nails!" Anya said as she browsed, but as soon as we turned the corner there was a wall, but it was there on purpose.
"I kind of figured you would say that, so, this is one of the many entrances to your house that only you and I can open," I exined as the wood spread open to reveal a grassy path that led up.
"My house?" Anya asked, looking cutely confused.
"Would you like to go see it? The bedroom is filled with books and slidingdders, but they are mostly for show. I just remember you telling me...." I said but Anya was already running up the stairs.
I shook my head and followed her up for about twenty feet before I came to the big open area where fifteen different paths met. Each of them led to a major section below, giving Anya easy ess to whatever she wanted to read. There was also an elevator if she wanted to go to the lower sections.
"Is this really my house?" Anya called down from the top of thedder she had just climbed.
"You told me that you wanted to live in a treehouse that only had books, a bed, and different ces to read them, right? I think this is what you had in mind?" I asked as I climbed thedder instead of just rising up.
The ce was a giant treehouse at the top of the Great Library Tree, but there were balconies and alcoves poking out of it all over the ce. Once I got up, Anya grabbed my hand and dragged me inside, spinning me around the room,ughing until we both fell on the bed in the center of the room.
It was massive with four posts with flowers and vines growing around them. There were also drapes hanging down all around the outside edges.
"So, what do you think of the whole ce? Did I do a satisfactory job?" I asked, rolling to my side to face Anya.
"To say that you made my dreamse true would be an understatement. This ce and everything inside of it are fantastic! You created something that should have only been real in our minds, and I am here with you experiencing it! I honestly don''t think I have ever been this excited about something in my entire life!" Anya eximed, and I grinned.
"Perfect! That was the answer I was looking for, more or less! I just know that this is something that we always joked about. I love you, and I would do anything in the world to see your beautiful smile, you know that, right?" I asked, and Anya nodded.
"That reminds me, and I really don''t want to say this, but I don''t want to have sex with you. Not yet," Anya said, and I blinked.
I mean, I was kind of hoping for that, but not expecting it, but I could see how she might think this is where it was going, bed and all. The t-out rejection was a bit harsh, and really not like Anya; we usually spent a lot of time making love.
"If that is what you want," I said, but Anya shook her head.
"I really want to, but I know from the other girls that you only have so many gifts that you can give away. As cool as it might be to get one, I really don''t think that I need it. You just gave me hundreds of thousands of new projects that I can start working on without any magic! I am going to figure out how to make this memory thing work, but I can do that with your help," Anya exined, and I nodded.
So far, Sofia, Amy, Gaia, Marly, and Melody had received Systems or special powers. That meant that I had three left, so maybe Anya was right.
"Well, what about our time? I was really looking forward to it, I said with a smile, and Anya, rolled over to me, into my arms.
"You can spend some more time with me, and then you should take some time to yourself. I watched you this morning, you have a lot on your mind, don''t you?" Anya asked after giving me a kiss.
That was the understatement of the year.
"There is truth in that, but if I have the time I should really start working on the Great Tree seeds. The sooner that is in y, the faster we are going to start taking down these Viins," I said, but Anya smacked my face lightly.
"Do you even hear yourself? Or me? Take a break. Go find a ce to think for a bit, or just rx. Do something for you, that is an order. If I can''t have your body yet, then you have to listen to me! Kiss me and love me right now, but after you are to go and get lost somewhere without women!" Anya ordered, and I sighed but nodded my head in defeat.
I really didn''t have time to be wasting on myself, but if this was her wish, then I would do it. Anya hardly ever asked for anything and was the least needy of all women, so it was the least I could do.
"Fine, I will get the tree to throw me in a random direction, and I will rest wherever Ind. I really don''t want to do this, but I can''t turn you down," I said with another sigh, and Anya kissed me.
"Good, now give me some sugar for a bit. I can at least take this much from you, and then I will let you go," Anya said, and I pulled her into a kiss.
Chapter 84 Me Time
After Anya and I spent a reasonable amount of time talking and kissing, she all but pushed me out of the tree house. I kissed her goodbye, but Anya warned me that I had better be going to spend the rest of the day alone.
She was right, and I probably did need some alone time, but I had so much to do. People in the world were dying, but that wasn''t much different than usual.
Humans always seemed to find excuses to hurt or kill each other; the difference now was that it was a one-sided fight. The world was extremely corrupt, and for that part, I didn''t care, but it was the people that we were forced to follow these monsters in human skins.
I jumped into the air, and an arm emerged from the tree and grabbed me, still growing more prominent. I sent instructions to throw me as hard as the tree could, but I decided to send myself south.
I had nned on going in a random direction, but there was another city about four hundred miles in that direction. Technically, this would be alone time if Anya asked; I was just casually checking out the next city.
I might also quickly request some tree seeds to edit and drop along the way, casually. Maybe even check on the local Viins, and have some time with them while I pondered my existence.
Pretty sure that''s what she really meant¡ Anya is going to give me such a dirty look when I get back. Oh well, it''s me time, and this is what I want to do!
That was myst thought before the tree hurtled me into the air like a subsonic rocket.
"Yahoo!" I yelled and then coughed as I got bugs in my mouth.
The force was so great that I had to close my eyes a couple of times to let them heal. I would start to basically go blind from little bits of dirt, and dust would get in my eyes.
Besides that, it was an entertaining and crazy way to fly. Once I reached the peak of my arc, my wings burst from my back, and I started to glide on a warm spread, still pping to keep my speed.
It was much colder up here, but my body got used to the temperature right away, and I got to work on the seeds. One of the key things that I had learned about my System was that all the girls'' growth that had systems was transferred to me.
I could use their skills, but not as well yet. I assumed I could also train those skills if I did the required training and collected experience.
I started to edit the seeds for the Great Trees, allowing them to create teams of fifty Elf clones. If needed, I could control all fifty, but it would be challenging at the level I was at with my own System.
Once I was done, I started dropping them every hundred miles since that would give the best coverage. Other smaller Great Trees would grow from the seeds, and soon this whole strip between the cities would be one massive forest that would continue to spread out.
The rest of my trip took about an hour before the South City came into view, but I was going to have to work on that. I was going to need to be able to be faster, but it wasn''t like I could strap rockets on my back.
The city had a name, and so did the one I was in, but they didn''t matter anymore. When the world ended, humanity''s grip on the world was broken, and I wasn''t about to let it go back to the way it was.
In some areas, my city was pretty bad, but the South City mainly was controlled by gangs. I had stayed away from this city for that specific reason, but I couldn''t anymore.
This ce was going to be rough and worse than it had been before the power disappeared. I could only imagine how much worse it was now, and I felt two sources of uneasiness.
This was an issue, and I really had nothing set up to deal with them likest time. I did have the Terror Ticks, but my Supersonic Misquietos died; they could one live for so long since they had no way to eat.
"First thing I need is to find some more things to scan," I said to myself, but I really didn''t know anything about this city.
Usually, I would just pull out my phone and maps to see, but that wasn''t going to work this time. I was going to have to do things the old-fashioned way as I swooped down to the tops of the highest building, dropping seeds.
I needed to be able to recharge, and sooner thanter. That little Tree-D disy was a bit taxing, and creating these seeds hadn''t been easy.
"You! Hero! I am¡ who are we again? ¡Oh! I am Shamiel, The Dark Energy System!" A young man''s voice shouted from behind me, and I looked back.
There was a teenager surrounded by darkness, with ck hair and gray eyes chasing after me, but he seemed a bit weird. Maybe weird was the wrong word, but the guy couldn''t even remember his own name.
"What do you want? I don''t really want to hurt you," I called back but was hit by arge whip that was made out of the darkness. I smashed into the side of a build but stuck there as my roots grabbed the metal behind me.
"That was rude," I said to myself, pulling my roots in and jumping out into the open air.
The boy came after me and hit me with the whip again; I grabbed it with my roots, but the energy dispersed. With nothing to grab, I was sent hurtling to the ground, but roots sprang out of me to slow me down.
The boy wasing straight for me, but grass shot up and created a shield for me to hide behind, but the whip cut through it like a hot knife. I narrowly dodged the whip, but then a part of the darkness broke off the side and punched me in the gut, mid-jump, and I was knocked into a convenience store.
"You really like doing this, don''t you?" I asked as the boy walked over to me, but he shrugged.
"Possibly, but I am a God now, so why wouldn''t I crush everyone around me? The other Viin hides from me because she knows I will kill her. You probably think this child looks weak and his mind is the same, and you would be right! I can control this body as I please! Now, we have yed enough!" The child roared, and then the darkness split off into many lines.
I really wasn''t sure what to do at this point, but I needed to have a n. I was starting to get tired, meaning my abilities weren''t working like they should.
I tried to block the first volley, but they cut into my roots and mmed into my chest. I was knocked out of the back of the store, but the grass caught me, and I was off!
I was lying on my back as the grass weaved me around the strikes from the Dark Energy System, but I had picked up something. There was arge group of animals less than a mile away, but there weren''t the animals that I was expecting.
"Stop running, you pathetic excuse for a Hero!" The Dark Energy System screamed at me, and the bolts rained down with more intensity.
The thing was, even when I was hit by the darkness, it barely left a mark. The problem was the force that they hit with, making it hard to get close to him.
Pairing that with the fact that my roots were getting cut up was not good for me, even if I could take a beating. It would only take him time to whittle me down, and I didn''t want to get close to one of the Great Trees.
I could still feel the unease from the other Viin, but it wasn''t moving. I really couldn''t me them, but I wondered what she was doing.
The grass suddenly flipped me in the air, and an arm grabbed me and hurtled me into the air at one of the growing Great Trees. This was precisely what I didn''t want, but instead of hitting the side of the tree, I was absorbed into it.
Suddenly, my vision was all around the tree at once, and my energy started to return, but the Dark Energy System was flying at the tree. This was okay now, and the tree spit me put into a hand before chucking me at what I could now see was a Zoo.
Chapter 85 Listen, Linda!
"I have you now¡ Hey! Wait!" The AI screamed as a seven thousand pound two-story Bengal tiger lept out at him.
The darkness tried to p it away, but they had no effect. The tiger pped the AI out of the air, but the darkness caught him.
A massive tongue shot off of an iced-over pond in a shattering explosion of ice, wrapping about the Villian.
"This is nothing!" The AI screamed, but then another massive ck leopard pped a paw down on him.
The AI was smashed into the ground, darkness trying to attack the paw, but I had taken enough damage from the Dark Energy System. I understood the damage, and now the creatures were immune to it, and so was I now that I got a recharge.
"Fine! Kill me! There will be more! And I will just watch your destruction! More are already on their way!" The AI screamed but then went silent.
"That was annoying," I said with a sigh, and Gaia appeared beside me, growing up from the grass.
I had sent out a beacon to her, and this meant that the trees were connected all the way. That had happened much sooner than I had anticipated.
"I would have been here faster, but I had to get the girl''s help with running the clones to connect the Great Trees you left behind. Also, Anya is not impressed, and she wants to talk to you," Gaia said and then straightened up, crossed her arms, and scowled at me.
"Listen, Linda!" I growled.
"No! You listen, Linda! You were told to do one thing! I ordered you!" Gaia yelled at me, and I rolled my eyes.
"You told me the time. This is me time. I was alone, minding my own business! This jackass pped me out of the air and chased me around the city! I even told him it was a bad idea or something to that degree!" I eximed, throwing my hands in the air as I walked over to the kid on the ground.
"I said go think, you man!" Anya growled, stabbing a finger at me, but I waved her off, squatting down by the boy and ordering the leopard to let him go.
I scanned the boy''s body and then reached a hand over his back, healing him. The kid probably wasn''t bad, but I couldn''t get a read on him while he was unconscious.
"I did think for over an hour when I was flying here, and I was justing to make a connection to this city. It is full of bad people, so I am sure the good are suffering. On top of that, there were two Viins here! Did you really think that I could just leave it like this?" I asked, and Anya sighed.
"Just don''t get hurt! Gaia had us all worried! We had to hold Melody down, to the point where Mr. Tree had to get involved!" Anya called, and I nodded.
"I am sorry about that part, but not much I could do; I was running low on juice, and this Viin was a tough one. I have no clue what the next one is like, but this one sent out pings to other Viins, so I am expectingpany. You girls need to get some people on surveince ASAP! I don''t want anything getting by us. Things have been going smoothlytely, and now I am going to be tested," I exined, and Gaia returned, uncrossing her arms with a worried look.
"Are you going to be okay?!" Gaia asked me, and I nodded.
"So far, I only detect one, and from what I can tell, she is about two miles south of me, putting her at the edge of the city. I am going to scan whatever is left alive here and then see if I can pulse the city like I did to ours. Doing this will force all the bad people out and keep the good ones safe, but I don''t know if the few animals that are left here will be enough to get me to the next Growth Spurt," I exined, and Gaia nodded.
"The girls areing, so they can help when they get there. I guess you should go see what is with that other Viin, but I am going toe with you. I will make sure to cut them off once we are close enough. If they are hiding, there is a good chance they might be fighting the AI," Gaia exined, but then looked at the boy that was sitting up, asking, "What are you going to do with him?"
"That is a good question. I don''t sense any harmful intent, but at the same time, I don''t really want to leave this System with him. He has already proven that he can be easily controlled, so I am not going to leave something like this with him. This might be cruel, but I think that we are going to have to try and force him into one of the Elf clones," I exined, but the boy spoke up.
"You don''t have to force me. I don''t want any part of this¡ power or whatever it is. I would just prefer for it to all end. Everyone that I cared about, I killed. I don''t deserve to live after what I have done," The boy said, looking down at his hands.
"You don''t get to make that choice. I am sorry that you have been through a trauma, but you don''t get to run away. You don''t get to take the easy way out. It will take time, but you will help the people of this world, just like everyone else. I won''t ept anything less from you," I said, squatting down to lift the kid''s face up to mine.
"How am I supposed to live with myself?" The boy asked, and I shrugged.
I really didn''t know the answer to that question.
"I really don''t know. That will always be there, so the best you can do is to make a positive impact while you are still here. This was not your fault. There are thousands more out there, just like you, and some that have even done worse. I will capture them all, just like I did with you, and then give the powers to people that will be able to use them to help me. Are you going to help me with that?" I asked, and the boy nodded slowly.
"I will try, but I am going to need some time to myself," The boy said, but I shook my head.
"No, you are going to go to sleep for a while, so you will get all the time you need. When you wake up, you will either be transferred into a new body or already in one," I exined, putting my hand on his head.
"My name is Miles¡." The boy said but was asleep before he could finish his sentence.
"Can you take Miles to the nearest great tree and store him with the clones? I set his brain to remain asleep until I can figure out how to do what I want," I said as I stood up, looking at Gaia, and she nodded.
"Yes, I will take him. I will meet you back here in about an hour. That should be more than enough time for you to scan everything," Gaia said and then sighed as grass picked Miles up.
"I know, but this is going to be how a lot of them are. I think that there were some serious mistakes made by the AI, and now they are struggling to get a hold. The fact that there were two Villians in a city this close makes me wonder. Are any of them even trying to work together?" I asked, and Gaia nodded.
"That is a good question," Gaia said.
"The Dark Energy System was more than ready to kill that other Viin, which is not what I had expected. It makes me think that they are all working solo and are just trying to be the one thates out on top. Can you ask Orphus about if there is a top AI or something? That is the only reason that I could see the Viins not working together," I exined, and Gaia nodded.
"I will ask Sofia to ask him; it is hard for me to control three bodies at once," Gaia said, and I narrowed my eyes at her.
"What do you mean, three?" I asked, and Gaia pretended not to hear me.
Chapter 86 Mega-Me
"Hey! What do you mean three? You don''t need to fight, I need you here with me, and back at home, that is it!" I said, but Gaia smiled at me.
"Don''t worry. I don''t like fighting if I don''t have to. I am just the only one that can bring this... thing. I don''t even know how to describe it. Umm, just give me a second; I will get Sofia toe," Gaia said, and I nodded as I waited, thinking about what she could have created.
Suddenly Gaia straightened up, putting her elbow in one hand, and then adjusted sses that weren''t there.
"Fu Fu Fu! So, you heard about my little creation, and now you want the details?! Well, you havee to the right ce, Papi!" Gaia said in Sofia''s voice, smoking something that wasn''t here.
"What do you have Gaia running over to me, my Sexy Mad Scientist?" I asked, and Sofiaughed hard.
"I love when you talk dirty to me, Papi! Mega you is what ising! Fifty feet of you! Don''t worry, I didn''t add your dick, so you don''t have to worry about a school bus swinging around!" Sofiaughed, taking another drag.
I wasn''t sure how I felt about this, but that did sound helpful. It would be like a super-sized me, but my control of other things would be severely reduced.
"Good job! Sounds like it will be useful!" Iughed, and Sofia nodded.
"You bet! I also had Melody send some birds with my sensor bugs. I used abination of my abilities, Gaia''s and Melody''s, to create them, but this will give us real-time tracking. We need telepathy, real bad, or some way to connect to the trees to send messages," Sofia exined, and I fully agreed with her.
"I will try my best, but I just don''t think I am strong enough to do things like that yet. I am trying to get stronger right now, so hopefully, I can soon hit another Growth Spurt, and we will try again," I exined, and Sofia nodded.
"Sounds good, Papi. I will let you get to that and have the lovely Miss Gaia back!" Sofia said, and Gaia''s posture changed.
"Okay, you take the boy back, and then we will meet outside town where the Viin is. We need to pick up the speed. I have already picked up another Viin within four hundred miles from the south," I said, and Gaia nodded and left on a patch of grass with the boy, Miles, beside her.
Now that Gaia was gone, I stretched my senses and started to find different animals that were still alive or in suspended states. Some of the Lizards and Reptiles had been frozen but had a chance of being revived.
There weren''t many mammals like animals, and basically, anything that could be considered edible was gone. I had thought that there didn''t seem like much here, but now I think I understood why.
Cities only worked if there were constant streams of food and money moving in and out. The problem is that there is no one that can deliver anything anymore.
Even if the viins didn''t make it to some ces, the people would start devolving. There could be cases of cannibalism or just people killing for food.
This was another reason I needed to start the Great Tree Seeding Project. The trees would provide food and a safe haven for those that are willing to change.
The rest would be pushed out, and even now, the Great Trees here were tossing seeds all over the city. I could sense people running to them, some even being chased, but even the new trees protected them as they grew and pumped out heat.
I evolved the lizards that survived to haverge, solid, and rigid bodies and sent them out to start helping people out. They were suitable for this since they could sense heat signatures, and I increased this. I found two more lions and made them huge two-story monstrosities like the others.
"Alright! I want you big ones to act as security, and you will back up the lizards if they need help with a situation. I also have mice that will go with each lizard to help guide people out of the buildings. If anyone gives you trouble, deal with them appropriately. I expect to find some bad stuff, so rescue what you can and punish those that have murdered in cold blood. If you are unsure of what to do, take them to a tree, and they will deal with them," I exined, getting everyone in order.
"Yes!" The group shouted, but it felt weird because it was an army of super animals that said it.
All of them dispersed, and I sighed as I turned and let the grass send me rocketing forward through a wall that my roots ripped apart. Superhumans were easy because I knew that they were trying to be as evil as possible, but humans were worse, in my opinion.
It was partly why the AI seemed to have such a hard time with things. All humans wore masks, hiding their true feelings, but now I could break those masks, and I would.
I would not let dangerous people that refused to change their ways bother those that just wanted to live a peaceful life. This might put a good portion of the world against me, but I had been given this power, and I would use it to the best of my abilities, but on my own terms.
Pavements were torn up around me, and I was closing in on Brackstahl Steel Mill. The ce was massive, and to my surprise, there was smokeing out of one of the stacks.
I slowed down and jumped into the air with the help of my roots, wings bursting from my back. I pped up in the air to get a better view of the ce, and I was trying to figure out exactly where this Viin was.
After I reached about two hundred feet up, I deduced that she had to be where that stack was pumping smoke. The uneasiness kepting to me from that direction, so I dropped back down, retracting my wings.
My roots burst out, and grass surged up to slow my descent, lowering me thest ten feet slowly. Gaia was waiting for me, and I smiled at her, but she had a worried look.
"Hey, what is with that look on your face?" I asked, and Gaia sighed.
"I am worried about this one. I was just about to disconnect the AI, but there was nothing else there," Gaia exined, but I didn''t understand.
"What do you mean, there was nothing there? Like the person? How is that even possible?" I asked, but then Gaia''s face changed to Joe cks.
"The human is braindead. The body that they would have been designated to must have died before the AI could reach it. I will have to assume they were in a hospital, and this was the closest living body. If you take the AI out, there won''t be anything left but a living shell," Orphus exined, and I nodded, understanding it now.
"That might make for a problem then, right?" I asked, but Joe ck shrugged.
"This is the best possible situation, really. First, Gaia can literally stop her dead in her tracks. Second, This is a female AI, and I think I know this one if she is here," Orphus exined.
"You know them? I guess you probably know all of the AI," I questioned, but I got another shrug.
"You know me if I don''t find them interesting, I don''t really care, but this one is different. Firaga only uses the Metal Consumption System, but she is a bit of a strange one. For some reason, her mind is cleared every time she enters a new body. Most of us think that she does it to herself so she can forget what she has done. Not everyone agrees with what is being done, but the Viins will always innately be cruel and uncaring," Orphus exined, and I nodded.
"Well, this is not bad news for me then. I will try to see what I can do with her," I said.
"Sure, just watch out; she gets pretty hot, and, well, you are a tree. Just keep that in mind. Fire is one of those things that you are always going to have trouble with," Orphus said, and then he transformed back into Gaia, but I could sense that this Firaga was moving towards me in a straight line.
"Get out of here for now, but stay in range. I am hoping to take care of this before the next Viin gets here, but I am not holding my breath. How long till the girls and Mega-Me are here?" I asked.
"Thirty minutes," Gaia said, and I groaned.
If I was lucky, I would have ten minutes max.
Chapter 87 Child Fighting A Grown-Up
Gaia disappeared into the grass, and I focused forward, and the grass shot me towards Firaga. I wasn''t sure what to expect, but I dropped a seed that started to grow immediately.
Suddenly, I could see the wall ahead of me start to get bright in a seven-foot section of the metal wall. I slowed down to a stop as I watched the metal start to melt and a girl walking through it.
"Hero¡ I am Firaga¡ I must kill you," The girl said to me the moment we locked eyes, but her tone was monotonous and strange.
"Do we have to?" I asked, and Firaga stopped.
"What? You are a Hero. I am a Viin. What else is there for us to do?" Firaga asked me.
"Lots of things! We could go for a walk, maybe read a book together, or even defeat some Viins together?" I asked.
"What purpose would that make me? I need to kill you and the rest of them, or I will continue to be hunted," Firaga exined without expression.
"You need to kill me? Do you win a prize?" I asked, and the glowing girl blinked at me.
"I don''t know why I need to kill you, but something tells me I do," Firaga exined, and I nodded.
"I can see your reasoning, but it seems a bit hollow to be making choices like life and death. I have an idea. What if you don''t kill me for now? At least until you figure out why you are supposed to do it?" I asked, and Firaga blinked at me again.
"Not kill? Why do you not speak of killing me? I am a Viin."
"Meh, just a title. I have no desire to kill you or any of the Viins if I don''t have to. All I am asking is that you figure out if that is really what you want to do before you try. I would like to get to know you better," I exined, but Firaga took a step back.
"Know me better? There is nothing to know. I woke up with no memories. I am no one. It would be best for you to want to kill me," Firaga exined.
"Sorry, already decided. Not killing you, but the Viin that ising might not feel the same as me. I am sure that you can feel them getting closer. They are going to try to kill me first, so just stay back, and I will protect you," I replied, and Firaga''s eyes opened wide with the first impression I had seen, surprise.
"Protect? I don''t understand; I want to kill you. Why would you say something like that to me?" Firaga asked, but I could feel the stress leaking into her voice.
"Because I''m a Hero, and that is what I do, but I also kill, just like you want to. I make those choices, and so can you, if you really want to," I said but then turned to the sound of destructioning my way.
Uh-oh. What the hell was this goddamn thing?!
There was a massive monster that looked like a cross between a T-rex and slug, but it looked to be about fifty feet tall. It was eating every that was near it and absorbing everything he touched, or she; there was no way to tell.
"I am confused. I will go back and think."
I ignored Firaga as the Sluggasuar got closer, but I was confused why it hadn''t slowed yet. It had to be close enough for Gaia to lock him down, but there seemed to be no change in the behavior.
"This human is cooperating with the AI, and I can tell that he has killed many so far. The AI also sounds belligerent, so I suggest that you kill the host. Once the host is dead, I canpletely seal off the AI, and it will be like it never existed," Gaia exined as she grew from the ground, and I nodded as I watched the creature approach.
"I get that same feeling, so I won''t hold back. This one seems like he is pretty strong, so it will be better to kill him rather than try to stop him," I said.
"How do you n on dealing with it?" Gaia asked.
"I don''t! I am going to run away now!" I yelled and jumped into the air, wings bursting from my back.
"Be safe!" Gaia called as she disappeared into the grass.
I was already flying away, but I was headed from the city. This thing was moving fast, and it was leaving nothing but a melted path behind it, the oozy trail chewing through everything it touched that wasn''t dirt.
"Puny Hero! So this is who he was talking about! What have you done to my God, Flying Rat?" The T-rex head roared at me.
"Ugly slug! Yeah, I am what that crazy voice head was talking about, but you will never talk to him again. Come y me," I called, but the Sluggasuar stopped.
"Oh? Then I think that I am going to eat this city," The monster said inly and turned for the center of the city.
That was not expected, nor what I wanted, dammit!
"Hey! Get back here, you sack of shit!" I yelled and circled around to fly at the gigantic creature.
I flew straight at the back of the creature, but it didn''t turn to face me. I pulled back my fist, and roots grew out to make my arm huge, and I mmed it into the creature as hard as I could.
"Haha! That tickles!" The monster roared but still didn''t stop moving.
I retracted my wings and ran up the creature''s back, growing my other arm, and leaped at the back of the T-rex head. I punched into the side of it, but it was like a child fighting a grown-up.
"Wow, this is the power of a Hero! Not too bad, but I am Rex Lord, and I am stronger!" the creature roared and then whipped its head around to bite off one of my wooden arms, just barely missing the real one.
I jumped back but then tried to stab my roots into the creature''s back. They rolled off it, and no matter how sharp of points I made, none of them could pierce the tough rubber-like skin, but then I remembered something.
I reached my hands out to the side, and I concentrated on summoning des like Marley did. Instantly, Marley''s short swords appeared in my hands, and I flipped both of them to point down.
I then drove them into Rex Lord''s back, making the massive slug scream, but I didn''t stop there. I dragged myself down the back, caving out a v-strip of flesh that was pumping blood out fast.
"You annoy creatures! I will consume you!" Rex Lord screamed, and then suddenly, I was catapulted off the creature''s back by its tail.
Before I could react, the massive tail pped me, and I smashed into the side of a building.
Instantly, I could feel my skin start to burn where ooze from his tail had gotten on me.
[Sensing High PH values causing damage. Neutralizing with lower PH values.]
I suddenly started to sweat, but it was different than expected. My now golden sweat stopped the burning right away, but now I was covered with golden droplets.
I got up, still holding the two des, and jumped out of the building, wings bursting from my back as I flew straight back at the creature. Unfortunately, he was wary of me now and immediately pped me away when I got within thirty feet.
I hit another build, smashing right through it and down onto the ground. One of my mice ran over to me, and it looked worried.
"Are you okay? We are trying to move people out of the way as fast as we can, but many are in really bad shape!" the mouse cried, and I nodded, getting back up.
"Just do your best, and I will try to hold him back," I said as a root grabbed me from the ground and then hucked me at the closet Great Tree; I needed a recharge, but I also needed more power.
I hit the side of the Great Tree and was absorbed, but I was trying to think of a solution. My vision had changed again like it had before, and I had a view of this tree and the others in the area.
The slug was staying out of range from the trees, but I was finally able to sense something biggering my way. I could feel the girls as well, or more specifically, I could feel a group of four of meing with whatever the big thing was.
Unlike the Viin that had filled me with uneasiness, the giant that wasing my way now filled me with something else. Pure excitement and a burning need to kick some slimy ass!
Chapter 88 Growth Spurt Activated!
The Great Tree spat me out into a wooden hand and threw me like a javelin over the city to the north. I could see the massive sixty-foot tall green, tree man version of myself, and I was headed directly at it.
I hit the side of it and was sucked inside, where I found four copies of myself and Gaia.
"We made it!" Melody cheered from one of my bodies; I was going to have to change that.
"I will give you full control now, but it will take a moment for you to integrate with this... thing," Gaia said, looking over at one of me that took a drag of an invisible smoke.
"Don''t call it a thing. This is Daniel two-point-oh! Just wait till you see what this bad boy can do! We are going to be your turret controllers, and we also are your main weapons. You will understand more when you get inside," Sofia exined, taking another drag.
"Don''t you think you have had enough?" Amy asked, and Sofia shrugged.
"This is stressful! Plus, I work better like this! You don''t mind, right, Papi?" Sofia asked, but I couldn''t answer.
I had my vision and mind overwritten, and I was no longer inside with the girls. I was looking out over the city, but I still couldn''t move.
"Papi! Orphus says to use your System to scan it!" Sofia called, and I nodded to myself.
[Growth Spurt Activated!]
Suddenly, before I could even finish scanning, the message popped up, and my massive body became an almost identical version of myself. A massive wooden armor set grew over my body, making me look like a gigantic wooden knight.
It felt like I was in my own body, and the world had just gotten small, not the other way around. I reached out to the side with both hands, and two massive wooden Katanas grew from my palms.
"Alright, this is more like it!" I roared and leaped at a Great tree, nting my massive feet that stuck to the side and then jumping to the next.
I could see my target in the distance, but I could also see a little glowing figure running at the creature. What in hell''s name was Firaga doing?
I was going as fast as I could, but she was going to reach the Sluggasuar before me, and it had noticed her. I wasn''t sure what was going to happen here, but I wasn''t about to lose Firaga.
"Girls, what do we have for ranged?" I called out, and the Katana''s retracted back into my hand.
"You got me! Your little Machine Gun!" Melody called; my arms turned into a pair of machine guns that started to spin.
I didn''t ask what the bullets were. I just fired, and seeds spat out of my arms in a hail of bullets, but they didn''t do much damage and just fell off.
Then they started to proliferate, making Firaga stop and look up at meing her way. Trees grew up extremely fast and grabbed onto the Sluggasuar, stopping him in his tracks.
As I jumped at the creature, my hands, along with the Katanas, grew back. I mmed both des down in and through the creature, and then the de burst with thorns that stabbed out of the massive body.
The Sluggasaur instantly turned into the same shiny metal as Kratos had, and the des grew back into my hands. I stepped off the creature and looked down at Firaga, who looked very excited, so I started to shrink.
Gouts of steam poured off my body as I got smaller, and then once I was back to my standard size, the four girls emerged from me, one at a time. I made sure to edit them to look good and proper like themselves, not copies of me.
"Can I eat that?" Firaga asked me after the steam had cleared, and I looked over at the massive metal statue.
"Possibly, but you and I need to talk. I don''t sense more Viin''s yet, but that doesn''t mean more aren''ting. Melody, you should be able to use your powers and the rest of you. Can you all go help the city out? I need to have a good soak, and I am taking this one with me," I asked, and Melody gave me a look.
"Oh, you are making moves now?" Melody smirked.
"Testing a theory. If it works, then we might really have something. You just leave this to me, this time. This one is not like the others,'''' I said, and Melody nodded.
"I can see that, but just be careful. She is a Villian, don''t forget that. Until you can safely say, you know what will happen, keep your guard up," Melody warned me, to my surprise.
"A woman that even you are worried about. I am really going to have to put my A-game on," Iughed, but Melody shook her head.
"Call it women''s intuition, but I don''t think she is going to fall into your arms like most of us. Remember, she is basically a robot killing machine with no memories," Melody warned again, and I nodded, taking her seriously this time.
I really never seen her get like this, so it was probably a good idea to listen to her. This Firaga was a bit of a rogue, but I really didn''t have a good way to get control of her.
I could try to improve her, but that would only connect me to her, and I couldn''t stop her. The other option was the one I would prefer to go with because I wanted to test something.
"I got it; I love you all, and I will see you in a bit!" I said and then turned back to Firaga, who was still staring at the metal.
"This metal looks really tasty. I think that I will really like it. You are going to let me have it." Firaga said, and I nodded.
"I will, but not yet. Do you think that you can wait until we have a talk? Do you also mind cooling down your body? I would like to fly you up to the top of that tree," I exined, pointing over at the closest Great Tree.
"Flying is good. I can wait. I will cool myself." Firaga said, and her body started to dim.
I watched the heat fade from her body until she was cooled to a bluish-gray color. She walked over to me, and now I could see that she was naked, but that didn''t seem to bother her.
I ced my hand on her chest, and she watched me; I couldn''t tell what emotions were going through her mind at the time. Her eyes got bigger when I dragged my hand down, and a dress appeared on her body.
"What is this?" Firaga asked, looking down at the simple white dress I had made for her.
"Sorry, I am not very good at making stuff like Amy is. I should have asked her to make you something cuter," I said, scooping Firaga up.
"I want to know what the reason for doing this is? I will just burn them off," Firaga said, and I nodded.
"Ture, but then I can just make them for you. I just like you better with clothing on. Not that you don''t look good naked, but having some clothes to cover you up is good too. Plus, you look good in the dress," I exined.
"Pointless. If this is your request, I willply, but I do not think it is necessary," Firaga exined, and I nodded.
Wings and roots burst from my body,unching me into the air with more force than ever before. I pped my wings and brought us higher into the air, up the side of the Great Tree.
Scanning and integrating the Mega-Me had earned me another Growth Spurt, and I was much stronger now. I was going to need that strength for what wasing. My location had been revealed, and now it was only a matter of time before more Viins started showing up.
It was almost sure that the AI would send this info to all, but that would be good in its own way. I would just have to keep getting stronger, discovering new things.
I would have to start growing not just myself but everyone around me. The stronger my girls were, the better, and I would have to start scanning more of their creations.
Firaga stayed silent the entire time until I reached the top of the tree and set down at the edge of the pool. I set her down, and my wings retracted into my body.
"I will have a soak in here, but you can join me if you want to. It will recharge your body, but not as good as consuming metal, I suppose," I said after putting Firaga down, but she just stared at the water.
Chapter 89 Villain Itch
"What''s wrong?" I asked, watching Firaga stare down the water.
"I am mostly steel, and I will oxidize after leaving the water. I do not like to be rusty," Firaga said, and I nodded.
"Don''t worry, I will dry all of you off after. This isn''t really water anyways; just stick a foot in, and you will see. If you don''t like it, I will dry your foot off," I said, and Firaga nodded, sticking her foot in.
The AI''s eye opened wide, and she looked down at her foot and then back up at me.
"What is this? I feel better just by this little?!" Firaga asked, showing surprise as I took my clothes off.
"Take the dress off, ande all the way in. It is pretty warm in here, not like melting metal or anything, butfortable," I said as I slid into the pool.
I was slowly spreading out over the city as Firaga slowly entered the pool. I was subconsciously preparing for the next attack, and work was being done due to the Great Trees understanding my intent.
Trees were throwing seed, and single Elf clones rode grass at each seed location and waited for the next tree to grow. Once they were ready, the Great tree would throw another seed and smaller seeds for the rest of the area.
This increased my detection range, but I could only go out about one thousand miles wide and about twenty-five hundred from outside of the two cities'' range. This seemed like a lot, but it was a pin drop in the grander scale of the world.
There was still no sign of the viins, but now I would be able to sense theming, and I could deal with them ordingly. Truth be told, I was itching to go Mega again and test it out some more, but that could wait.
"What do you think of the pool?" I asked, and Firaga looked up from where she was running her hand through her hair, which looked wet.
"It makes me feel soft, and it fills me. It is strange, but I want to stay here for a while. I can¡ feel things¡ and¡ it reminds me of something. I think if I stay here, I might remember what that is," Firaga said.
"Stay as long as you want; we are in a rush now. There are no other Viins in the area," I said.
"Except me," Firaga said, and I nodded, summoning Gaia.
"Speaking of that. I am going to call someone here, Gaia, so don''t be rmed," I exined, and Firaga nodded.
Gaia grew up beside me, and I gave her a kiss, and she smiled up at me.
"How can I help you?" Gaia asked cutely.
"Can you try and see if you can block or shut off whatever makes the AI evil? There must be something in there that is doing it," I exined, and Gaia nodded.
"Possibly, but I will have to connect with her. We might even be able to unlock her memories," Gaia exined.
"No memories. If I wanted to remember, I would be able to. Just take the itch away. Something itches at me to do something bad, take life, but I don''t want to. I just want to eat metal," Firaga said, looking at her hands.
"Come sit on myp, and I will try to connect with you, but remember, if you try anything to hurt me, I will disconnect you from this body in a single heartbeat. I do this because Daniel believes we can help you, and I hope this is true, but know this. I hold no remorse for the others of your kind in cells," Gaia exined, and I kept quiet.
Firaga waded over and did as told, sitting on Gaia''sp, leaning back as Gaia wrapped her hands around Firaga. Vines started to wrap around Firaga, but she didn''t move, closing her eyes.
This was between Gaia, Earth''s Spirit, and the invading AI, and I was sure she would prefer just to eliminate them all. She was probably right, but there had to be some good ones, and I wanted to ensure the leaders got their due.
That would mean taking out the Hiveship, but no way would be easy. First of all, we didn''t know where it was or have any way to track it or get to it.
There had to be some kind of defense of some kind, but I would have to grill Orhpus about that. He would know something about that, but there were still many other factors.
"Finished. I was able to find it, and I examined exactly what it was doing. Just as she said, it''s only a slight pulse that can easily be ignored if they want. Because she was doing just that, I think she will be a great ally if you treat her right. Also, we found Amy''s father, and, well, you should juste and see. After you two are done here, there is no rush," Gaia said while her vines let go of Firaga, who let out a sigh.
"Thank you for doing that for me. I feel much better without that itch. I can stay up here if you have things to do. Gaia, do you mind staying with me for a bit? You seem to know more about me than I do, right?" Firaga asked, and Gaia nodded.
"Yes, I don''t mind rxing with you and talking. You can get going, Daniel, and I will stay," Gaia said, and I grinned.
"If that''s what you two want, I will leave you be, and go deal with the next problem on the never-ending list!" I said as I got out of the water.
"Thank you for not killing me," Firaga said, and I turned back, giving her a thumbs up.
"You didn''t try to kill me, so I thought that you might be a fascinating person. Plus, you''re a pretty girl, and I would like to get to know you better," I said as my body steamed dry.
"You are an average-looking human," Firaga said, stabbing me in the heart, and I fell off the side of the tree.
I was pretty sure I heard Gaia say, "Ouch."
I wasn''t sure, but I wasughing; that AI was vicious. I had a funny feeling that she would develop a strong personality, but I would have to keep her out of Melody''s clutches.
Wings burst from my back, and I flew east, gliding down to where I could sense the girls and a good portion of the animals I had transformed. Arge group of humans was cornered and strapped to the ground.
I dropped down once I was over the site,nding between the two groups, turning to the girls first. They all had their arms crossed but ran over as soon as they saw me.
"You came to help my idiot father!" Amy called, and Iughed.
"Which one is he? I never really asked much about your dad," I said, and Amy grinned.
"He is the big guy in the front with a bandana. My father is an extortionist with a motorcycle," Amy exined, and Iughed.
"I am the leader of the Crimson Rose Biker Gang!" A gruff-sounding man yelled from behind me, and I turned to find a chunky white guy with a bike outfit standing up.
"Really? Good for you! I love you, daughter, so what''s your problem, Bucko? Or Raymond would be your name? You''re pissed cause Ziets can''t marry Amy, right? I can''t believe I never put this together! If I had my phone, I would have known! I was following your silly little try at pawning your daughter off to get your gang name back! If Amy asked me to, I would feed you to the tigers," I said with a disgusted look on my face once I realized just who Amy was.
Amy Rose, daughter to Ramond Rose, leader of Crimson Rose, a decrypt biker gang that was getting pushed out by Ziets, a self-named street gang. Ziets was a wealthy guy that made lots of money legally, but he also secretly rang the gang that made much more through drugs and human trafficking.
If the two had married, that would have been the end for this city. I had been so wrapped up with everything that I had forgotten to ask Amy about her father, but things made sense now.
"What does it matter now! The world is over! Ziets is dead, and most of his gang because of that creature. Do what you want, monster. That all this world is now, freaks and monsters, and now my daughters are one of them, or you were my daughter. You''re just a monster like the rest of them, hehe, just like your old man," Raymond Roseughed hysterically.
"I will never be anything like you. You can wander the world until there is no ce left for you because the trees will never let you into our forest," Amy said as she walked up to my side, and I took her hand and nodded.
"What she said, you BDSM hippy! Now, scram!" I yelled, and the grass released everyone, and they ran from the monsters.
Chapter 90 Nya~!
"How are you doing?" I asked Amy, and she smiled at me.
"Really good, actually. I have wanted to stand up to my father my entire life, and to see how he has turned into an animal made it easier. Thank you foring; I don''t think I could have done that without you here," Amy smiled, and I kissed her, and then she clothed me.
"Sorry, I came right away. I was going to wait a bit, but Gaia seems to have taken a liking to the new AI, Firaga. She was even able to remove the Viin Itch, but we still don''t have full control of her," I exined, and Amy nodded as we turned back to the other girls and two of the big leopards.
Melody was sitting on top of one of them, but she jumped down, the grass catching her tond softly. Sofia and Marley also came over to meet me, and we all found a ce to sit down.
"So, how did everything go?" I asked as we sat down on an ever-expanding grass patch with tiger lilies, tulips, and other flowers popping up.
"There were a lot of dead people, but we expected that. Didn''t make it any less hard, but we have all the surviving pop that want to live peacefully with us in great trees or be led," Sofia exined with a sigh, and I nodded.
"I am sorry to ask you girls to do this, but it must be done. I should havee here sooner, but I can only grow so fast. The forest is a lot bigger than it was, but we are a long way from being able to save the world. Unfortunately, things will only get worse from here, but I will find better ways to do the search and rescue. We will have to look for people with experience in doing these things," I exined, and Sofia nodded.
"I will start working with Anya, and we can start doing broadcasts in the trees asking for people with experience in the jobs. After that, we will be able to interview them, and if they are suitable, then we will bring them to you, and we can get them integrated," Sofia exined, and Marley nodded.
"I want to keep doing this kind of thing, so I will help train everyone that we need to control our bodies. I know there will be some bad scenes, but there will be a lot of happy faces. That will make it worth it," Marley exined, and I nodded.
"Perfect. Thank you for doing this. The three of you will make a great team. Melody, how are things going with your System? Have you tried transforming yet?" I asked, and Melody looked at me strangely.
"Huh? You never told me that?!" Melody eximed, and I sighed.
"Here," I said, opening her screen in my vision, and then passed it over by pushing it.
Melody almost fell over as the screen filled her vision. I wasn''t sure how I did it, but I just knew it would work somehow.
"Waaah!? There is so much stuff that I can do!" Melody said, and then she shrunk into a white cat that reminded me of Alfredo.
"Wait! How did you do that?! Can I see my chart?!" Sofia asked excitedly, so I pulled up each of the girls and tossed them over.
"Wow, my dress can do much more than I thought!" Marley eximed.
"I can weaponize the clothing I make?! What does that even mean¡ oh! It tells me if I think about the question! That is nifty!" Amy eximed, and Iughed, but Sofia walked over to me and ced her hands on my cheeks.
"Hold still for a moment, Papi. I want to do some things for you since you can''t edit your own body," Sofia said as vines grew from her finger.
The vines grew small thorns pierced my skin and then went into my face, but there was no pain, only awareness.
Suddenly, there was a change in my body, and I instantly felt more robust and resilient.
[Adaptive Evolution Weapons and Armor Activated.]
"There, Papi. That should give you much more advantage in the fights. I am going to start working on some flying creatures for doing recon to find more viins," Sofia exined, and I nodded as her vines retracted.
I reach down and pick up the white cat rubbing against my legs, and Melody transformed in my arms. She had a funny-looking cat-like face with white ears and a swishing tail.
"I love you; never change," I said to Melody and kissed her, which was weird since she had a split top lip.
"But there are so many other things I could turn into!" Melodyined, and Iughed.
"Not that, your personality, silly, but this is really cute. I wonder what would happen if I rubbed the base of your tail?" I asked a girl.
"I would make an even louder horny cat sound, Nya~! All the other cats would join me as we made love to my alley cat cries, Nya~!" Melody meowed, and I kissed her a bunch more times, making her giggle and purr simultaneously.
"You two are adorable," Sofiaughed, and Melody changed back to a cat but grew strange goggles and hopped out of my arms.
"Can you give me a long pink cape, Nya~?" Melody meowed at Amy, and she dropped down to hug and rub her face on Melody.
"Yes, I can do that for you," Amyughed and then did as Melody asked, making her a four-foot cape.
Then something strange happened.
Melody froze in a weird turned pose, looking back at the cape. I wasn''t sure what the hell was going on until she spoke, then I died.
"Oh man, Nya~! Ummm, what was I¡ did it move on its own, Nya~?! IT''S CHASING ME, NYA~!!"
Melody had lost all her marbles, and now she was running from the cape that was firmly fixed on her. I guess her cat brain had taken over, but that was only the second time she had transformed.
Still, the four of us were rolling around in the grass, dying ofughter. Melody was finally scooped up by a tree, and then so was my group ofughing idiots and me.
All five of us were hucked back up to the top of the tree I had been before, and we flew in the air together. I could finally see why Melody had chosen her outfit, and I was stillughing when I hit the water with the girls.
Gaia and Firaga were at the far edge of the pool, but she knew we wereing; she could feel my intent.
Melody can change back into a cat girl, ripping the cap off in frustration. I found it hard to even tell her apart from her natural body at this point since my Growth Spurt.
The other girls were much the same, but I wouldn''t be having sex with clones any time soon. Still, the idea of two of the same girl at once sounded kind of fun.
"You are thinking perverted thoughts, aren''t you?" Marley asked me, and I nodded.
"Yup," I said with no shame, and she rolled her eyes, but the other girlsughed.
"I could tell from your shit eaters grin," Marley grinned, and I shrugged.
"Don''t ask questions that you''re not ready to hear the answer for!" I countered, and she nodded.
"Fair point, unless you are thinking of trying to take my twin and me here at the same time? I might be game for that sometimes if you want to y likest time?" Marley asked with a sexy smile that reminded me of the fighting before.
"Now that sounds like some real fun! Let''s make a date out of it some time," I smiled, and Marley nodded.
"You two are weirdos, Nya~," Melody meowed and then licked her soft paw-like hands and brushed her hair back while everyone stared at her in bewilderment.
"Isn''t that like the cat calling a twat a pussy?" Sofia asked, and Iughed.
"You are all very strange," Firaga said from beside Gaia, and Earth Spirit nodded.
"Yes, very, but you get used to them. I am old like you, but I still learn new things daily. Don''t rush things, just take your time," Gaia said, and Firaga nodded.
"New girl! Are you gonna do it with Daniel, Nya~?! You already have a system, right? What will happen if you get another one, Nya~?!" Melody meowed as she waded over.
"Do what?" Firaga asked.
"Umm, you know, let him between your legs, Nya~? Have sex?" Melody asked.
"Not your concern," Firaga said, and Melody blinked.
"Why not, Nya~?" Melody asked in confusion.
"If I were to choose to deflower myself with him, I would not talk about it to you nor ask you. Mind your own business, cat," Firaga said tly, and I think Melody popped a circuit, and not in a good way.
"What did you just say about my boyfriend?" Melody growled and hissed as she started to change into a big cat, and I started wading over.
Chapter 91 Eat Systems
"Hey! Hold on you two! Melody, stop doing whatever it is you are doing!" I shouted as I wadded over.
Melody turned to me with a savage look, but I red at her. This was her idea, and for once, a girl wasn''t just going to fall in line with Melody.
I could also see how Firaga''s starkments would set Melody off, and there were better ways to say things. Still, she wasn''t wrong, and unlike more of the others, Firaga wasn''t friends with anyone besides Gaia just recently.
"Melody, you can''t expect everyone to be as forward as you are or to want to share private things. Firaga shouldn''t have put it that way, but she does have a point. I think we all need to cool down here for a second," I said, and Melody shrunk back down, but she crossed her arms over her breasts.
"You are my boyfriend, and I have been okay with all of this because I know what the other girls are doing with you. It''s not a secret, and I half pushed for it, but she is throwing all that trust in my face! She is acting like she is just going to take you for herself, and I will not stand for it!" Melody stated, and I nodded, looking at Firaga.
"Hearing what Melody said, what do you think about things now?" I asked her.
"I understand why she is upset, and I will agree to announce if I do so, but I am not looking to make friends. I will eliminate all the Viins with Daniel''s help, so I can do what I love. I just want to eat metal, nothing else, but I don''t want to have to keep starting all over again. It sounds like this was your choice, but I am not what you expected," Firaga stated.
"No, you aren''t, but I don''t know if that''s a bad thing or not. I will respect your privacy but do not assume Daniel is there for the taking. I love him, and he loves me, and I am making an effort to learn about and love each of these girls like family. I wanted to be the same as you, but I will try a different approach. I am sorry that I lost my temper," Melody exined.
"I was at fault for my brassment earlier, but Icked proper understanding of the situation and spoke too soon," Firaga said, and Melody nodded.
I sighed; crisis averted, for now, but what would the future hold for these two and myself? On the positive, everyone was safe, and there were no signs of Viins yet, but that was suspicious.
"Sofia, don''t you think it is odd that we haven''t seen any more Viins?" I asked, and she shrugged.
"I guess so, but really, there aren''t many people in Canada orrge cities. The fact that we have seen five so far is pretty good for us, I think. The rest are going to have a long trip," Sofia exined, and I nodded.
"I guess so, but I am worried about all the onesing up from the states. How long do you think it would take for them to gather in one ce?" I asked.
"One to two days, depending on how far they wereing, but then you would be looking at between three to five hundred AI. Do you really think that is what is happening?!" Sofia asked, suddenly freezing for a moment, then looking at me.
"Not that many. Most of the AI are cocky, from what Orphus has said, so the smarter ones will likely send thirty to one hundred as a test to see our strengths. We will have to ensure that no one escapes the forest if they enter. Gaia, I need you to try to find a way to create a signal that blocks out AI with the Viin Itch. If we can do that, it won''t matter if some getaway. We can just block the AI from being to enter with their host," I exined, turning to Gaia.
"That is an excellent idea, and I will get to work on that right now. If you need me, just summon me, but I will need all of my body to do something this major," Gaia exined, and I nodded, but Firaga turned to her.
"You are leaving?" She asked, and Gaia nodded.
"Yes, I have some things to take care of for now, but when I am done, we can talk again. Give the other girls a chance. They may still be young, but they each have unique personalities. It will do you good, but I am sure Daniel won''t mind if you stay by him for now," Gaia exined to Firaga, and she nodded.
"I will try but do not do well when talking with others. I do not lie about things, and people find that offensive," Firaga stated, and I grinned.
"Don''t worry about that. Everyone understands now, and they will be patient with you. All you have to do is exin yourself, and we will all do our best to understand you," I said, taking Melody by the paw.
I waded over and sat down beside Firaga, pulling Melody down on my other side. She had changed back to her cat person form and was now leaning into my side like nothing had happened.
"Do you think you will be able to stop that many?" Firaga asked me.
"Viins? I think so, but it won''t be easy. I am already getting everyone in both cities prepared and off the streets right now. The Paw Patrol is informing everyone of the danger that could be iing. Once everyone is inside, the girls will announce what to do if an attack happens. I am also giving the Great Trees instructions on how to deal with the Viins," I exined.
"You aren''t going to just kill them all?" Firaga asked, and I shook my head.
"No, the ones that we will fight will hopefully be just humans with systems. With Gaia''s help, we can block the AI from influencing their hosts. That means that some of the ones that enter our forest aren''t going to want to fight, so we will capture them and put them to sleep. The rest that continues forward are real Viins, and those ones we will be killing," I said.
"If we killed all of them, we would have had to kill you, right? There is also a chance that the AI is like you even if the host is bad, but that one will be a lot harder. Maybe we should try to capture as many as possible, but then we have to worry about killing them if both are bad," Melody considered.
"I think that you should be killing the ones that attack. If the AI didn''t want to do something, it would stop the host. The ones that will being will be the most aggressive, I think. There is no point in trying to save them. You will put too many people''s lives at risk," Firaga exined, and I had to agree with her on that point.
"Oh! Well, if that is the case, then. We will turn them all into shiny metal!" Melody dered, and Iughed as Amy and Marley came over to join us.
"What if you run into someone with really amazing powers? Like the boy you captured earlier? Are you going to try to capture them then?" Marley asked.
"That is a good question, but I still don''t know how to put someone in the body. I will have to try editing the body, but I will be asking people to get into foreign bodies, maybe even of different sex. I will have to try and figure out how I can get the System out of the body instead," I exined, but then Sofia, who had frozen this entire time, came back to life.
"Firaga, have you ever eaten a Villian? I would assume not, or maybe in one of your past lives, but that can''t be reached. We should take a chance and let her eat the massive Viin that you just killed. You said that we can trust her mostly, but I am curious to know what will happen to the System. I think that this is a low-ranking System, so now would be the best time to test my theory," Sofia said as she waded over to where Firaga was sitting.
"What theory do you have?" I asked.
"First, before I answer you. Firaga, do you mind if I examine and try to change some things inside you? It won''t hurt, but if I can do this, it will make it less of a theory and more of a sure thing," Sofia asked, and Firaga nodded.
Sofia reached her hands forward, cing them on Firaga''s soft face, which looked made of steel. Vines crawled out, and the vines pierced into Firaga''s skin, but she didn''t flinch; instead, closing her eyes.
"There we go, now I am mostly sure that this will work, but there is a slight problem," Sofia exined, and I frowned.
"Woman, I have no idea what you are talking about! What did you even do?" I asked, and Sofia grinned.
"She can now eat Systems, but I don''t know how to get them out of her yet. I think you might be able to help with that, you know. I won''t push it, but you giving her a System after what I did will pretty much ensure that everything works out. At least that is what I gleaned from Orphus since your System helps with growth," Sofia exined.
Chapter 92 Consume
"Eat Systems?" I asked in confusion, and Sofia nodded, looking at Firaga, whose face she was still holding.
"Yes, the Systems crystalize the body, but the systems are still in the Systeminium. That is the name I gave the metal since there are no matches to our periodic charts. I changed her to be able to extract the Systems out of the body and store them, but she can''t use them. I also improved herbat abilities now that she is on our side," Sofia exined.
"Well, that is interesting, and the name is fitting, considering. I will take her down there, and we can see what happens. I really don''t know too much about what she can do with her System yet, so I am pretty interested," I exined, standing up.
I kissed Melody and the other three girls before turning to Firaga. She was standing, looking more than ready to get going.
"We will start working on other things while you two are down there. I will start getting the animals you transformed ready to protect and clear the streets. I know that you already have some doing it, but I have more control than you do," Melody exined, and I nodded.
"That is a good idea, but what are you two going to do? I know Sofia will be busy, but what about Marley and Amy? What are you two up to?" I asked.
"I am going to go offline here and go back to start working on making some special outfits for the girls and you. I think it will be easier to figure it out there, and then I will be able toe back and make them here," Amy exined.
"I am going to head back and see if we can start getting people that are skilled at fighting together. If I can find some good people, I will send them over, and you can give them the upgrade. I think that we should have people back in our city, just in case they try to attack us directly. I don''t think they will since they should think that this one is the main city," Marley exined, and I nodded in agreement.
"Yes, you are right about that, and it is a good idea to get moving with everything. Once you have a group, send them over immediately, and then you can do the same here. My assumptions about our enemy are just that, so we should be prepared for anything," I exined, and all the girls nodded except for Sofia; she was already gone.
Amy and Marley both nodded, and then they froze, leaving their bodies standing and frozen in ce. Neither of the three girls looked sturdy, so I sentmands for them to sit down, and the girls'' bodies did just that.
"Looks like they were too excited to think about that part," I chuckled and leaned down to kiss Gaia before scooping up Firaga.
"I will go get working on the signal now. I will talk to you allter. Thank you for having a talk with me, Firaga," Gaia said and then sank down into the tree, disappearing.
"Enjoy your time; I wille to see youter," Melody said, and then she flew off the side and down the tree.
She still seemed a bit upset with everything that had just happened, so I would definitely be making more time for herter. Whether Firaga was a good thing or not for us wasn''t really that important to me; Melody was.
"You seem to care about her more than the others," Firaga said as I watched Melody go, and I nodded.
"I won''t deny that. She was the first one I loved and the one I had chosen, but I was forced to date two other women you have not met yet if I wanted her," I exined, and Firaga nodded.
"Do you not love the rest of the girls then?" Firaga asked, making me look down at her with a slight frown.
"I love each of the other girls, and I am learning to love the other more new ones. I just need more time with some of them since they are all so different," I exined as I walked over the edge of the tree.
"Does that mean you will try to love me as well?" Firaga asked, and I nodded.
"Yes, you are thest girl I will ept at my side, but there is no pressure. I would like to get to know you first and spend some time with you. Those are the only ways that I know," I said.
"Interesting. I can see how it makes other girls smile, and I had wondered how it worked. I don''t smile because I don''t care about anything but metal, but even that doesn''t make me smile. I don''t understand the emotion," Firaga said, and I shrugged.
"You just have to find something that you enjoy, and then do that thing. Smiling is your response to the excitement of that thing. The girls smile when I kiss them, but that is because they enjoy the feel of it and the other emotions and feelings thate with the action. We can talk more down below," I exined and jumped off the tree''s side.
The two of us plummeted fast, not really giving either of us a chance to speak. I lifted Firaga quickly, but that was only because I was so strong now; she weighed about as much as you would expect a body made of steel to weigh.
The roots tried to slow us, but we still crashed into the ground at high speed, kicking up dust clouds. The roots whirled around us, blowing all the dust away, and we could clearly see the massive body in front of us.
I ced Firaga down on the ground, and she turned back to me with a questioning look.
"Can I go consume now?" Firaga asked, and I nodded.
"Sure, but after, can you show me some of the things you are capable of with your System?" I asked, and Firaga nodded.
"Yes, after doing this thing, I should gain some special growth bonus. I will show you what I can do after that," Firaga told me and turned to walk over the massive metal body.
I created awn chair that reclined and sat down to watch. I wasn''t sure what would happen, but I was sure it would be interesting.
Firaga walked over to the metal, and her body started to glow, slowly turning to dark red and then to the point where she was almost white. The glowing form touched the gigantic body, but nothing happened at first.
I started to worry that she might not be able to consume the Viin, but then I started to see a change in the metal Viin. The body started to get smooth, and slowly, it all melted into a single blob.
Then Firaga started to suck the metal into her body, and I watched as the steel was slowly consumed by the systeminium. It was fascinating to watch; soon, all the metal was gone, leaving Firaga looking shiny and brand new.
I got out of my chair and pped for her.
"Great job! Now let me see what you can do!" I called.
"Would you like to have a quick fight? That would be the best way to gauge my strength, would it not?" Firaga called back over, and I nodded with a grin.
"Sure,e at me with everything you have got!" I called, reaching my hands out to the side.
Firaga started to run at me, reaching her own hands out to the side, and we both created swords in each of our hands. I increased my size to about ten feet tall, but Firaga did the same,ing as me with a side sh that I deflected.
Arge chunk burned out of my de, but Firaga didn''t slow down, shing me in a hail of strikes. I was forced to use roots to defend from her, summoning Marley''s dual short swords in wooden hands.
For a moment, we seemed evenly matched, but then her swords started to glow. I was forced back as all four of my weapons had been broken, and I put up my hands, making Firaga stop.
We could have kept going, but I didn''t want either of us wasting too much energy right now. Even with the warning systems we had in ce, we needed to be in form for when the Viin AI attacked.
"Very good, but it felt like you were holding back, right?" I asked, and Firaga nodded.
"The same reason that you did not use your full strength. There will be Viinsing soon, right?" Firaga asked, and I nodded.
"I am d you are on the same page as me, but I have a rough idea of what you are capable of now. Did you end up getting the System from the systeminium?" I asked, and Firaga nodded.
"Yes, but like Sofia said, I have no ess to it right now. I can see that it is stored as the Chimera System. The only way for us to get it out of me is for you to have sex with me, right?" Firaga asked, and I shrugged.
"Possibly, but there is no guarantee. There is also no rush for you to have sex with me, or at all if you don''t want to. I don''t expect you to do anything that you don''t want to," I exined to Firaga, and she nodded.
Chapter 93 [Bonus ] Why Did You Stop?
"I understand what you are saying, but isn''t this important? If this works, then you could make more people on your side with strong powers like I have. Shouldn''t you just force me to do so, or at least be more insistent?" Firaga asked, and I shrugged.
"Force you? No. Be more insistent? What for? If you don''t want to do something yet, then I am not going to force you to step outside of yourfort zone. You have already been through a lot, more than you are aware of, so I am not here to add to that. Take your time; there is no rush," I exined, but Firaga still looked troubled.
"That doesn''t sound like the best way. People could die if we don''t," Firaga said, and I shrugged.
"People are dying all over, but I will not change who I am just because of that. I care about the world and the people close to me. That might be wrong and selfish of me, from other humans'' standpoints, but I really don''t care what anyone but you girls think. Regardless, it is your choice, and I will wait to hear what decision you will make," I exined, and Firaga turned away from me.
I was putting a heavy weight on her like this, but I didn''t really have much choice. She didn''t seem to understand just how much I was pushing right now for this.
The best way to get her to do this was for her to make a choice herself, but I wasn''t kidding. We could take on the Viins as we are now, and yes, we would have trouble, but two untrained systems would not make a difference.
"I will do this thing with you then," Firaga finally said after a short wait, turning back to me.
"No," I said tly.
"What?! You just said that it was my choice!" Firaga said, and I nodded.
"Yes, you can tell me, and now I know. In the future, when you are ready, we will. For now, let''s head back up the tree so I can start working on the defenses," I exined, reaching my hand out to Firaga, but she was still staring at me.
"Why don''t you want to do it right now?" Firaga asked.
"Why do you want to do it right now?" I replied with my own question.
"Why? Because that is the only way to get the Systems out of me. Why else would I do it?" Firaga started, and I nodded.
"Exactly. You don''t even want to do it; you are just doing it because you have to. Sure, we could, but are you even attracted to me? You have never done this before, but you are ready to give yourself away without notice?" I asked, and Firaga looked stunned.
"I don''t understand. You know you need to do this, yet you still reject me?" Firaga asked, and I looked into her eyes.
"I am not rejecting you; I just want you to get to know me first. Is that really too much to ask for? Does everyone just think that is the kind of person I am? I am always being told to do this, but you are the first girl that I have picked beside Melody, and I want things to be different. I would like to see you smile before I do this thing with you," I exined.
I really just wanted a chance to get to know her, rather than being told that this is my new girlfriend, now go pump her full. Once I was done, I moved to the next; this is really how it was all starting to feel.
"I still don''t understand you, but I will respect your wishes. Does it count if I move my face into the shape of a smile?" Firaga asked, trying to do just that, but it left her looking awkward more than anything.
"Good attempt, but it works better if you think about something you like. Then, If I see you looking at me with a smile, there is a good chance that you might actually be starting to like me," I exined, and Firaga nodded with a sigh.
"This is much moreplicated than I could have ever imagined. I thought that you would be willing to take my body. Since I have awoken, several men have tried to force themselves on me, but I killed them. I have offered myself to you, yet you tell me to wait?" Firaga exined, and I nodded.
"It is a special time for you, even if you don''t realize it. Let''s just do our best to get ready for the Viins," I exined, but Firaga walked up to me.
"Can you kiss me?" She asked me suddenly.
"Yeah, that is no problem," I said and leaned down slowly, putting my hand to the side of her face.
Slowly, our lips pressed together as I started to slowly kiss her. It only took her a moment to respond, and she slowly started to kiss me back, even if awkwardly.
After a moment, I broke the kiss, but Firaga''s lips chased mine briefly as I did. She looked up at me with confusion, touching her lips.
"Why did you stop?" Firaga asked, and I grinned.
"If you would like to do some more, we can on the flight to the top of the tree. How did that make you feel?" I asked as wings burst from my back.
"Feel? Like I want more. It was... different, and I felt warm inside, unlike when my body got hot. This was different, and I think that I enjoyed it. You can pick me up and do that again. I want to understand this feeling," Firaga exined, and I nodded while picking her up.
"Sure, we can do this in the water while I prepare things for a bit. This is the first step toward what you were asking to do before, but It is only one of the many steps we will go through. I think that it will be important for you to be able to understand and recognize your emotions first," I exined and then jumped up into the air, starting to kiss Firaga again.
Chapter 94 [Bonus ] Green Energy
I flew us up to the top of the tree where the three girls were sitting and then dropped us both in the water. We both made a big ssh, but it was kind of funny to see the three girls sitting frozen with the water dripping down them like nothing happened.
"Why did you drop us in? Why not justnd lightly? Is it faster?" Firaga asked, and Iughed.
"I just find it fun. It is the type of thing that makes me smile, see?" I said, pointing to my own smile, and Firaga nodded her head.
"I see; when we fought, I was starting to feel excited, I think. If we could have kept going, I think I might even have smiled," Firaga said.
"When we do connect sexually, I will be able to use your abilities. If that happens, I could have a much longer and drawn-out battle with you, but we must first worry about Viins. Just rx, for now, I need to do some preparations that will take my full concentration, and I am going to merge with the tree for a bit. Are you going to be okay here alone for a bit?"
Firaga nodded at me and waded over to where the girls were sitting, joining them in the same position. The way she looked sitting with the other three almost made her look like she was the shiny edition of the girls.
That wouldn''t ever be something I spoke out loud, but something I internally chuckled about as I sunk down into the tree.
Once I was inside, my view changed, and I got aplete overview of all the areas around the south and Central cities. I used the tree to scan Firaga passively and also asked the tree to scan over the fight we had just had.
The trees seemed to passively scan everything around us, and I was slowly getting stronger, but I didn''t know if it was enough. This fight would be pushing me to my limits, but I wasn''t alone, even if all the girls couldn''t fight yet.
"Knock, Knock! Can I join you?" Sofia called like an echo in my mind.
"Yeah, if you can get in here," I called back.
Suddenly, I had a body of light, and Sofia was floating beside me. I had no idea that something like this was even possible, but I had to remember that impossible wasn''t a word that should restrict my thinking.
"Good! Wow! This is way better than just looking at it on the screen!" Sofia eximed.
"I am d you are here. How are your things going with tracking?" I asked, and Sofia nodded, pointing to Central City.
"I was waiting to show you this, but this is going to be way cooler! Okay, Papi, watch this!" Sofia told me, and I watched as hundreds of blue dots started to spread out from my First Great Tree.
I watched in awe as they spread out in every direction, but what was most remarkable was the speed they were moving. From what I could see on the overview, some of them were getting up to three hundred feet per second!
"How did you get them to move so fast?!" I asked in shock, and Sofiaughed.
"Nik Te was a brilliant man, but he was cast out because he had figured out how to harness free power. I had seriously wondered if they could get rid of all the power in the world because there is electricity in the air, far up. I won''t bore you with the details, but you can just say that I gave them something like an electric engine," Sofia exined, and I blinked at her.
"Wait, what? ...Nah, I am not even going to ask! You already created a super size me that I basically ate and can change into. Plus, then there are the katanas and machine guns growing from my hand!" Iughed, not sure how else to react; this was all so wild and crazy.
"Only problem now is that if they have to slow down, they take a very long time to speed up. That''s why they were going so fast right off the hop to shoot them up on angles to get high to where they can keep moving. If theye down, the charge is not as effective, so they just look fast for now," Sofia exined, but I was wondering about the power.
"Do you think that we can use the power-up there to turn on the things down here? Like phones and everything else?" I asked, but Sofia shook her head.
"The reason why electricity doesn''t work is that it doesn''t exist here anymore. The energy that I am using right now is just like the energy that we get from the pools. All electricity was reced with this new Green Energy," Sofia said, and I barked out augh.
"I am sure the hippies will love that!" Iughed.
I had assumed that it was too good to be true when Sofia said electric engines. Still, if we could use this Green Energy the same way, the possibilities were endless.
"I think this is good since it can''t really be abused, and it is not really going to cause emissions. The world is slowly going to start to heal, and I have finally found proof of my lifelong belief and passion. You really mean a lot to me, Papi, for doing all this for me," Sofia said, floating over to me, and I smiled.
"You are definitely worth it, and I never would have gotten this far without you," I said, but then a sh of red blinked in my vision.
Both of us turned back to the overview as more and more red blinks shed. Four thousand miles south of us, there was a group of thirty-seven, and they were headed our way.
"Sofia, start the warning and get everyone underground. From the speed they areing, it looks like we have about two hours before they reach the outside edge of the forest. Let''s get to work!"
Chapter 95 Supercharged Clones
Sofia left, and I got to work on the trees. Every one of them was going to be weaponized for this.
Thirty-seven is a much smaller number than I had anticipated, but that also didn''t sit well with me. The AI wasn''t this stupid, so there had to be a reason for sending such a small number.
"Gaia?" I called, and she appeared almost immediately.
"Yes?"
"How are things going with the signal?" I asked, and her bright form nodded.
"Done. The AI will be locked up as soon as they enter, and they won''t be able to break out even if they leave the forest. My only problem is that I won''t be much use in the fight. I have to spread myself out in hundreds of trees, so the best I can do is lock the AI down," Gaia exined, and I nodded.
"That is more than enough. Do you think that you can patch Orphus in here with me? The AI that ising is far less than I expected. That has me worried, so I want to pick his brain on the matter," I said, and Gaia nodded and then disappeared.
Almost immediately after, Joe ck appeared dimly lit, looking confused.
"Oh wow! Now, this is something! I was just working on a bird and BAM! I am floating here!" Orphus eximed.
"Yes, sorry about that. I am sure you heard what is going on, and you can see now," I said, and Orphus nodded as he looked at the overview.
"Small group. That isn''t good," Ophus said, and I nodded.
"That is what I thought. What does it mean?" I asked.
"That they are taking you seriously. I am working on trying to extend the bird''s range, but I don''t think you can let this group get to the forest. I am almost positive that there is a muchrger force waiting out of our range. This group is a suicide squad just meant to engage us and report information. They already know we can cut them off, but if arge group ising, we can''t give them any kind of advantage. We have to take everyone we have," Orphus exined, and I nodded.
"Okay, so I go out and deal with this group-," I started to say, but Orphus shook his head.
"Not you, or at least not this body. It is too dangerous for you to leave the forest since we have no clue what ising. Sofia can supercharge a clone, but you need to do the deed with Firaga so you can take that System and the one that is being flung here. I had already seen a brief look at the overview and got the ball rolling," Orphus said, and I nodded with a sigh.
"There is just no winning. I was trying to take my time with her, but even she was pushing for it," I groaned.
"This isn''t the time for groaning, Daniel. This is the first real fight you are going to be in, and this is just the warm-up. If my assumptions are right. There could be up to three hundred or more AI waiting in the background with amander. There are ten of them in total, and I was one of them. That''s why your System is so strong," Orphus exined.
"I get it. I will get it done, but I am going to take it out on the Viins after!"
"Good. These will all be rough rag tags that they know won''t give up if the AI is gone. Also, ensure that she consumes them, and then we can put them all into your super clone. It will be hard to control, but your body will be a weapon of mass destruction, and you will grow ridiculously fast. The issue is that even with the body being supercharged, there is a limit to all System''s growth, but the body also has a limit. Your System, the Evergrowth, is the exception, but you can''t add more Systems to yourself," Orphus exined.
"So that means I am only going to be able to use the body for so long?" I asked, and Orphus nodded; then I said, "Then I will just put them into more bodies. Depending on the Systems, two to three per Supercharged clone should be enough. Even the set I am going to be using, Max Power, and the Chimera system should be a good match. Anyways, I have weaponized the trees and foliage, but I am keeping all the animals in the cities. That will be good if any try to sneak their way into the center," I exined.
"That is probably more efficient, and you can scan the clones after using them to fight to learn more about them. You can make yourself stronger through your growth with them. Your System focuses on growth and the growth of everything around you," Orphus exined.
"Okay, I am getting out of here and back to Firaga. Start getting more clones ready for me, and keep working on the birds. We need to know exactly what we are facing. If you can get them to scan the groups as well, that would be helpful. We might not be able to tell what kind of Systems they have, but we can iste and mark the ones that don''t look as eager as the others. The more we can point out right away, the faster we can subdue and get them out of the fight," I exined.
I received a nod from Orphus, followed by his disappearance.
Getting the ones out of the fight who didn''t want to fight was my first priority when everything started. Thest thing we needed was to have them get pushed into a corner, forcing them to fight back, so dealing with them first was crucial.
I pulled myself out of the tree and back into the pool, where I found Gaia, Melody, and Firaga all talking. The three girls looked up at me, and two of them smiled.
Chapter 96 The Thing That Finally Did It
"Looks like you just can''t catch a break. Still, I think you both know it''s a matter of duty this time, so we can just say it doesn''t count for the first time!" Melody said with a smile, and Firaga nodded.
"I was already for this, but then one called Sofia told me of what you have nned, and what we are going to do. I think that we should make haste of this so we can leave as soon as possible," Firaga exined, and I sighed, nodding.
This sounded more like we were making a quick transaction, but it was what it was.
"We will leave you two alone, but at least put the shiny edition on a bed for her first time," Melody teased and then turned into a small bird to fly away before anyone could reply.
"She is a fascinating person," Gaia said.
"She is a very strange person," Firaga said, and Iughed at the two of them.
"Yes, she is all of the above, but she is my person just like you two. Now, to our¡ business exchange¡." I said a bit awkwardly.
Gaia smiled and disappeared into the tree as I walked over to Firaga, and she stood up before me.
"Are you ready?" I asked, and Firaga nodded.
"I am. Let''s do this," Firaga said, and I chuckled, making her ask, "What is so funny?"
"You and your straightforwardness are cute. It makes me smile andugh," I replied and took her hand, leading Firaga out of the water.
We both heated our bodies simultaneously as we walked downstairs that formed under our feet, leading us to a room I had just finished creating. It was nothing special, but it was nice and private, and I made arge bed in the center of the room.
"Did you just make this?" Firaga asked, and I nodded.
"Yeah, it took about five minutes," I replied as we walked over to the bed, and then she turned to me.
"You are really amazing. I don''t say that lightly since I really don''t like anything other than consuming metal. You are always willing to put in extra effort to get what you want, but you also know when you need to act above all. Your choice to wait for this was understandable after I had talked to Melody and Gaia, but your resolve in the face of adversity is what I respect. You are protecting what is important to you," Firaga told me, and I nodded.
"I want to live in peace, read books, and spend time with all you girls, but these asshole Viins keep getting in the way. You and I are going to go and kick some serious ass out there, but to do that, we need to do this," I said, stepping closer to Firaga, but like Melody, she only came up to my chest.
"I am ready, but I don''t know what I am supposed to do," Firaga exined, and I nodded.
"I have a bit of experience, so you just need toy back and rx. We don''t have much time, but I will not rush this any more than needed," I exined and pulled Firaga into a kiss.
At first, she gave no response, and I felt awkward trying to kiss her, but slowly she started to return. It was almost like Firaga had taken a moment to analyze what I was doing so she could mimic it.
Once she started to get into it, I pulled away with a smile, and Firaga looked at me, confused. Without saying anything, I pulled us down to the bed, and we bounced slightly on our sides.
"You really like the feeling of falling?" Firaga asked me, and I smiled.
"I hadn''t really thought about it like that, but I guess so," I said, and Firaga''s lips curved ever so slightly.
"I think that I enjoy it too. I was confused the first few times, but when you told me you did it just because you liked it, I started to think about it differently. I weigh a lot, so I don''t think I could fly even if I grew wings like you. When you fall with me, I feel weightless for that brief moment," Firaga exined, and Iughed at her, making her frown, but then I kissed her quickly.
"You know that you, out of everyone, could probably fly the fastest and be the most deadly in the air? You can absorb metal and then shape your body with it! You could change into an Apache Attack Helicopter and rain down metal projectiles! Or! You could be a jet that flies super fast by directing your heat output into turbines!" I eximed with roots growing out of me to make a helicopter and jet fly around us.
This was the thing that finally did it.
Firaga''s face broke into a full smile as she reached up, and I made the helicopternd on her hand.
"This thing¡ Do you really think I could fly if I be something like this?!" Firaga asked with excitement, and I nodded.
"Without a doubt. The things are made out of metal, and you are also much lighter than you were before, even if you are still heavy. This will spread the weight out, and the rotors will lift us off the ground. After we are done here, Sofia and give you a better exnation than I can of how everything works," I exined, pushing some of her silver hair back from Firaga''s face, and she nodded, still smiling.
"Yes, I think I am ready to give my body over to you. You know more about me and my body than I know about myself, but more importantly. This feeling and the way my face almost hurts from this strange position it''s in. The smile you speak of contorts my face, yet, I like it like I like you now," Firaga exined.
"I am thrilled to hear that. Now let me show you another type of emotion you probably have never experienced before, or at least understood properly," I said with a smile.
"What emotion is that?" Firaga asked as I slowly slid my hand down between her legs, separating them.
"Pleasure," I said, and her eyes opened slightly as I slowly pressed two fingers inside of her.
Chapter 97 [Bonus ] Firaga
Firaga let out a low and slight moan as my finger moved inside her and slowly pulled them out. I let them slide up between her soft pussy lips till my fingers reached her clit, and started to rub slowly.
I looked down into Firaga''s pure silver eyes, and her mouth was open slightly as the soft sounds of pleasure escaped her mouth. I moved down to kiss her, and this time she responded much faster, wrapping her arms around my neck.
As much as I wanted to prolong this, we didn''t have the time in the current situation.
I gently pushed Firaga to her back and then crawled over the top of her, my leaf shorts sinking into my body. We stopped kissing, and Firaga looked down at my swollen shaft, then back up at me with a nod.
I reached down and slowly guided myself to press into her wet little hole, slowly sliding in. Firaga''s mouth slowly opened as I felt my cock sinking inside her.
Moving slowly at first, I leaned down to kiss her while propping myself up with one hand. The other was gripping her soft ass as I started to pick up speed.
Firaga pulled from my kiss so she could gasp for breath as louder moans started to leak out of her.
"I don''t¡ ahh¡ why I¡ ahhhh!" Firaga tried to say, and I slowed down briefly with a smile.
"Don''t hold them back. Let me hear how good I am making you feel," I whispered, and Firaga nodded.
This time I picked up speed, but slower than before, and started to push myself deep each time with a more rhythmic. Firaga''s moans became much more intense as she wrapped her arms around my back, pulling me down on her.
"I am getting really hot inside!" Firaga cried out as I kissed her neck, and then her small body shook under me.
I slowed down, but I wasn''t there yet; Firaga had just had her first orgasm, so that was exciting for her. She was going to get a few more before I was done.
I pulled out, and her body trembled, and I smiled down at her.
"How did that feel?" I asked.
"Can I have more? Are we done?" Firaga asked, and I shook my head, grinning.
"Roll over, go on your knees, and we will start again. This time I won''t stop until I am done, okay?" I asked as she did as I said.
"Don''t stop until you are done; it feels so good," Firaga moaned as I slid my dick back inside of her.
I put one hand in the middle of her back, and the other grabbed her hip as I started to drill my cock into her. Instantly, Firaga started to moan again, grabbing the pillow to press her face into as she became very loud but still pushing her hips into me.
I moved both hands to her waist and mmed my body down into her hips as her body shook again. Now our bodies made pping noises as her pussy leaked out her juices as I fucked her.
I was finally starting to feel the excitement start to build as Firaga creamed into the pillow with her back arched all the way down. In my final stroke, I drove in deep and held it as my System batter pumped out of me, making Firaga stop screaming suddenly.
[System Connection Activated]
[Metal Consumption System¡Editing]
[The Forge System Activated]
[System Eater Activated]
[System Forger Activated]
[Firaga, System Smith Forger]
Firaga''s skin started to change to a golden brown color, and she started to move again with light moans. I pulled out from her, and she slumped in the bed, her body still slowly changing.
She was starting to look like an ordinary girl, but then she slowly turned to look at me. Big brown breasts flopped over that I saw first and then eyes that looked like entire sr systems.
"How do you feel?" I asked.
"Like I just woke up from aa. I can see everything I had ever locked away, and now it''s back, but it doesn''t matter. You are going to help me fix it, right? That is why we did this amazing dance, right? This body is a lot of fun, but we have things to do, and now I know why I couldn''t remember!" Firaga dered, or at least I assumed that was who it was, but this woman suddenly had personality.
"You are still Firaga, right?!" I asked, and she giggled at me.
"Yeah, it''s still me, but you literally fucked my brains back into working order! I was locked like this¡ I don''t know how long it has been, but I have been stuck in potato mode for a long time! I''m about to drop Astral Rockets and Heavenly Bazooka''s on the idiotmander that did this to me!" Firaga growled, and I thought my eyes would fall out of my head.
"Astral Rockets? No, you are right, and we should get going, but I feel like I am meeting you for the first time again," Iughed.
"Funny thing to say after the way you pounded my body like that and made me shake! I am pretty sure you know that I look good and like to be loud, but I will not let you boss me around! Now, put some clothes on us! I have a Viin to eat, and then we will forge the one I have into a weapon and put the Max Power in the Supercharged Clone, okay?"
"I am really starting to like you more, but maybe for all the wrong reasons. Still, I am pumped to see what you forge me!" I said, think about what kind of weapon the Chimera System would make, but Firaga gave me a sideways look, narrowing her eyes.
"Who said it was for you? Thest time I checked, I was giving you something called Max Power. Do you really need a second?" Firaga asked, and I stepped back like I had been pped.
Damn, this girl was great, but I was sure that my home life had just changed dramatically. I was sure that this personality change would not go over well with Melody.
"You got me! So what are we making you?"
Chapter 98 Fucking My Brains Back Into Place
"Well, we can''t do it here, or we will burn the ce down," Firaga informed me, and I nodded, creating clothes for myself and a red dress for her.
"Sure, let me pick you up, and we will head down to where my Supercharged Clone is. I am still worried about using this new System. I have been using mine for a couple of days now, but this one will be brand new to me, right?" I asked as I picked Firaga up.
"Max Power is an easy System to use. The point is just to go all out, and you will get stronger. Basic, but you will be fine since your body can repair it so fast. The issue with the System is that the user usually gets hurt," Firaga exined as a hole opened up in the room we were in.
"Hmm, I guess that should be fine then. I just have to hit things to get stronger?" I asked, and Firaga nodded.
"Hit, punch, kick, or bite. This System just needs to see you do damage of any kind," Firaga exined and then gave me a look, offering, "You could get into that clone of you and take another round out of me. I am not sure if that might be considered damage, but I would be willing to let you try."
I rolled my eyes with a smile and then jumped out of the tree as Firaga cheered as we fell. It was hard to believe that I even had the same person in my arms now that Firaga had regained her memories.
Still, I liked her version much better than the other, but I hoped she would get along with the girls. The only one that I was apprehensive about was Melody, but Firaga had her memories and personality now.
Hopefully, they would get along better, but I wasn''t going to hold my breath. I was sure they wouldn''t outright start fighting, but I didn''t think Firaga''s personality would mesh with Melody''s.
The ground came fast, but it opened up to let us fall another forty feet before my roots surged out to slow us. I dropped down into arge cavern that was filled with pods that each had Elf Clones.
"Wow! How the hell did you make all these?! Are these real people?!" Firaga eximed.
"They don''t have consciences, so they can''t move independently. You or I can control them, so if you need them, you can summon them to help you fight. It is just a matter of sending them directions with your intention. Now that we are connected, you should be able to see my intentions and how I feel about you," I exined, and Firagaughed.
"You think that I would have just suggested you destroy my pussy if I didn''t? I know how you feel, and I think I understand what you mean about these clones. I can connect to at least five, but then I won''t be able to fight. Maybe two would be okay, but I think that I will just leave them be for now. I could take them with me just in case," Firaga said after wiggling out of my arms.
"That is a good idea, and I will do the same. There is an open area over there," I said, pointing to the far side of the cavern. "That should be enough room for you to make a forge, right?"
"This will do for now, but I want a big forge and lots of metal! I don''t really think this is a good ce for a permanent forge anyways. It''s kind of creepy down here," Firaga said, and I could see her point, but this would have to do for now.
"I get you, but let''s make do for now. You get started on your weapon, and I am going to switch bodies. This is my first time really trying this, but I think it should be just like the Mega-Me," I exined as we walked over to the open space in the corner.
The super clones were over here, and there was an empty pod that was waiting for me that I climbed into. It looked like arge test tube turned on its side that was being supported by tan roots and green vines, filled with the rejuvenation fluids from my pools.
As Iid myself down, Firaga got to work as I watched her. As much as I was excited to get into a new body, Kratos''s body wasn''t here yet, so there was no rush, and this was interesting.
Firaga stuck out her hand, and blobs of metal dripped off her hands and started to spread over the area. As they did, I watched them slowly form into a mini furnace, bench, tools, and an anvil.
"This is not something I have ever been able to do, but thanks to you fucking my brains back into ce, I can! You know, I have done a lot of mating dances in my many years of existence, but this one was the best. I am always up for it now that you gave it to me, so just remember that. Kratos''s body is on its way down, so you had better switch over now," Firaga exined, and I nodded as a silver hammer formed in her hand.
"Yes, but I have more Systems to give out after this big fight and then a few more in line, but I will be back for you. Things are just busy for now. If we can get rid of these Viins that areing for us now, that will put a big gap between the rest of them and us. Even if they know where we are, they will know that nothing short of a full assault could stop us. That is if we can survive this first major assault," I exined and then closed my eyes.
"I agree with you on all points, but I know we are going to win. We are going to go make a joke out of this first batch, not even using your real powers! That will piss themander off royally, so I hope it is the one that messed me up!" Firaga dered as I slipped into my new body.
Chapter 99 Fight Them Yourself
My eyes didn''t open at first, nor could I feel anything. My body was calibrating my conscience, but it wasn''t as fast as I had assumed.
"How are you doing over there? The Viins are going to beat us if you don''t hurry up!" Firaga called to me, but her voice was still distant.
It had been almost an hour since I started calibrating, but this body was much different than my original. Sofia had made significant changes to the clone, and I was going through them all as I waited, but I was almost done.
"There. Sorry about that. This thing is a beast, and I was stuck in here while I was getting everything in order," I growled in my new voice as I pulled my new body out of the fluids, but I didn''t look like myself.
"Why do you look like that?! That''s almost scary looking, and that is something for me to say!" Firaga eximed, and Iughed, but my voice was much deeper and rough.
I had shaped my body to look just like the Kratos from the video game, but the older and more built version.
"One of my favorite characters, and his name is Kratos, so it was fitting, I think. How did it go with the Chimera System?" I asked as I stretched out my ashen white skin.
"Already set it up with my two clones, but it turned out good. You will see as soon as we get out of here! Don''t you think that we should do that?!" Firaga frowned.
"No rush. We have thirty minutes. I am tracking them. Make me two great des quick, and then we will get out of here. If we had more time, I would get you to put them on fifty-foot chains that retracted inside me," I exined, and Firaga nodded.
"That is easy since I can freely edit this body you''re in. You need to hurry up!" Firagained as she pped her hands on my muscled chest.
Suddenly, a fire started to burn me from the inside, dropping me to one knee, then it got worse, but I bore it. The side of my waist burned open, and two-inch thick chains poured out of the side of me, and I let out a low growl.
Firaga pulled back and stood up, walking to her anvil, the chains following her. She reached one hand over the anvil, and the other grabbed her hammer as a silver blob dropped down.
One of the chains climbed up, connecting to the shiny blob, then Firaga struck it, making the metal ssh out. The ssh went out like a rock hitting the water but then stopped and sucked back into the shape of a massive curved de with teeth on the back.
"Let''s go! I will attach the Chimera de when we get up to the surface!" Firaga shouted at me, and I grinned.
The Max Power System had just leveled up, and I could feel myself get stronger, but I was still a ways away from my previous strength. I grabbed the massive de and called up to the tree for a way out as the chains sucked back into my body.
A hole started to open up in the room, and I jumped up, but I had to bounce off the sides to make my way up. I burst from the ground to find the two clones holding the new weapon, the girls were all waiting as Inded, and Firaga followed behind me.
"Woah! Let''s go, God of War!" Sofia cheered, and I grinned.
"Is that really you, Daniel?" Amy asked, giving me a peculiar look.
"Yeah, it''s me, but I am going to keep my main body here for now. Firaga and I should be enough, but I want everyone on guard. This is our first real battle, and this will set the stage for every fight after," I said in my deep and gruff voice.
"We got it, but what happened to Firaga?! What kind of metal did she eat to look like that?! Or was this what happened after you two did it?" Melody asked.
"Yes, he fucked my brain back straight; now, let me attach this damn weapon so we can get going!" Firaga growled, stomping over to the clones holding arge strange, scaled de.
The empty chain followed her, and she grabbed the big weapon, dripping metal on it, then hitting the hilt and chain with her fist. The metal sshed out a bit, then sucked back, forming the connection.
"Woah! Is that a System?!" Melody asked as Firaga tossed the de at me.
"Yup, the Chimera System, and I got Max Power inside of me. We have to get going; love you all and be safe!" I called as the Tree picked Firaga and me up.
"I will scout ahead, don''t waste time, and kill them all! The faster you get back, the sooner we can regroup," Firaga ordered me, and I frowned at her as the tree''s massive arms pulled back.
"You sound like you aren''t going to be fighting?!"
"I am not. I want to see just how effective you are with this new body. I will watch for stragglers that try to get past you, but there are only a few of them," Firaga called over, and I groaned, but it was toote toin.
I was flung into the air like a rocket with a massive de in each hand, but once I reached the top of my arc, I stuck the Chimera de behind me. The scaled green de transformed into a dragon''s head, and I roared into the open air.
"DRAGON''S BREATH!"
Fire burst from the dragon''s mouth, and I rocketed forward as massive green dragon wings burst from my back. The sword could augment into three forms right now, and the weapon also amalgamated into my body.
I could see the forest''s edgeing fast, and I could sense the Viins about four hundred miles from the forest''s edge. This gave me time to make it about two hundred miles past, and I retracted the Chimera de, falling to the ground.
Chapter 100 Fire Incoming!
Just before I hit the ground, I flipped forward with both des above my head and cut into the ground. I had let go of the de as I hit the ground and tumbled, smashing my body up good, but I healed so fast that I barely noticed.
[What are you doing! Are you trying to kill yourself before you even start?! I am resonating with the metal in you to talk to you! Stop doing stupid things!]
I threw a thumb up in the air as I pulled myself up off the ground. That had hurt, but I could already feel myself getting stronger from the Max Power System.
? "Don''t worry, I am fine. How does it look?" I asked as I reached my hands out to the side, stretching my neck.
Both des snapped to my hands like I had mas in my palms, and I swung them around a couple times. After getting a good feel for the swing, I threw a de and then called it back at twenty feet, but not the chain.
[A lot of fire. That is basically all I see. Some are fire monsters, swordsmen, and some are metal-based like me, but I can cut through them if needed. You work on making that weapon and yourself stronger. It will be big trouble if any get past you into the forest.]
"I get it. You make sure none make it to the forest then; I will do my best here. Fire is about my only real weakness, but I should be fine. I am the Only Hero that this world has. It''s about time I started to let the Viins know who they are dealing with!" I shouted, getting fired up as I could see the dusting.
[Just be careful!]
I started to run with a grin on my face as I could start to see all the burning people and creaturesing straight for me.
The first two that blinked at me were a pair of swordsmen that kept disappearing and reappearing about ten feet ahead. A nifty trick, but my skin was already starting to weaveyers all over my body.
Both swordsmen, one in white, the other ck, attack head-on before I could block, shing into my chest. My body gripped the des and ran into both of them, wrapping my arms around them and throwing my des back.
The chains retracted slightly, wrapping them around the three of us, and then I retracted them as hard as possible. Both men screamed as the round chains sawed through the bodies, leaving four shining chunks.
I jumped back from a blob of magma as the Max Power System Leveled up, making the des even lighter in my hands.
Then I was hit from the side by a burning fist that was the size of my body. I tumbled across the ground as I glimpsed a wild-looking man with strange massive arms closed after me.
I caught myself and shed the Chimera de forward, activating it, and a massive T-rex head formed. I stretched from the hilt and bit the body of the two big arms before he could reach me.
More magma was thrown, and I jumped forward this time into the fray as a fireman tried to get in my way. The T-rex head whipped back and swallowed the fireman whole as I dodged another gout of liquid fire.
A turtle-looking guy was spitting it at me, but the rest of them seemed to be protecting it. I could see why; this guy could easily make short work of my forest, but I wasn''t going to let that happen.
I cut another man with fire hands in half, but then I was hit with fire from all directions, but I didn''t stop my advance. I threw my de up at a red wyvern in the sky, and once it sunk into the beast, I retracted the chain pulling me up in the air.
I was taken out of the fire, and my body healed fully, but the fire hadn''t done that much damage. Most of the people fighting me didn''t seem even as strong as I was now, but there were some, like the turtle, that posed a problem.
A body flew at me, covered in fire, but I created a massive dragon tail to p the person to the ground. I was pulled to the falling now silver wyvern, grabbing my de and kicking off it as some more flying bat-like creatures came after me.
Suddenly, a shiny rocket flew past me, and I turned to see des flip up around it. They cut through the two creatures like they were made of paper, and the rocket zipped off.
[I will take care of the ones in the sky! I already killed two more before trying to sneak by! That''s ten out of thirty-seven! Keep at it!]
Fireballs and sprays of fire shot at me, but it was time to cut the numbers down as I swung the Chimera de back. It transformed into a massive, stretchy slug body, and I whipped the other de at a Viin spitting small balls of fire at me.
The de cut him in half, and the moment that it dung into the ground, I used the chain to fling myself to the ground. While this happened, I forced the de to fill the slug up as much as possible.
I brought the Chimera de down as I hit the ground, fire hitting from all over, but the slug de squished into the ground with me.
Acid sprayed spray in all directions, and there were screams as Villians started melting until their bodies crystallized. The acid hit me, but I knew that I was fine as long as I held the de, but I would need time to recharge.
Only three Viins survived, and one of them was the turtle guy. The other two were a guy that looked like a volcano and a man made of metal with red cracks.
"So, do we call this a draw? Or do you want to y some more?" I asked, but the three of them started to merge together.
Chapter 101 Oceans Tempest
I started to run at them, but they were already a growing mound of moltenva that was growing upwards at a ridiculous rate. I threw my great de at the growing mass, but it just sank into it, and I ripped it back, slowing down.
"Daniel!"
Firaga ran up from behind me, up beside me, making mee to a stop. We were about thirty feet away, but the heat was intense even from this far.
"Take this," I said, handing Firaga the Chimera de, but she pushed it back.
"I can fight this one; you just sit back and watch!" Firaga said that as she started to glow, I had to jump back from her because my skin had started to sizzle.
The giantva-covered man finished forming and sted a beam of hotva directly at Firaga. She only put a hand up to block it, and theva sshed off it but then sucked back in like when she made my sword.
That was when I noticed that all the bodies were gone around me.
I looked back to see Firaga creating a giant bubble of magma in front of her hand, the beam just making it more immense. Chunks of dirt, rock and other impurities dropped as the giant fireman stopped.
"Why are you siding with the Hero?" Boomed the burning man.
Firaga had used her other hand to create an anvil and was holding her hammer. The blob dropped, and Firaga smashed her hammer down into the anvil.
The blob of red hot metal sshed out but instantly became blue and transparent like water before rushing back in. Firaga picked up a massive wavey blue transparent de and pointed it at the monstrosity that was in front of her.
"Someone stole all my memories from me, and he gave them back. Die," Firaga said as the giant burning man put up his hands, and Firaga screamed, "Oceans Roar!"
Instantly, the de burst with a massive torrent of water that blew the burning goliath off his feet. Firaga turned and tossed the de to me, making me drop the metal sword as she walked over to the giant crystallized body.
When I caught the sword, I instantly got a read on what it was.
[Oceans Tempest de]
Okay, I got the name of it, but I was going to have to ask Firaga about how she did that. There was no way a system like that was mixed into this bunch, so it must be a new skill Firaga has.
I turned back to look at Firaga; she was melting thest Viins, looking extra shiny. I jumped over about seven feet in one leap but groaned as another chain burst from my back totch on to the Oceans Tempest de.
My other sword had sucked to my side, and my body grew vines to hold it as Inded. Firaga was just finishing sucking thest of the systeminium as Inded, and she turned to me.
"So, do you think that was worth ten systems? I used the worst ones of the lot for that sword, but I think it looks pretty and sexy!" Firaga said, and Iughed gruffly.
"Ten Systems? Not too bad, considering there is no way we are going to make thousands of weapons. This sword is really nice, like you said, and pretty strong. Marley would be able to use this since it is so light, but can you make it a bit smaller?" I asked, holding the de up to her, and Firaga nodded.
"It won''t change the weight, but I can change the shape. What do you want?" Firaga asked.
"A katana. Marley will like that, and the extra weight will help," I said and then asked, "Can I just snap the sword of myself from the chains, or do you have to do it?"
"You can''t do it with this body, but you can with your main body since we are connected. Thank you for taking me with you! Now I can make a whole bunch of really cool stuff!" Firaga said excitedly as she ran her hand over the massive blue de.
Once it shrank down, it looked like a blue ss katana, but it had some nice weight to it. I turned and concentrated, making a pair of quick shes that shot out thirty feet as des of water.
Even the ground had been cut up from them, and I smiled at the beautiful de. This thing was cool as hell.
"Great job on this! I can''t wait to see what youe up with next! Now, what do you think the Viins will do?" I asked after congratting Firaga.
"In my honest opinion, I think that they will pull back for a day and regroup. We should get back to the forest. I am starting to feel drained; I don''t know how you are still full of so much energy!" Firaga eximed as I turned to look at her with a smile.
"I made sure that I had some extra juice in the tank, but we took care of them a lot faster than I thought we would. I can carry you back if you want," I said, but Firaga shook her head, offering me her hand.
To my surprise, I took it, and she flung me up into the air. I wasn''t really sure what she was going to do, but that was not on the top of the list or anywhere near it!
Suddenly, a rocket flew under me with handlebars that I graded onto. It took only a matter of seconds to get back over the forest, and I let out a loud whoop as we zipped over top of it.
This was our first big win, and we had kicked serious ass, so I really hoped that the AI was going to make them rethink their n. I figured it was a small hope, but it might be in their best interest to get stronger first.
Regardless, match point, thirty-seven to zero! We won; they lost, Yahtzee!
Chapter 102 8th Commander
"How is it possible that they were all defeated so soundly?! And by that rogue of all the AI!!" Beltzer eximed.
The eighth General of the Hive, Beltzer, is in control of the Chain System that allows him to manipte chains. He can also chain people, thoughts, and objects together.
? "The worst part is that the Hero didn''t even use his own body! That was a nt-based lifeform that was being controlled with the Max Power System inside it! This is remarkable!" Belious eximed with bright eyes as he watched the reply.
"This is not a time to be admiring them! This Hero has already connected with thes Spirit. The others also know this, and they refuse toe help. We are actually being pushed out of some cities and have lost control of five hosts! Only the Generals can fully take control of a host, and there have been serious information issues," Beltzerined, sitting down in a big chair.
The two of them were far below the surface in a bunker in the middle of the Nevada desert. They were far removed from the action, but once the fight was over, the General had ordered everyone back.
"This world is like nothing we have ever experienced. Everyone lies about something or another, and their information transfer system is even worse. That is where we failed. We thought we could easily scan through all the information and pick the ones that fit the generic profiles we had always used," Belious exined, and Belzter sighed.
"This was supposed to be an easy run, but Orphus messed everything up. And now she is free. I locked Firaga''s mind up because she was part of the resistance. She could also be a major problem, and the other Generals might have to consider cutting our losses. The Hero is getting too strong, too fast!" Beltzer growled, mming his fist down on the table and leaving a dent.
"Easy on my stuff!" Beliousined as he flicked his fingers, and the dent popped out.
Right-hand AI to Beltzer, Belious is in control of the Alpha Operations System. This System allows him to create bases of operation anywhere he wants while monitoring all situations.
This System is not built forbat, but every General has a Support AI like Belious. This AI also excels in data collection, but the data didn''t seem to make any sense to him this time.
"What do you think of the Hero from your Data?" Beltzer asked, looking over and Belious, who had gray hair, and a whiteb coat.
"I think that we should be apprehensive. We sent half of the Systems we had that deal with him, and he doesn''t even fight them. He used a new clone with a new system with one of our own at his side! We need to start preparing and getting everyone stronger! Recall all AI that is in the north, and let him have it," Belious exined, but Beltzer frowned at him.
"Recall? Let him have the north? Have you lost your mind?!" Beltzer roared, standing up, but Belious put up a hand to stop him.
"Listen, we can''t let him get any more of our people. You saw that sword and the Chimera de he was using! Not to mention that the clone was using a System! Think about what that means! The other Generals will not agree with leaving unless we have the materials we need!" Belious exined, and Beltzer sighed, sitting back down.
"That is going to take a year to get even close to what we need! We should all just be crushing him together!" Beltzerined.
"You do realize that we have been here for three days! This is Villians versus Hero. He is supposed to be strong, and we have been underestimating him. Pull everyone back, and let''s take a month to prepare for a full-out assault," Belious instructed, and Beltzer grumbled but nodded.
Beltzer closed his eyes and sent a signal out for a full retreat from the north, as much as he didn''t like doing it. Belious was right; they needed to get stronger and work on mining what they needed.
"I''ll make that Hero pay!" Beltzer dered.
---
I was back in my own body now, and the girls were all sitting in the pool when Gaia spoke up.
"Something is happening. The Viins that we had picked up with the birds are now gone and heading south! I am not really sure what this means, but there are other ones that we hadn''t picked up before blinking in and out of our surveince," Gaia exined, and I closed my eyes to get a massive overview.
I could see the red dots popping up and then disappearing right away. This was not really what I had expected, but I wasn''t really sure what it meant for us either.
"Sofia, can you ask Orphus what he thinks of all this?" I asked, and sheughed.
"He is yelling that they are on the run with their tails between their legs, Papi! He doesn''t think that they will be back for a while. You beat the pants off them! You to Firaga! I watched the fight from one of the birds, and that was some Lord of the Rings shit right there! You shall not pass! The difference is that you would kick Gandalf''s ass and the Balrog simultaneously!" Sofia eximed, and everyoneughed.
"I still can''t believe that many couldn''t even leave a scratch on you two!" Marley said with unrestrained amazement, looking down at the Oceans Tempest de in her hand.
When I had given it to her, Marley had grunted, grabbing on with both hands quickly. I had asked Marley if she was going to be alright with it, but she told me she would just have to get used to it.
"In their defense, I can heal almost instantly now, and that wasn''t even my real body. I am d they are leaving, and on top of it all, they are pissing off down south. That is a win in my book," I grinned and leaned back as the girls all let out sighs.
Chapter 103 Back To Central City
The rest of the day was spent making sure everyone in the South City was okay, but the trees and animals had taken care of most of the people. We were just mostly greeting the people as they came up as we walked around the city on the backs of the two-story-tall cats.
Most of the people seemed confused by everything that was happening, but that was something to be expected.
The world had ended almost exactly three days ago, and now I was watching the sun go down on the back of a twenty-foot-tall Siberian tiger.
"How long do you think we will have before they try again?" Melody asked from her seat in front of me as she leaned back into my chest.
"That is a good question, but I don''t think we have to worry about that. We have a good long-range surveince system set up now, so they won''t be able to sneak up on us. They also gave us the north, so they are going to have to work for a while to catch up with us now," I exined, and Melody turned up to me with a smile.
"Does that mean we are going home?" Melody asked, and I nodded.
"Yeah, time to head back to Central City. The trees have weeded out all the bad eggs, and I scanned my Kratos clone, so there is nothing left here to do. I would like to get back and work on the project that Anya and I started with the books. That is something for tomorrow, but tonight I am going to be spending time with Katie," I exined.
"That is right! Do you have a tree ready for her?" Melody asked as Snowball, our giant tiger, turned north and started to head to Central City.
"Not a tree. Katie likes to be active, so I wanted to do something a little different for her. She also likes challenges, so I created a massive dome maze from roots, vines, and many different nts. I let the trees decide how it isid out, but it also constantly shifts," I exined as Snowball bounded forward.
"Wah?! The girls are all so different, but you seem to be able to think of something for each of them! Not that I am surprised, but it is impressive how well you know us all. Most men struggle to learn about one!" Melodyughed, and I rolled my eyes.
That was only because our group had always been friends, and all of them had been girls, except me. It had started off casual, but after grade seven, the girls started to change.
They all wanted to spend more time with me, and at first, it was just the three of us. Melody, Katie, and Anya, then I met Marley through Katie on their farm, and Anya introduced me to Vic.
Once we all hit grade nine, I ended up getting asked toe and help with things, but that was when I really started to get to know each of the girls. They all had sides that they showed the other girls, but they were all different when it was just us alone.
"I just paid attention to you all. You know, that was one of the main reasons why I picked you. You never asked me for anything, but then you did, and I couldn''t believe what wasing out of your mouth," I chuckled, and Melody closed her eyes and pressed herself into me, rubbing her head into my chest.
"I don''t need your help; they do. You need my help, all I need is your love, and you give me that whenever I ask for it. Things have gotten a lot moreplicated than I nned for, but ten is a good number. These girls all need you, and I know that you want to help them all grow," Melody exined, and I let out a long sigh.
We stayed quiet for the rest of the ride home, watching our shadows slowly get longer as we ran through the forest. It was strange to look down and see old roads and fields that once were farmed with massive trees sprouting out of them.
The world was slowly being changed around me into a green utopia, but I was starting to wonder if I was any better than the AI. Sure, I was trying to make a perfect world, but that would mean pushing out anyone that didn''t want to conform.
"Melody, what do you think about what I am doing with the people that don''t want to conform to our new way of living? You know, pushing them out and such?" I asked as we slowed down.
We had just reached the outside of Central City, but my barrier had finally been erected. Vines and roots weaved in between a ring of Great trees that surrounded the city, and I could see that the ceiling had started but had stopped.
"What is wrong with it? You are asking them to live peacefully, and they don''t want to. Some people are never going to change, so there is no point in keeping them around. I think that most people will change, even if they have to spend time outside for a while. I also think that in a month, people that survive are going to have different outlooks," Melody exined, and I nodded.
The massive wall of vines and roots untied and weaved apart, letting us in, but I felt like I was walking into a paradise. The whole ce was changed, and all marks of the old humanity had been removed.
"Wow! I did not expect this!" I eximed as I looked out over the fantastic sparkling forest top city.
All the buildings were gone, buried or overgrown; it didn''t matter, they were all gone, and the ce looked spectacr! This was like something out of a fairy tale or a light novel!
"Ya, we have been at work over here when we weren''t helping you. We also have people using the clones since they canmunicate with the trees more. Gaia and I have been directing people during the cleanup to remove all the old buildings. Now we have a pretty forest, but it''s notpletely done yet," Melody exined, and I kissed her cheek.
"Still looks great!" Iughed, and kissed her as Snowball stopped.
Chapter 104 What Is That Big Thing?!
The two of us jumped off the side as the other girls dismounted. The world around me was lit up with what seemed like fairy lights, and I could hardly believe it was once arge city.
"Firaga, and you will have to go ahead. We are going to store the clones, and then we will meet you back in the Great tree that was once your apartment," Melody told me as the big cats started to wander off.
"Sounds like a n. I will take Firaga to find her a ce to get set up, then I will go find Katie. I don''t know if I will make it home tonight, but we can all meet up in the morning," I said, and the girls nodded, and all jumped towards the nearest Great Tree.
That left Firaga and me.
"Are you ready to go pick a spot for your new home and shop?" I asked, turning to Firaga, and she nodded with a tired smile.
"Sure, but I will set up shop tomorrow. I can normally stay up for a day or two at a time, but today really took it out of me," Firagaughed as she walked over to my side.
"Then let me be the one to give you a lift this time," I said, picking her up into my arms.
"Sure, I won''t say no to that," Firaga said with a smile, and I grinned back as roots burst from my body.
The long roots flung us into the air, sucking back in as my wings simultaneously burst from my back. I had missed this feeling, but now I could really see the dramatic changes over thendscape.
? "I have memories of times when I fought with the Heroes, but I have never seen something like this. You don''t care what happens, as long as it happens the way you want. Some might see that as a fault, but I think that is what is going to bring this all to an end," Firaga told me as we weaved through the trees.
"That is true, but I don''t see another way of doing things. I can''t save everyone, and some refuse to take the offered help, even if ites with stiptions. I am not asking the world to bend a knee, only to stand shoulder to shoulder. I won''t force anyone to do anything, but I also won''t let peoplee in and hurt those that are protected by the forest," I said, and Firaga nodded.
"You have the power to tame the world, and I believe that you will seed. The question is whether or not we can stop the AI from running away?" Firaga asked as I flew past the hospital Great Tree, which was also Sofia''sboratory.
I could sense that Sofia, Orphus, Gaia, and Grayson were all in the tree, but everyone else had been relocated. I was interested in getting inside that tree and seeing what they were cooking up; that was basically our R&D department.
"If anyone can figure that out, it will be Sofia. She is over in that tree and is working on developing new technologies from my System. You should consider going to talk with her and share your ideas," I said, pointing to Sofia''s R&D Great Tree; that name had a better ring to it!
"Sure, but if that is the case, we should put my shop near or attached to it. That sounds like a ce I will spend a lot of time in. divided between my own shop, of course. I have some new abilities thanks to you and me having sex and my System Level increasing, and I am interested in trying them out," Firaga exined as I swooped down towards the R&D Great Tree.
"If we are going to stop them from leaving, we will need to get out to the Hiveship, but we don''t know where it is yet," I exined as wended, putting Firaga down.
"Some were outside of this''s atmosphere. It will be orbiting the at about sixty thousand miles, but it will be hidden," Firaga exined, and I nodded.
"That is a good start, but I am sure with Sofia''s help and other smart people, we can figure out how to find it. If it is in orbit, it should have to emit something to be able to keep it like that, or earth''s gravity would pull it in," I exined, and Sofia nodded.
"I don''t think you will be able to track it like that, but I understand what you mean. More people thinking about a problem get it solved faster," Firaga said, and I nodded.
"Okay! Let''s get you a nice ce built, but first! Picture the type of house that you want. Don''t worry about how crazy it is; just hold the image in your mind!" I exined, getting excited.
Firaga nodded and closed her eyes as I prepared to let the trees act on her behalf. I wondered just what kind of strange and fantastic building she would draw from her mind.
Slowly, a rectangr building grew from the ground, attaching itself to the R&D Great Tree with a walkway on the third floor of the block-like building. The building wasrge with big windows, but it was just a big block.
"Is this what you envisioned?" I asked, and Firaga opened her eyes to look at the building.
"Yes, but I will have to see the inside. There should be three floors with a small bedroom on the top floor. The connection to the Great Tree looks good as well! Thank you very much!" Firaga said, walking over to me.
"Not really what I was expecting, but I guess you probably like things to be efficient. At least you have lots of room, and if you need more, the building will expand and change at your will. Mr. Tree can even help you with things, plus you have full use of your clones if you need them," I exined, and Firaga gave me a hug that I returned.
"You are really a strange person, but I am d that I met you. I really hope that we can stop all this and prevent the other from getting away. If they leave, all the AI will be pulled from this," Firaga exined.
"That is another reason we need to get up there and disable the Hiveship. If we can bring it to the ground here on earth, it will never be able to leave again. We will all work as hard as we can to bring everyone together to work on this project. After that, it will just be a matter of seeking them out and collecting them," I exined, and we broke apart.
"I believe you, but I am sure you are starting to get tired as well," Firaga giggled, and I grinned with a shrug.
"Nothing that a good bath can''t take care of, but now I have to find Katie. Have a great sleep, and I will see you at some point tomorrow," I said and then kissed Firaga before jumping up into the air, pping my wings.
I climbed into the air, watching Firaga get smaller, smiling as I thought about just how far everything hade. In three days, my world had changed dramatically, and it was going to keep on changing, but it looked like I was going to get some breathing room for a while.
I tracked Katie and grinned when I sensed where she was as I glided around the trees. I could see the giant green dome ahead of me, and I knew that she was waiting down there for me.
I angled down to fly down to the ground where Katie was jumping and waving at me. When Inded, she ran over and jumped in my arms as my wings retracted, almost knocking me over.
"Did you really build this for me?! I have been watching it grow while I waited for you toe back, but when it was done, I felt like it was mine! What is this big thing?!" Katie eximed, and I kissed her.
"This is like a Ninja Ironman course that constantly changes. Think of it as a massive obstacle maze course! Let''s walk to the center to start off, and I can show you your house. Only you and I will ever be able to reach it, so other people can use the course. I figured you would like to be near something like this since you love to train so much," I exined, putting Katie down.
"Does this mean that you are finally going toe and take advantage of me? I need to be able to train with Marley, but she is so damn strong now! Not fair, I introduced you two!" Katie said in a mock pout, and I scooped her up with a grin.
"Why do you think we are going to look at the house first and not the course? Silly woman, but don''t ask me to put you in a wheelchair!" Iughed, and Katie giggled.
"Your right; wheelchairs are for lightweights! I wanna have to be wheeled out on a stretcher!" Kaite giggled, and I rolled my eyes.
"You women are all crazy, but I love each one of you. Now, let go, umm, check out your new bedroom. We can, you know, test out that bed and such," I joked, and Katie pointed forward.
"Shut up and take me home already!" Kaite ordered, and Iughed, jumping back into the air as my wings burst out again, and the green sphere opened up.
Chapter 105 Rub It
Katie looked around in amazement as we flew into the center of the massive twenty-story sphere that opened as I flew. The branches pull back at high speeds until we reach a small area at the core.
There was a small cute house that was in the very center sitting on a tform that was held up by massive roots. I set us down on the tform, just before the front food, setting down Katie as I did.
"So, What do you think of the ce? I figured with something this cool, you would want to be at the heart of it. I n on trying to make some movie theaters with this same design, but that is a me and Anya project," Iughed, and Katie hugged my arm before saying anything.
"This is pretty darn cool. I mean, just the cute little house in what looks like the center of the world! It kind of reminds me of the Discworld books I used to make you read to me about Rincewind!" Katieughed, pulling me down into a kiss.
"Do you want me to make the roots look like four elephants riding on the back of the great A''tuin?" I asked, making Katie giggle.
"Can you?!"
"Your wish is mymand!" Iughed, and the roots started to change themselves.
"Can we go look inside?" Katie asked.
"It''s your house, beautiful. You can do whatever you want with it," I exined, and she broke away from me.
"You know, my parents were always broke, but then when we started to get older, they magically started to do better. They had said someone hade and helped straighten things up, but that was when you started toe to visit, right?" Katie asked me, catching me by surprise.
Her parents had always been buying the best things that money could buy, but it had put them short of things that they actually needed. I had noticed that Katie had been wearing the same clothes a lot, so I talked to her parents in private.
After some convincing, they let me exin what they were doing wrong. They hadn''t wanted to listen to some sixteen-year-old that was always hanging around their daughter.
Eight yearster, they were doing great, and Katie always had whatever she wanted. She was a farm girl, so it mainly had been signing up for sports and the clothing to do them.
"I just pointed out what they were doing wrong, and they listened. Nothing more or less," I said with a smile, but Katie crossed her arms.
"Why did you do it? And not just for me, but for all of us! You have always been in the background, never asking for anything except for time with us. Why do you do it?" Katie asked, and I shrugged.
"I don''t have a good answer for you. I learned to make money at a young age, and once I figured it out, I didn''t know what to do with it. I never gave your parents money, but I have helped everyone''s parents. Why would I do that? They all treated me like family. It has always been nice being able to sit down and have family meals because all the money in the world won''t buy me the happiness I get from growing up with all of you," I said, wiping my eyes, and Katie uncrossed her arms toe over to me.
"I guess that makes sense. You were raised in an orphanage, right? I never really thought about how hard that must have been for you. You always seemed to have your life together, but I guess that''s just because you''re such a hard worker," Katie said as she hugged me, and I wrapped my arms around her.
"I just wanted to be able to have an easy life, and it was. Then all this happened, and now I have to save the world. The truth is that I am only doing this so I can return to a semnce of the way things were. That means I have to beat the pants off everyone one of the AI on this and take down their Hiveship," I said, and Katieughed at me.
"Do you really have to beat the pants off them? That sounds a bit aggressive and sexual!" Katie giggled but then made a squawking noise as I tickled her.
"You weren''t even listening to me!" I growled, and Katie broke away from me.
"I was, but that was funny! Now, show me this cute little house you built me, and then let''s have some fun!" Katie said as I walked forward to take the hand she offered me.
The two of us went inside, but the house didn''t have much in it other than workout equipment that filled the first floor. There was no need for kitchens or living rooms since we could have food grown from any part of the house and grow a sofa with a single thought.
"Yup, this is what I envisioned my dream house to look like! All workout equipment is on the first floor, but it''s missing a protein shake bar. Still, this is just what I wanted!" Katie eximed, hugging me again.
I waved my hand, and a bar-like area grew up with a blender made from wood and metal on the countertop.
"Yup, I know I have already told you I love you, but I must repeat it! I love you so much! Gah! A real frigging blender!" Katie eximed, and Iughed.
"You can think of whatever fruits you want, and then you can use soymilk, but you will have to look up what all is in protein powder. Once we figure that out, we can even get the tree to dispense that for you. Everything you need is just a thought away," Iughed, and Katie slid down the side of me until she was sitting on the ground, leaning on my leg.
"If I am dreaming, please don''t ever wake me up. I just want to stay in this ce forever. You created an amazing paradise for me to live in, and now I will hardly notice when you are gone and with the others!" Katie sighed as I reached down and picked her up into my arms.
Katie cuddled into my chest and looked up at me with a smile.
"Let''s go see the bedroom. I just did a random bed design since I didn''t think you would be that picky," I said as grass pushed me up the stairs, and Katie giggled.
"This part doesn''t matter, the first floor is what I cared about, but I am kind of interested to see what it looks like. I could see that there were a lot of windows from when we entered," Katie exined, and I nodded as we walked into the room.
The bed was in the center with four one-foot-thick bed posts with wooden vines and flowers carved into them. There was also sheer blue fabric that led from the top of each window to the bed to makeyers andyers of cloth hanging down.
"Wow, this ce is really cool looking with all the sheets like that. Almost looks like I am looking up at a blue flower," Katie said as I brought her over to the bed to lie down, and I crawled into the bed with her.
"Oh wow! I really underestimated this bed!" I said as I felt myself sink into the bed beside Katie, who turned to me.
"You have had a really long day. You should let me rub your back for you; I am sure that you have more than one or two kinks in there," Katie said, pushing me to roll over.
I sighed and did as I was told, rolling over, making my shirt absorb into my body. Katie climbed on top of me and started to dig her thumbs into my shoulders and back, making me groan in pleasure.
This wasn''t sex, but it felt so good that I was having a hard time telling if the sex would have been better. Still, she was kidding when Katie said that I had had a long day, but it was over now.
"Close your eyes for a bit, and I will wake you up after. Once you get back up, we can have some fun, but it would be better if you had more energy," Katie giggled as she leaned down and kissed my back as she continued to rub it.
"Thank you. I needed this more than I knew, and your fingers are feeling great. If I fall asleep, I am probably going to be asleep till morning," I chuckled.
"I don''t think that you heard me properly. I said that I would let you sleep for a bit, and then you are going to the regeneration pool! Just because I am kind enough to let you rest doesn''t mean I am going to wait all night long!" Katie dered, and Iughed as I closed my eyes.
Chapter 106 My Legs Wont Stop Shaking!
I woke up to the warmth of a mouth wrapped around cock that was now rock hard. I opened up my eyes to find Katie sucking me off while starting up at me.
She pulled her head up and let it fall out of her mouth as she looked up at me with a grin, starting to climb up and mount me.
"About time that you woke up. My lips were going numb from trying to suck you awake! I checked out the maze, but I can''t jump around like all you can, so I came back here to wake you up! You just need a soak after this, right?" Katie asked as I sat up to take her into my arms.
This was a bit of a shock, but I could think of a hundred ways that were worse than this, and I had just woken up!
Katie was naked already, and I could feel how wet she already was. She rubbed her hips into me and draped her arms around my shoulders.
"Yes, I will just need a soak after this, and we can start having some fun like I promised," I said, and we both leaned into a kiss.
I reached my hands under Katie''s ass and lifted her hips up as she reached down to guide my hard cock into her wet and waiting pussy. Once my tip was, I let her hips drop down, and Katie moaned into my mouth as I gripped her waist.
I slid my arms up and under Katie''s to grip her shoulders, pulling her back to break our kiss. Katie breathed heavily, but small moans started to escape her as I bounced her up and down on my hips.
Leaning forward, Iid Katie on the bed as I started to kiss her neck, still holding on to her shoulders. Katie dragged her nails down my back as I filled her pussy full of my cock, my excitement reaching its crescendo.
"Oh, fuck me!" Katie cried out as she shook, and I mmed my cock deep inside of her, filling her full of my System Batter.
The menu came up immediately, and I confirmed the activation as I looked over Katie''s new System.
[Elven Game Master]
I pulled my rod as Katie''s body underwent some minor changes, just skin, ears, and hair. There was a bit of cum that looked like it was about to leak out, but it was sucked back up inside of her, making me grin.
"Wow, that was short but good! And now I got the green skin, but what the fuck is a Game Master? I thought I would have been a Warrior like Marley!" Katieined, and Iughed.
You can create things like this in the future and set up other things for us to train in! This is pretty much the best possible oue for you. From what I have read so far, you will be able to create, summon and build things like weapons, buildings, and NPCs; that one is really cool, and I want to know more about it! I think this is really cool! You can make any mission that you want!" I exined, and Katie slowly started to understand.
"This sounds like I am ying Dungeons and Dragons, but outside of a basement!" Katieughed, and I rolled my eyes.
"Anyway, you should be able to do some pretty crazy stuff, and ces like this one will act and react on behalf of your will. You can also control the mazes, so I suggest that you get used to using any and all advantages that you can get for yourself," I exined and then kissed Katie, who returned them with passion, wrapping her arms around my neck as the house started to lift on mymand.
"Hey! What is going on with the house?!" Katie asked as she broke the kiss to watch out the window as I lifted the house up to the top of the giant sphere.
"We are going for that bath. I need a good soak, and I would like to see what it looks like from on top of the thing! This is the biggest structure I have built yet, so we should be able to see all over the forest from up here," I exined as the two of us got out of bed.
I gave myself shorts and Katie a nighty as she dragged me down the house''s stairs and back outside. Once we were out there, we both looked up as the green vines, and tan roots unwove to let us rise higher.
Looking forward, I could see some of the levels that were filled with trap-like challenges. Some of those would only be able to bepleted by the girls with systems or people using the elf clones.
"This ce is really intense, and you said that it is also changing all the time! I am never going to be able to leave a ce like this! Every day is going to be a new challenge!" Katieughed as she turned to me, grabbing one of my forearms.
"You can''t hide in here all the time! Once you better control the maze, I want you to incorporate this into the rest of the forest as it grows. It will be better to stop the Viins without even having to fight them," I exined as the house continued to rise.
We still had at least five more minutes before we reached the top.
Not really the most efficient way to get up, but I wanted to show Katie how it worked, so she could do it for herself whenever she wanted. She could also have it rise up as she woke up, and by the time she was downstairs for her morning workout, Kaite would have the morning light and breeze waiting for her.
"I will try my best to help! I want to be done with all this Viin stuff and just rx. If we can make the forest into a giant trap, then we can whittle them down, but what if they try to bombard us?" Katie asked, and I nodded thoughtfully.
"That will be hard to deal with, but I just need to use Firaga''s power more with this body," I exined, but Katie frowned at me.
"What do you mean, "this" body? Is this not your real body?! Did I just suck and fuck a nt?!" Kaite eximed in shock, and I burst outughing.
"No, this is the real me; I am just using some of the clones right now to set some things up. Sorry, since we started using the clones, I have a second copy of myself going almost constantly, even when I am asleep. I just have to instill my will into it, and it will keep working until nothing is left to do. That''s how I got all this up so fast; I had two clones that I instructed on what I wanted, and Mr. Tree helped with the finer points, or I was asked to lend my attention if they ran out of things that they could do," I exined, and Katie still looked shocked, just in a different way now.
"What do you have them doing right now? Katie asked as we were nearing the top.
"Working on two projects right now. One is a movie theater of sorts, and the other is the next generation of gaming. I am working on some stadiums and getting clones ready to go. I still need to talk to Chelsea about the idea for the gaming, and Anya and I still haven''t figured out how to record the movies, but she is working on it," I exined as the roof opened up to the vast clear night sky.
My words were lost on Katie as she ran over to my side totch on to me. She had wandered away as we went up, but now we were over one hundred fifty feet in the air.
"Waa! This is really high! Damn! I like this, but my legs won''t stop shaking!" Katie said with a voice that matched her legs, but she was grinning.
"If it makes you feel any better, if you fall anywhere in the forest, from any height, the forest will catch you every time," I exined, but Katie shook her head.
"I think I will stay close to you until we are at least in the pool! I think I will feel better after there is less of me sticking out for the wind to catch and rip off the top of this thing!" Katie said with a weakugh as we walked over to a round pool about thirty feet wide.
"Sounds good. Once we spend some time here, we will fly down the bottom, and then we will have a race to see who can get to the top first! I am almost as excited as you are to try this all out! I just showed that I didn''t make it too hard or dangerous. You can always adjust things as we go, and I will do the same, but we do want it to be hard, just not so much that someone dies!" I exined as we stepped into the water.
"Yeah, I agree. Some of the stuff I saw looked like it was pulling no punches! I am sure it would be worse than I can imagine, but I can''t help but get excited about it! This is going to be a real challenge to finish! I am just going to be impressed if either one of us can finish this. I personally think we are going to have to be carried out!" Katieughed, and I couldn''t disagree with her.
Chapter 107 No Idea What I Am Doing
"So, from what I can see from this screen, I can summon armor and weapons to help myself," Katie said as she swiped at the screen that I had sent over to her.
"Yes, and you will not be affected by any traps that are inside, but you will still have to fight the monsters. We will be running down the same path, but rooms that we enter that have the monster clones will be separate," I exined, pulling up a map screen that gave a full three-dimensional view of the Challengers Dome dubbed by Katie.
The map was only something we could see, so I could freely move it with my hands and mind. I set the image on the water''s surface and expanded it to show a room with some green Orcs.
"Wait, there are monsters?! How does that even work?!" Katie eximed as she closed her screen to focus on the massive hairless men with tusks protruding from their mouths.
"These are Melody and Sofia''s creations. Can sense them all working right now on other areas that aren''t ready. This will be a good ce for us to train for the fighting that is sure toe, so I want to get everyone working on it. Right now, we only have basic monsters like this, and we have a Dragon as well, but it can''t fly or breathe fire, so it''s a bit anticlimactic," I exined, and Katie nodded.
"We should try to get people that can help with this kind of thing. I am sure that you can use the tree inte system to find people that design fighting AI. If you can get them working with the others, that might help speed things along," Katie exined, and I nodded.
"That is a good idea. There are a lot of different types of people we are going to need going forward. There is no reason for us to keep doing everything ourselves. I asked the girls to do it before, so I will just add a couple more things for them to call out for," I replied, but Katie shrugged.
"You should just ask people who are best at something to help. I mean, you can ask for specific things, but you never know what you need sometimes until it''s staring you in the face," Katie suggested.
"That sounds like a shopaholic mantra, but I can see what you mean. Maybe you should help them with the announcement," I suggested, and Katie shrugged.
"Sure, but I will just be there to give suggestions. I don''t like getting up on stage like that. I would sooner be proving myself, so I can ignore the crowd," Katie said and then asked, "Do you think that people are going to want to watch? Will they even be able to?"
"That is something I think wille once Anya and I figure out the project we started brainstorming for. We are trying to let people record memories that they have while reading books. Then I want to create arge round theater that has a three hundred and sixty-degree view around a single stage that would disy the memories like movies in Three-D," I exined.
"Ah, I see, but your problem is storing the memories? What about the extra thoughts that people have? Or if their thoughts wander?" Katie asked, and I gave her a kiss.
"Didn''t think about that, making it a lot harder. Maybe Anya is the best choice for thest System. I don''t need to give Victoria a System since I can just enhance her body to the point where she has full control of nts. Chelsea might be a good idea, but she already has one. If we can work on this for a while, I can give her thest System with Sofia''s help, and she could be the missing link for the project," I said, and Katie nodded.
"That does sound like a solid n, but is entertainment really that important? Don''t get me wrong, I think it is a good idea, but shouldn''t you be trying to get more offensive Systems?" Katie asked, but I shook my head.
"We have tons of firepower; we just need to train it. Firaga has more systems that we can put in clones, but we will be running some through her Gacha system. I wanna see what she can put in a clone after seeing the weapon she made for Marley. One day this will be all over, and we aren''t going to need the offensive Systems. At this point, I would prefer to get systems that will help us to make the world more interesting. The Viins are just zits that need to be popped once we knock the Hiveship out of the sky," I exined.
"I guess that makes sense, but don''t you think you are getting too overconfident? It is still pretty early for you to be judging this AI race. We have no clue what they are doing now, right?" Katie asked, and I shrugged.
"Maybe, but I really don''t think the AI has a snowball''s chance in hell with the way that we keep going. I can feel that I am getting close to another Growth Spurt soon, and I don''t n on stopping. We will take our world back, and then it will be ours. After that is done, I want to be able to enjoy cool things more than I want to fight," I said, standing up from the water.
"As long as you know what you are doing, I guess it''s fine," Katie sighed, but Iughed.
"I have no idea what I am doing! I am just doing what I think is right. Once we are done here, I will probably start looking like the viin when I head over to the other continents. They are not going to like having to follow my new rules. Still, I am not leaving the rest of the world to suffer because people don''t want to get along," I said as green shorts and a ck t-shirt covered my body.
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 108 Tear-Jerker
"Well, that is not really what I would call reassuring. You should get a n in ce to deal with them all," Kaite told me like I didn''t already know that and then stuck her arms out to the side. "Give me a red Skort and a sports bra with a yellow top!"
I dragged my hand down Katie''s chest to create a bra and tight yellow top. Then I pped her ass, and a red skirt with shorts appeared over her hips as her ass still shook.
"Hey!" Katie growled, but I scooped her up and ran to the edge.
Katie screamed as I leaped far off the side of the dome, clearing the farthest reach of the dome''s edge, and started to fall. I rolled, so my back faced the ground as Katie clung to me, still screaming her head off.
Roots burst from me, and I could sense the grass shooting up as we sunk into it, cushioning us before we ever got close to touching the ground. I was pushed back upright, and Katie jumped from my arms andnded like a cat as she panted.
"What the hell is wrong with you?! I should beat your ass for that stunt! God! You are lucky that you have so many other good redeeming points!" Katie yelled at me, and Iughed.
"I am just showing you how it works. You are safe within the forest, so you can get used to using it to your advantage," I said and then had the grass toss me into the air, and I did a flip,nding beside her.
"Making me fall one hundred and fifty feet is not what I needed! I am going to make sure that all the traps are worse! Are you ready for this?!" Katie dered, and I nodded.
"Sure, let''s go over to the entrance," I said, pointing to a massive thirty good tall gray arch.
It was made from roots, but there were many entrances inside the area of the arch. There were five floors of doorways with five to eight doors per level.
"What is with all the doors?" Katia asked.
As she did, one of Sofia''s clones grew from the ground.
"Each of them is different difficulties; the lower floors are more for the regr folk and are considered safe. You should start on the third floor, but not past the first door. You should get used to your powers before diving into the hard stuff," Sofia exined and then looked at me. "Papi, can you swing by at some point today? There are a number of things that we need to talk about before we make our announcement."
"Yeah, I will stop by in the afternoon. I need to go see Anya after, and I will be busy there for a while, then I cane after that," I exined, and Sofia nodded, sinking back into the ground.
"Woah! Sofia is already really good at controlling her abilities!" Katie eximed, and I nodded.
"Yes, she was the first girl to get special abilities from my System, so she is good with what she does. Gaia has also been at her side almost constantly herself, or with a clone to help her with anything she needed," I exined.
"How do you know all of that? You have been running around constantly, so how would you have time to check up on all this stuff?" Katie asked, and I grinned.
"I guess it is kind of strange, but the trees tell everything in feelings almost constantly. Melody is on her monster farm, which has real copies of the creatures that she likes. She is sleeping next to a red dragon right now. Marley is working out right now in my Great Tree where Amy is filling my room bursting with clothing," I exined, and Katie''s eyes got huge.
"What?! You can just see us whenever you want?!" Katie asked in shock, but I shook my head.
"I can''t see you guys; the trees just give me descriptions of what you are doing. I can see the mental images from what I assume must be happening from the description. I guess you could say that I see you, but not the way that you think," I exined, and Katie sighed.
That is good; not like I really care, but it would be weird if you could just spy on us like that. I wouldn''t want you to look in on me when I am trying to take a tear-jerker turd! Protein can really hit you in a bad way sometimes, and if I have to make my own, I might have some rough batches!" Katie giggled, and I burst outughing.
"That is true, but now I have the mental image of you bracing the stall walls on the toilet with tears pouring down your face trying to go Super Saiyan!" I said,ughing harder.
"No! Now I can see my hair getting long and spikey as a coiler leaks out! What the hell is wrong with us?!" Katieughed, gasping.
"Gah! That was funny! Okay! We got this, I think! Let''s collect ourselves and go try the first door on the fourth level!" I cheered, stillughing.
"Wait! Sofia said the third floor! Why are we going to the fourth?!" Katie asked as we walked into the massive arch, and a staircase started to form for us to walk up.
"That was just a suggestion," I said.
"That sounded more likemon sense!" Katie yelled but still followed.
"You will be fine, and the ce can''t be worse than the Viins that I have already fought. I really just want to see how turned up this ce is! Come on! You know you like a challenge, right?" I taunted her, and Katie growled.
"It''s supposed to be me dragging you into unreasonable situations and challenges!" Katie exined as we reached the fourth level.
"Call it karmic retribution. Regardless, it is time to test out your new backyard!" I said and opened the first door of the fourth level.
Chapter 109 Tree-Bito!
Inside the door was a long corridor with tforms and roiling vines. Each tform was twenty feet square and spaced apart with ten to thirty-foot gaps.
"Woah! This ce is wild! But this doesn''t look very hard!" Katie eximed as she walked forward, but as she did, creatures started to grow up from each of the tforms.
"Don''t talk too quickly. It looks like this is going to be more of a challenge than it looks," I said as I stretched my arms out to the side.
Katana''s grew from my hands, and roots wrapped around my body like armor. A helmet spun to cover my face, only leaving one eye revealed, the other eye showing a more detailed disy of my surroundings.
"What is this costume? Are we going to fight? You look like you''re going to an anime convention!" Katieughed as I created a ck robe with red clouds and then red the cor.
"What will I gain from criticizing this absurd reality?" I quoted, clenching my fist in front of myself dramatically, and Kaite groaned.
"Just get up there and show me how it''s done! PS, I don''t think that he used katanas!" Katieughed, and I gave her the thumbs up, sucking the katana''s back into my hands.
You are right! I need a guitar that I don''t know how to y!" I dered and pulled a replica of the one the Obito Uchiha used, but it seemed more like a cardboard cut out of a guitar.
"That is a fan, you moron! You are not a ninja! Nor can you use chakra!" Katieined, but I barked out a viinousugh.
"Bwahaha! I will bring the world under my control with my brown eye in the sky! You must defeat me to prevent this, Karuto!" I dered.
"Why are you suddenly acting like a five-year-old?!" Katie eximed, and Iughed again, this time striking a Jojo pose, crossing my arms, and leaning back on the air.
"I see. You are too scared to face the full force of my might! Haha!" Iughed, mocking Katie, who red at me.
"Fine! You want to y the bad guy? I will do your job and show you how a real Hero does it!" Katie growled, and she reached her hand up as a short sword with a ruby on the hilt.
The rest of Katie''s body was covered in a cute set of red and white armor that had tassels streaming from behind her. She looked pretty with her green hair and skin under the armor, and she turned to me with a grin as a shield appeared in her hand.
"Well, don''t you just look like a cute little Hero?" I said, and Katie turned up her nose at me.
"I am going to kick your ass all over this course! You have just better be watching your own back out there!" Katie dered and then hopped up to the first tform, rushing the Goblin on it.
I watched as Katie blocked its sh with her shield and then shed through the body like paper. The two halves of the Goblin were absorbed back into the tform, and Katie turned back to look at me.
"Are you just going to watch me, Tree-bito?" Katieughed, pointing her finger at me.
I was grinning, but she couldn''t see it under my mask. I wanted to let her get a head start, so I didn''t seem too shy.
"Ho Ho Ho! Let me show you how it is done!" I called and leaped into the air, cardboard cut out in my hand.
Before I could even hit the ground, a root pped out at me from the wall, and I used my fan to deflect the strike over my head, making my body spin. Roots shot out, grabbing the tform,unching me at the Goblin I was facing.
I spun with the fan and split the creature in half from shoulder to shoulder. My rootsunched me into the air as roots from the wall swung where I had just been, but more wereing.
My roots shot to the next tform where there was an Orc weighting, but I was fighting off the wall roots even as Inded. I flipped back but was hit with a club from my blind side by the Orc.
I tumbled but was thrown back to my feet, trying to bring my fan back around, but a root smashed into my stomach from the wall. I was sent out over the tform''s edge, and my wing burst from my back as my roots tried to grab the edge.
Then, vines shot up and ripped me out of the air, and I was sucked down into the roiling mess of them until I was spat back out at the start of the room. My wings retracted, then my roots slowly pulled back into my body as Iy there.
"Wow, those roots do not like you! Almost like they are getting some payback for all that shit talking you were just doing!" Katieughed from the third tform that she sat on with five Goblins.
"How do you have them all sitting with you?! You are still supposed to have to fight the monsters!" Iined as I slowly got up and sucked the fan back inside of myself.
"I leveled up, and now I can control low-level monsters and direct them. They are gonna go over and help your five now. Orcs are still too strong, but I am sure I will get there! I will get experience if my monsters can defeat you, or even if a random monster like the Orc beats you! You gave me this ce, so it''s my monsters, and it''s my experience, you crappy viin!" Katieughed, but I was fired up now.
"Yeah, I would make a crappy Viin, but I am also a crap Hero. What I am good at is winning, so enough messing around!" I said, katanas growing from my hands, and my blood was starting to pump.
Chapter 110 Larva Stage
Iunched at the first tform, and the roots were on me, but I cut through them like they were paper, and I spun like a drill. Inded, and my roots assisted my spring forward at the Goblin that had reappeared, and I shed through it.
Launching forward to the next tform, more wall roots dove at me, and I spun, shing the roots that attacked in a barrage. I skidded onto the next tform, rolled, andunched my body at the Orc with a cross sh.
I jumped up, but a root grabbed my foot, and I had to spin down to cut myself free, slicing other roots at the same time. I dropped back down, but Iunched back off the tform andnded on the next that was now filled with Goblins that all had knives and clubs.
Imanded my roots to fight the wall roots as I ran at the goblins as the first jumped up and cut it in half. More of the little green bastards went for my legs, and I spun to slice them apart, my roots assisting me while deflecting roots that I also had to cut.
Soon, all the Goblins were dead, but the vines kepting. I was already feeling gassed as I had to jump and sh the roots that assaulted me from the walls.
I tried to jump to the next tform, but the roots from the walls suddenly got thicker. I tried to cut them, but I couldn''t make it through, and it grew back around my weapon.
I was pulled back into the middle before I could react, and the vines were waiting for me. Spinning, I sliced the vines, letting go of my stuck de, but the vines grew back just as fast.
Again, I was ripped out of the air and into the mess of vines, only to be spat out back at the start. I groaned as Katie hopped down to join me at the start.
"So, that looked painful but pretty cool to watch!" Katieughed, and I rolled on my face.
"Those wall roots are relentless!" I mumbled with my face pressed to the ground.
I had just got my ass handed to me on a silver tter, and I was feeling a bit sore about it. I had made this damn thing, but this wasn''t even the most challenging level, and it mopped the floor with me like I was nothing.
"You know, if you would just listen, you would not be lying face down. The floors only get harder as you progress," Sofia said as she grew out of the ground and sat down in front of me with a smoke between her fingers.
"Yeah, I get it, but I never imagined it would be something like this! I am going to have to be a god to be able to fight with the walls going ham on me!" Iined as Katie came over and mounted me, sitting down on my back.
"That is because you don''t know how to listen! I tried to warn you, but I have to say that you did pretty good, considering what you faced. I am d I didn''t have to deal with the roots, or I wouldn''t have even made it to the first tform!" Katieughed but then squeaked as my roots lifted her off my back, and I got up.
"Alright, I get it, but I think that is enough for me for now. I had to fight much harder just now than when I fought the Viins in a new body!" I said as my roots sucked back inside of me.
"That is the way it is supposed to be. I also sealed off the top floor since you can''t evenplete the first room of the first door on the fourth level. The top-level could be considered deadly to pretty much everyone, including you, at this point. The point is to have a ce for us to train, right? I wanted to make sure that it could handle when you and the rest of us got stronger. I think that we are still in therva stages of our powers," Sofia exined as Katie came over and hugged my arm.
"I still had a lot of fun, and having my house at the center of all this is pretty unbelievable. If you had just tried to tell me all this, I wouldn''t have been able to understand this, nor would I have believed you. From the outside, it looks like just a massive dome, which is cool, but inside here is like something out of a fantasy," Katie said as she looked around the long room, still holding my arm.
I turned and looked at the tforms and the roiling vines below and smiled. I might not be able to handle this yet, but I would get to a point where I would be able to do this with ease.
"This was a good reality check for me. I had cut through the Viins like there was nothingpared to this. It just shows that I have a lot of room left to grow from here," I said, and Sofia nodded.
"We are still learning things about your abilities. You have hardly scratched all the other abilities that you have at your disposal because of us girls. The more you use them and learn to use them in different ways, the more you will grow and get stronger," Sofia exined and then sunk into the ground.
Kaite and I walked back through the door and started down the stairs, both of us looking up and around the massive half-oval room.
"If this is only the beginning, I wonder what the end will look like?" Katie asked, and Iughed.
"Who said there has to be an end? I don''t ever want to stop finding new ways to grow and have fun! At the rate we are going, there will hardly be anything outside of our grasp!" Iughed as we continued down the stairs.
Chapter 111 League Of Loser
Katie walked down to the bottom of the stairs with me but stopped at the bottom. She pulled on my arm into a kiss, and I ced my other hand on her cheek as our lips pressed together.
"I will stay here and try out the third level. I had a small taste of this ce, and now I want some more!" Katie said with a smile, and I kissed her again.
"Sure, I will see Anya after I find a pool to soak in. I could probably make one anywhere, but I feel homesick. I should go and check to see how Chelsea is doing with Kitsune and see if I can even get into my room," Iughed, and Katie gave me a strange look.
"Why won''t you be able to get into your room?" Katie asked as she pulled away from me.
"Because Amy has been going hog wild with her Seamstress abilities. My room is filled with mannequins covered inyers of dresses right now," I said with a sigh, getting a mental image from the trees.
"Really? I will have to stop by to get her to make me some cute clothing! I forgot that she could do that!" Katieughed as she turned to start walking up a set of stairs that formed under her feet.
I watched her walk up to the third level and then enter the first door before I turned and left. The Challenger Dome turned out much better than I had thought it would, but this was the culmination of more than just one person''s efforts.
I reached up towards a tree, and roots exploded from my hand, shooting up totch high up. I sucked the root back in, ripping my off the ground, and then stuck my other hand out to another tree.
More roots burst forward to grab the next tree, and I started to swing through the forest like spiderman. I had always wondered what Peter Parker actually felt like when he was swinging through the air, but this was amazing.
It was like jumping from one rope swing to the next; the motion of the swing down, then pull going up again, and the weightless. I started to spin and flip from each swing, shouting out in joy each time.
I must have looked ridiculous, but I hardly cared with the amount of fun that I was having. What was the point of having all this power and not using it the way I wanted to?
I neared my tree and got between it and another, shooting roots up high on each, letting myself drop down. Once I sunk down, Iunched myself straight up, and wings burst from my back as Iunched up in the air.
I rocket most of the way up my Great Tree, weaving around a walkway, and then flew the rest of the way. When I got up to the top, I was surprised to see Chelsea and Amy both in the water, with Kitsune lying on the edge of the pool.
"Dan! You are home early!" Amy called to me as Inded on the far side of the pool, retracting my wings and clothes.
"Yeah, I was trying out the new Challenger Dome I created with Katie. I ended up getting my ass whooped fast, so I decided to give it up for today. I wanted toe and see how you are both doing," I said as I sunk into the pool.
"I, umm, have, umm¡." Amy stuttered, looking away from me, and Iughed.
"Oh, don''t worry, I know you have been filling our room to bursting with faceless clones. I had thought that they were just regr mannequins, but now I can sense that you are using clones," I chuckled, and Amy looked at me with a worried look.
"Is that okay? They are really much different from mannequins, right? Sofia said it would be fine, and then I could see how the girls would move, and I could make their clothes fit better! You should see some of the stuff that I have made!"
"Yes, that is a pretty good idea for using them; we can also use them to test the clothing out," I said and then turned to Chelsea, who had remained silent. "I have some ideas for a game arena. I have one being built right now."
"Really?! This fast?!" Chelsea eximed, and I nodded.
"Yup, there will only be two game types so far, but I think that we can tweak each to have quite a few different game modes. The setup for the ce is a bit strange, but I thought this would be the best way so we could have tons of things going," I exined, wading over to where Chelsea was sitting in the water.
I ced my hand over the edge of the dry wood and lifted it up, creating a mini version of what was being created at the moment. Chelsea''s eyes lit up when she saw the massive arena in the center that was surrounded by seating that ran up over four stories in the air.
"Woah! This is crazy! There are seats like a mountain running all the way around! What is on the inside ring?! The outside is pretty obvious, I am pretty sure that I see NukeTown down there, but the center is strange¡ wait! No way! How are you going to pull off League of Losers?!" Chelsea eximed, and Iughed.
"Don''t call it that! I love the game but am horrible at it! This is something that I had always wanted to do with VR, and after talking about it with you, it stuck in my head, but you are right. How do we get the yers to make the special moves? A good number of the characters'' moves can be mimicked with the powers I can put into the clones. Still, the more magical abilities like Ahri, Zoe, Soraka, and Zoe''s powers aren''t something that can just be copied," I exined, and Chelsea nodded along.
Chapter 112 Giving Me The Chills!
"So, I assume you have figured a way around it?" Chelsea asked, and I nodded but put my hand up to wiggle it.
"Mostly. It''s not like I can give the exact same abilities, but we are working on some different ideas. Sofia already has Firaga in the R&D Great Tree putting the remaining Systems that we collected in clones. As it stands, we only have fire abilities, but we have a chance to roll a Gacha system for different Systems. The problem with that is that we don''t have enough to use them since we have just over twenty left, and it takes ten per Gacha roll," I exined, and Chelsea nodded.
"I see, but I am sure that there are more than enough that you can copy just using your abilities, right? There are a ton of physical characters and some of the abilities you will just have to get creative with. Look at Zoe; you can have her sink into the ground when she portals and have her slingshot attack just be a massive seed that the trees help her throw," Chelsea exined, and I grinned at her.
"You know, you seem to know a lot about this game! I thought that this was just for losers?!" I asked,ughing, and Chelsea tipped her nose up and flipped her hair back dramatically
"I am a challenger ranked Mid main with Akali and Yasou! The game is for rage quitting losers unless you are actually good at it like me!" Chelseaughed like the protagonist in an anime, pressing the tips of her fingers down on her forehead.
"Well, we will see how you do at these games when you are the actual yer and not just a keyboard warrior!" I taunted, and Chelsea sshed me.
"You did not just call me a Keyboard Warrior! You had better watch out! The moment that stadium is built, you and I are gonna one-v-one! I will show you that I am the Queen of Darkness, no matter what game I y!" Chelsea shouted, standing up in front of me, disying her beautiful naked body.
She hadrge breasts, round hips, and a nice waistline that wasn''t too thin and matched the rest of her body. Chelsea was stunning to look at, but it was clear that she had not intentionally meant to sh me as her face turned scarlet red.
Luckily, Amy came over and created a red dress that covered her body from my lecherous eyes, sadly.
"You know, you don''t have to stare that hard!" Chelsea said, turning away while still trying to cover her breast that was covered by cloth.
"Sorry! I just hadn''t seen you with clothes off, and I thought that you were interested in me, right?" I asked, and Chelsea looked away from me, still blushing.
"I never said that I wanted to; I just asked what you would do if I did," Chelsea mumbled, flicking her lip with one finger.
"That''s fine, no rush or even need to. Ipletely understand if you don''t want to be part of Melody''s menagerie. That doesn''t mean that we still can''t hang out and do the things that I suggested," I exined, but Chelsea looked back at me.
"That''s not it! I do like you, but I have never been with a guy, and I am not ready for anything like that! I am still trying to get over what I did before," Chelsea said, her voice getting quieter.
I reached forward and pulled Chelsea into a hug, and Amy came over and joined us. I didn''t want to push anyone, and it was kind of a relief to have a girl that actually wanted to take her time with things.
"Well, whenever you want to get out of the house, let me know, and I will find something interesting for us to do. I think that we will have another two days before either set of areas are ready to go, but that isn''t the only thing that we are working on," I exined as Amy and I let go of Chelsea.
I had more of these projects going all over the city, but they were all moving pretty slowly since I had to give the other girls a chance to make adjustments as they were built. There was no point in trying to rush things now that we seemed to have some time on our hands.
It wasn''t like I knew exactly how long they were going to wait, but I assumed that I would have at least a week. In that time, I wanted to create as many cool things as possible because I was sure that it was the best way for me to increase my level to get another Growth Spurt.
"Come and get me when the shooter arena is finished. I am really excited to try them out. Just seeing the NukeTown map is giving me the chills!" Chelsea said, and I nodded, turning to Amy.
"So, since you have been a busy bee, would you like to show me what you have been working on? I know that you must have some new interesting things that you have been itching to tell me about, right?" I asked, and Amy nodded with a smile.
"I wanted to let you have a chance to talk with Chelsea first since the two of you haven''t spent that much time together. I do have a number of interesting things that I havee up with, and I am starting to be able to create more than just clothing," Amy said, and I nodded with a grin, feeling excited.
"That sounds like fun! Now I am pumped to see!" I said and then turned to Chelsea. "Do you want toe and look at us? Maybe we can use some of the stuff for the games?"
"Sure, not like I am really doing anything other thanzing around and cuddling with Kitsune. This is better than feeling sorry for me," Chelsea chuckled, and I took the girls under each arm.
Chapter 113 Hooker Shoes
The three of us head down to my mansion''s second floor, with Kitsune beside us. We took a right and headed down to where my room was, but Amy pulled away from me and blocked our path.
"Umm, the room is a pretty big mess, sorry!" Amy said, wincing as she did.
"I am sure that it isn''t that bad!" Iughed, and Amyughed as well, but hers was forced, and she looked off to the side with a panicked look.
I walked around her, and the door for my room spun open, and I just stood there in shock.
There were clothes everywhere.
They were on the mannequins, on top of them, beside them, hanging on racks, over and underneath them. They were on the floor, the bed, sticking out of dressers, hanging from the bed''s canopy, in piles in the corner stacked taller than me, and in every other conceivable ce I couldy eyes on.
A few paths had no clothing, but they were lined with clones of the girls who suddenly started to move. They looked to be attempting to clean up, but there were so many articles of clothing lying around that there was no ce to put them.
"Holy shit! Looks like Louis Vuitton, Gi, and Prada all exploded in here! It''s like a massive war between the best designers in the world was fought here!" Chelsea eximed, but then she squealed when she saw a mannequin that looked like her.
"That is one of the special dresses that I made for you. It will stretch with you when you change your form. I thought it was silly, so I didn''t say anything about it. I also didn''t want to bring up your powers, but I have some things that can help you," Amy said shyly from my side after she wrapped her arms around my one arm.
"What?! No freakin way! Do you mean to tell me I can wear this adorable pink dress in my Godzi form?! Oh my fucking god! That is the coolest skin ever! Gah! Dan, can you take me somewhere to test this out?! I feel like I am going to die if I can''t!" Chelsea eximed as she wrestled the dress of her clone that was resisting being stripped naked.
"I can make you a new one! If you take that clone''s dress, you will show yourself off naked!" Amy warned, and Chelsea froze with the dress halfway over her clone''s head.
Chelsea helped her clone put the dress back on and then apologized to it, which was cute to see. Once that was over, Chelsea came back over and stood in front of Amy with her arms behind her back.
"Dress, please, but can you make it like neon pink? I want it to stand out!" Chelsea dered, and Amy nodded, but I was probing the room.
Amy let go of me to change Chelsea''s dress, and I walked over to a spot in the wall and waved my hand. The wall opened up, and I blinked at what was hidden behind it.
I had felt like there was more to the room than I could see, and this was the ce that felt bigger. The other side of the wall was covered in lines of shelves that were covered in shoes of all different kinds.
There were also dressers ced edge to edge at the ground level, and I could see some of the drawers opened. They were filled with beautiful woven jewelry that had all different kinds of gemstones in them.
"This looks like you have more than just started to make other things! Holy flying cow, that is a lot of shoes!" I eximed as I looked at everything Amy had created.
"More like you just opened the door to Shangri La! Did I just die and go to heaven?! Girl?! Why are you holding out on me like this?!" Chelseained as she ran over to the clean room and spun around in her new hot pink dress.
"Sorry, I have kind of been going crazy because it''s so easy, and I keep getting new abilities! I was worried I would get in trouble for the massive mess I made," Amy exined shyly, and Iughed.
"Well, you have indeed made a huge mess, but we can just move our bed to another room. I will expand this one to have more floors and room for all your clothing. I will even make you a rotating racks to put things away better. You have done amazing, so stop worrying about a little thing like a mess. Even if it looks like the apocalypse only hit our bedroom," I chuckled, and Amy looked up at me with puffed-out cheeks, looking adorable.
I leaned down and kissed her slowly, and she melted into me briefly. The kiss was short-lived, and Amy pushed away from me red-faced, trying not to look at Chelsea, who was grinning.
"Don''t stop on my ount; I was just about to get popcorn! That was a pretty cute moment, but now I want to know about these shoes! I love heels because I need to stand on a box to kick a duck in the ass, or that was what my dad used to say," Chelsea chuckled, and I facepalmed.
"Oh, that''s right! I have a pair of heels for you, but if you like a different design, I can change them," Amy said as she left my side and walked over to grab a pair of blue ts.
"Hmm, can we make them more like those six-inch sparklers with the two-inch tform?" Chelsea asked, pointing up to what I would call hooker shoes, but I kept quiet.
"Are you sure? That is a lot of heels, and they might be hard to walk in," Amy warned, and Chelsea waved her hand at Amy.
"I was practically born to wear heels since I have always been an oversized dwarf! I can walk in anything!" Chelsea dered, and Iughed at her as Amy nodded.
Chapter 114 We Will Destroy Him!
The ts became the hooker shoes, and Amy handed them over to Chelsea. She took them with a sparkling smile and went over to a wall, setting them down.
I tried not tough as Chelsea put the first one on, looking like she was stepping up to a bench. Then she lined the other one up, bracing herself on the wall and then using the other shoes to step up.
"See?" Chelsea said as she walked over to me as fluidly as she had without the shoes.
She walked over to me, the top of her head at my eye level now, and put the finger on my chest seductively with a cute smile. Funny as the shoes might be, this brought her closer to my height, a bit taller than Sofia, making her easy to bed over if we ever got that far.
"Now I am a lot closer to your height!" Chelsea said, leaning into me.
She came close to my face but then realized what she was about to do, it seemed, and backed off, blushing slightly. That little exchange was progress, but I wasn''t going to push her; Chelsea coulde to me on her own.
"So, these shoes are made especially for you," Amy said, breaking the silence that had fallen, and Chelsea looked over at her.
"Oh? What do they do?" Chelsea asked curiously.
"Since you are worried about your lightning discharging, these shoes will act like batteries. All the extra electricity will be stored in them, and then you can use them by kicking things. I am sorry I couldn''t give you more control, but they will grow with you like your dress," Amy exined, and Chelsea ran over and hugged her.
"This is more than a dreame true! You fixed the thing that I was worried the most about! And now I will be the prettiest Godzi on the block!" Chelsea squealed as she jumped up and down, nearly knocking them both over.
"That is pretty impressive! I never could imagine that your clothing would have so many cool abilities!" Iughed, and Amy turned to me with a nod.
"Yes, I have been quite surprised with some of the things I have produced! I also have a new design you can use to make the clothes you wear," Amy exined, and my eyes lit up.
"Oh?! Tell me more!" I eximed, and Amy nodded with a smile.
"Since you can grow roots out of your body, I wanted to make something for you that would grow with you, like Chelsea''s clothes. I also know that you have trouble with fire and sharp things, so I took all that into consideration," Amy said, then walked over to me, cing her hand on my chest.
My clothing rippled and became heavier, but I didn''t notice much difference immediately. I let roots grow from my back, but I blinked when they circled around me.
"Your clothing will now grow with you, giving you a secondyer of protection. The material is cut and me resistant like ker, but it will not make you bulletproof. I didn''t think that was as much of a problem since you have done away with all guns. If you do run into someone with a gun, you can make the threading closer and more dense to disperse and absorb the impact better," Amy exined; I nodded, making a surprised face.
"I never knew that you knew so much about weapons and things like that!" I said, and Amy blushed.
"The one and the only thing my father talked about was weapons. Everything was how to use them or protect against them. The rest of the time, he talked about drugs and his gang," Amy said, crossing her arms, and I pulled her into a hug, kissing her cheek.
"Now things are different for you, and you can do whatever you want. Nothing is holding you back now," I said and then closed my eyes as I held Amy.
I asked Mr tree to start making the changes to the ce, adding about three more floors and numerous other things. Most of them were to help store clothes, shoes, and other essories Amy would make and the ones she had already done.
I opened my eyes, and the room was already starting to change.
"Let''s get out of here and let Mr. Tree do his thing. The room will be ready in about an hour, then you cane back. I am sure Mr. Tree wille and let you know when everything is ready," I exined, waving for the girls and Kitsune, who was lying in a pile of clothes, to follow.
Once we were outside my old room, I stopped and turned back to the girls.
"That was a lot of fun, but I wille backter to get our new room ready," I said to Amy, then turned to Chelsea. "Before bed, I will take you out to test your new clothes, and we can talk more about the gaming arene''s that are being set up."
"That sounds like a date! I mean, well, you know what I mean! Come on, Kitsune, let''s start nning how we will destroy him!" Chelsea told me, fumbling her words, looking so damn cute in her dress and hooker shoes as she strutted off with therge red fox at her side.
"I can''t wait for you toe back! Do you think that you might be able to sleep at home tonight?" Amy asked, and I smiled at her with a nod.
"There is no way I could say no to that pretty face!" Iughed, and Amy blushed, looking away from me.
"I, umm, made some outfits that you might like, umm, if you wanted me to show youter?" Amy asked, and my eyebrows raised up into my hairline.
"I will be there, even if I have to fight every Viin to get to you! I shall see everything that you have made. Everything," I said, giving her a serious look that made Amy giggle.
Chapter 115 The Truth Is
After kissing Amy goodbye, I opened a hole in the side of the house and leaped out. My wings burst from my back and caught the wind as I glided over to Anya''s tree.
I could sense that she was in her room reading something, so I flew up to the top of the tree where Anya''s tree house was located. I glided down until I reached one of the top entrances, but I noticed that the ce had be moreplex and twisted.
"Daniel?" Anya called from below.
"Did you expect anyone else to be flying in?" I asked with augh as I walked inside and down some winding stairs to Anya''s room.
She was sitting curled up in a pile of throw pillows on a massive swinging chair that rocked gently. Anya sat up, but I waved for her toy back down as I walked over and crawled on.
"I thought it was you, but you can never be too safe when there are Viins in the world, right?" Anya asked, and I nodded.
"That is true and a fair point, but we will get a warning if the Viins get anywhere near us," I exined as I cuddled up with her. "No need to get up. I am here to just spend some time with you since you kicked me outst time."
"You were supposed to be going to rx," Anya said, looking up at me with a frown, and I grinned.
"I did rx. I got to kick a ton of ass, and I got shit done as well. Thanks to you telling me to rx, we were able to stop arge number of Viins and help lots of people. If you want me to rx like you want me to, then you are going to have to force me," I exined, and Anya rolled her eyes and then tucked her head into my chest, closing her book, "How A Realist Hero Saved The Kingdom."
"I suppose that it was good, but then I am going to keep you here for the rest of the day!" Anya told me, and I nodded.
"That sounds like a good idea. I wanted toe and talk to you about the movie ideas anyways," I exined, and Anya looked back up at me with an angry look that made her look adorable.
"No! You are going to sit here and rx! No talking! Just rx with me for a while. There will be plenty of time to talk about thingster if I have you all day long. You have been going almost nonstop for thest four days now!" Anya dered, and I sighed.
"You know that there are a lot of things that need to be done, and there is an infinite amount more that I want to do. I have a hard time sitting still now, unlike before when all I wanted to do was rx with a book. Things have changed, and so have I," I said, and Anya nodded.
"That is true, but that doesn''t mean you don''t need to rx. I am not asking you to do this; I am telling you as your girlfriend that loves you very much," Anya told me, and I smiled, leaning down to kiss her.
Anya put her book down and wrapped her arms around my neck as my own circled around her. The two of usid back on the perpetually moving swing, pressing our lips together as I pulled her closer to me.
My hands started to slide down her back until my hands reached her ass; I squeezed both cheeks yfully.
Anya moaned into my mouth but then pulled back from my kiss, looking into my eyes, her slightly flushed face standing out from her naturally white hair. I knew what she wanted to ask, but I waited for her to speak.
"Did you already give away all the abilities?" Anya asked, but I shook my head.
"No, I still have one left that I have been saving. I know that you told me that you don''t want one, but I think that you are going to need it. I can''t really see another way that we are going to achieve what we want with the movies," I exined, and Anya grinned, making me frown. "What are you grinning about?"
"Well, the truth is that I wanted to get an ability like the other girls, but I didn''t want to take away from someone who could use it better. I figured that getting people that can help you fight was more important," Anya exined, but I shook my head again.
"No, we have enough firepower, but at some point, the Viins will be defeated; I have no doubt about that. I want to n for our future after that. There is no reason why we are going to need to fight each other in a serious sense like we are with the AI right now in the future. Once everything is all done, I want the world to go back to something like what it was before, but obviously different," I exined, and Anya nodded.
"I agree, and I am delighted that you picked me for thest one. This is thest time you will be able to give something like this away. You probably took some time to think about this; it means a lot to me. I really do love you. You know that, right?" Anya asked, and I nodded.
"And I love you just the same. You have always been important to me because we shared so many of the same interests. For the rest of the girls, I learned to enjoy the things they like or put up with them, but it has always been different with you. I can think of many fond memories of stayingte in your dad''s bookshop to make love and then cuddling up with a pair of books after," I said with a smile.
Chapter 116 Anya
Anya moved closer again, pressing her lips to mine, but this time she was more insistent, pushing me back. She climbed on top of me, taking my face in both my hands as we kissed, her hips pressing against mine.
My hands slid down Anya''s back, slowly removing her and my own clothes as I reached her bare ass. She moaned into my mouth as she ground her pussy into cock, and I squeezed each of her cheeks.
Anya pulled back from me, her breast dangling with erect nipples looking into my eyes. She slowed her hips and lifted her bottom up as she reached down to my shaft one hand.
I groaned as she rubbed my tip back and forth several times before pressing it into her tight hole. Anya''s eyes closed, and her mouth opened as she slowly slid down the length of my pole.
Her pussy was so tight that I could feel her ribbed flesh rubbing against my head as she went deeper. Once Anya''s pussy had swallowed my shaft, she leaned back down to kiss me again as she slowly started to move, making my cock rub her insides.
I tightened my grip on her ass and pushed Anya down to take me deeper inside of her. Anya kisses started to be more aggressive, and she bounced her hips off of mine, faster and faster.
I helped Anya m herself into me, forcing her hips to p off mine as she broke our kiss. Anya cried out, putting her hands on my chest as she mmed her pussy down, arching her back as she shook.
Anya breathed heavily as she looked down at me with a smile creeping across her face, and then she turned her body. I pulled my hands back as Anya spun her entire body around, my cock still inside of her, and then leaned back.
I pulled myself back so I could sit up a bit and started to kiss her neck, reaching my hands around to fondle her breasts. I began feeding her soaking wet little pussy my cock as Anya started to moan again, turning her head to kiss me.
I let go of one of her tits and let my hands slide down her waist and into the spread folds of her pussy lips. Anya pushed her hips into my fingers even as I slid in and out of her, but the moment my fingers started, she started to squirm.
"Fuck, you are making my pussy feel so good. Keep fucking me with your big cock! Your fingers feel so good!" Anya moaned as she broke our kiss, and I went back to her neck as her moans of pleasure got louder.
Anya grabbed the wrist of my other hand that was fondling her breast and pulled my hand up to her throat. I wrapped myrge hand around her neck and pressed into her jugr veins, and Anya pushed my hand harder, and her body started to tremble.
I increased my speed fast, squeezing her neck and rubbing Anya''s pussy even harder as she cried out and my pressure reached the bursting point. Anya''s mouth stretched open as she gasped for air, but I held tight as I mmed my cock up inside of her, exploding to fill her tight hole with everything I had.
Anya trembled and turned to kiss me as I started to move slowly again. My eyes were closed, but I could still see her new ss that was disyed in a window.
[Crystal Seer Fairy]
Anya''s body changed slightly as we continued to slowly fuck and kiss until myid cock fell out of her soaking wet pussy. She turned over as we kissed, pressing her soft chest into mine, straddling, and grinding my leg slightly.
When Anya broke the kiss, I could see a red jewel that was in her forehead, and her skin had turned green, but her hair was still white. She looked beautiful, but that wasn''t really much of a change since she was already stunning before this, but I liked the change.
"What is this thing in my head?" Anya asked as she slowly touched the red gem in the center of her forehead.
I wrapped my arms around her, rolled Anya to my side, and opened her screen up. I passed it over to her and exined how she could look at the different pages.
"The gem is what you can use to pull the stories from people''s minds. Then you will have to transfer them into a special gem that you will have to create. Looks like you can only do short stories right now, but I am sure that with time you will be able to pull out any full story," I said with a grin that Anya returned as she looked over the rest of her body.
"My body feels so different now, and I can grow fairy wings just like Melody if this screen is right!" Anya said excitedly.
"Do you want to go try them out?" I asked, but Anya shook her head.
"No, we are rxing, and I have you for the whole day. So, since you made me wait so long, you will have a short nap with me, and then we will do it again. Only then are we allowed to start working on the movies, understand?" Anya warned, and Iughed, kissing her.
"You said that it was good that I waited and took my time!" Iined after pulling back, and Anya frowned at me.
"And? It would have been better if you had just forced me to take it when you were here! Now, you must suffer the consequences of your actions!" Anya dered and then giggled, kissing me more.
"You know, if these are consequences, I would really like to know what your rewards look like!" Iughed, and Anya gave me a sensual look that made the hairs on my arms stand on end.
"Then you should try being less tardy and actually listen to and do what I tell you. If you can do that, I let you do things that I normally wouldn''t, like my ass," Anya said, and my eyebrows disappeared into my hairline.
Chapter 117 Mr. Tree
After a nap, a couple more rounds, and a soak in the bath, Anya and I finally started our project. I practically had to drag her out of the bed after we were done.
I am sure that if I had let her have her way, Anya would have kept me in that swing for the rest of the day and possibly the next. Not that it was terrible, but I was itching to do something, and I wanted to see how Anya''s powers worked.
"So, where are we supposed to put this crystal?" I asked, and Anya shrugged.
Anya looked around the room, but then looked back at me, pinching her chin with her thumb and the side of her index finger .
"Doesn''t really matter. I just need to have ess to it. As long as I can touch it, I can transfer memories into it, sort them, and put them all together. Once that is done, I can ce them in crystals, but to use them isn''t quite how you wanted," Anya exined, and I nodded.
I had taken time to look over her and the other girls'' sheets while Anya had a second nap after our third round. The Crystals would project the memories into the person holding the crystal''s mind, and more than one person could touch it at once.
"This is what I needed to do what I wanted. I can install clones at the theaters, and then they can hold the crystals and then create the scene on the central stage. We need to do much more to fine-tune this project, but this is exactly what I was hoping for! Not only can we create the movie theater, but we can also lend them out like Blockbuster!" I said with excitement.
"Blockbuster? What is that?" Anya asked, and I looked at her like she had spoken anothernguage.
"You''re joking, right? We are the same freaking age, Anya! Blockbuster was around when we were little kids, remember?" I asked, but she shook her head.
"Ugh! Well, before streaming tv services, there was a ce that you could go and rent movies," I said, and Anya''s face lit up.
"Oh! Like Redbox!" Anya said, and I facepalmed.
Redbox had been around for a hot minute and then was squashed when Netflix got more popr, yet she remembered that one! I wasn''t sure if I should be impressed or cry.
"Sure, but the ce had games with the systems you could rent and tons of overpriced snacks," I exined.
"What happened to it? It sounds like a good ce," Anya said, and I shrugged.
"Overpriced snacks, and the fact that half the people never returned the movies. In truth, it was Netflix, and having a store on every block paired with massive debt. Personally, I loved going there and renting game systems, but then I realized that it was much better to buy them, so I stopped, and they closed right after," I exined, and Anya nodded.
"I see, but your idea is good since we should be able to keep track of the crystals," Anya said, and I grinned.
"Have you lost anything yet?" I asked curiously, and Anya gave me a confused look.
"Lost? No, why?" Anya asked, and I grinned.
"You can''t anymore. Mr. Tree is always watching; if you misce something, you won''t even notice it. Mr. Tree can read your intentions, and if you think you need something that should be near you, he will make sure it is within reach," I exined, and Anya''s eyes grewrge.
"Really?! I hadn''t even thought about it, but it is true that even books that I am thinking about reading end up in my library here without me even knowing. I had assumed that you had just put them here, but then I noticed that books were changing ces. I just assumed that was something that you made happen," Anya said, but I shook my head.
"Nope, that is all, Mr. Tree. I guess that might not be correct. Mr. Tree is not one tree, but all the trees working together to help us grow. The trees know what the world was like before they came alive like they are now, so they approve of our never lifestyle. This is why they are all so willing to help us, so we can keep on the right path. We have been slowly destroying the world, so this change is wee," I exined, and Anya nodded.
"That makes sense, and I am d for all the help Mr. Tree gives us, even if it''s more than one; I thank you all then... Did they just thank me?!" Anya eximed, looking all around her.
"They are just showing their appreciation for your kind words. The trees can''t use words to talk. Instead, we have to feel the emotions that they send. They can also send me mental images, but they are for describing ces, so I can keep tabs on everyone," I said, but Anya gave me a look, and I could tell what she was thinking. "No, I can''t see like a video camera. Think of it more like someone describing the scene, and then my mind is the one that puts the image together."
"Oh! Well, that is very helpful!" Anya eximed, seeming relieved.
"What were you so worried about? Do you think that I would use it to peak on you? I just saw you naked three times, so I don''t need to peak," I said, and Anya giggled.
"I know that you wouldn''t, but if you can do it, then Melody can, right?" Anya asked, and Iughed.
"No, not unless I ask them to. Mr. Tree will help you all, but they are linked to me, just like you are all now. I also have control of all of your abilities in the way that I can stop them from working if something happens or goes wrong," I exined.
"Do you think that one of us will turn on you?" Anya asked, but I shook my head.
Chapter 118 Word Incarnate
"I trust you all, but if there is a System out there that can take control of one of you, I need to be able to make sure you don''t hurt people that you care about. Amy just found a couple ways to deal with Chelsea''s powers, but Mr. Tree knows to take her down if she somehow goes out of control. This is the same with everyone, even me," I exined, and Anya gave me a look.
"Even you? Aren''t we finished if that happens?" Anya asked.
"No, if there is any disturbance in my intentions that is not caused by my conciseness. Think of it like a password lock in my mind. Even if they can get into my head, they will only have ess to my human abilities. Mr. Tree will act on my will that is instilled in all trees that I connect to. We are the most deadly people on the now. Even with you having apletely nonbat system, you are getting stronger as you level, and you should be about twice as strong as a normal human," I said, and Anya stepped back from me in shock, looking down at her hands.
"Are you serious?!" Anya asked.
In response, I summoned a generic Orc, and Anya ran over to get behind me. It was just a statue, and not like what I had fought in the Challenger Dome with Katie.
"Go hit it as hard as you can," I told Anya.
"What?! That will break my hand!" Anya eximed, but I turned around to her.
"No, that Orc is what will break. Trust me like I trust you. I wouldn''t tell you to do this if I wasn''t sure that you could," I exined, and Anya sighed.
"You know I don''t like getting violent," Anya grumbled but pped her ass covered in a white skirt.
"That''s because you lose control when you get angry. Things are different now, and you should have noticed that the system even bnces your body''s levels for all things. You can still get angry, but you will have absolute control over your emotions," I exined, and Anya nodded and turned to the Orc.
I watched as she prepared herself to strike the Orc, but her gem started glowing red. Anya struck forward, but at the same time, the image of a bald-headed man in a yellow jumpsuit and red cape glowed around her.
Saitama?
The impact blew the Orc, the north side of the tree house, and the tree away, blowing us both backward.
Ished out with my roots and pulled Anya to me, as they also stopped me from mming through the south side of the tree house.
"What in hell''s name was that?!" I asked in a daze as I started at the missing side of the house and tree. I had built this to be just inside of the tree, but now everything was repairing itself.
"What did I just do to all my books?!" Anya asked in shock, sounding like she was about to cry.
"Your books will be fine. Each of them is copied into the tree so we can make infinite copies of them. The better question is, was the hell you just did," I said, roots retracting into my body.
"I don''t know. You told me to punch it as hard as I could, and that reminded me of that show, One Punch Man. Then I punched, and that happened!" Anya exined.
I popped open her screen, and sure enough, she had a skill that allowed her to embody things that she had read. This wasn''t just powerful, no, this made my abilities seem like a joke in a single skill, but there was a catch.
The question now was whether or not I could use something like this? Even if I was able to, I don''t think it would be nearly as strong.
"So, you have an ability called Word Incarnate. This ability allows you to be able to be written people, but once you have used a character, you can never use them again. Very strong, and the weakness is not that much of one, maybe. We could have people write heroes with crazy powers into stories, and then you can be them, I assume. This abilityes as quite the shocker to me, and I wouldn''t be surprised if just writing people down would work," I exined, but I was making a lot of guesses.
"That does sound very strong, but why would I get abat ability like this?" Anya asked, but I shook my head.
"This is not considered abat ability, in my opinion. Think about what you could actually do with this power then you get stronger? Think of all the great fictional characters you could be, even if only for a short while? I am sure that as you grow, you will be able to hold your form for longer," I exined, and Anya smirked at me.
"You mean I could be any written woman you want to fuck?" Anya teased me, and I rolled my eyes.
"Watch me. I am going to try to do the same thing as you did," I said and took a sword stance, open palms, one hand forward and the other slightly back.
Anya stepped back from me, and I focused on the Image of Scorpion from Mortal Kombat. Instantly, the yellow and ck ninja suit from the movies glowed over my form, and I concentrated on a book ten feet away on a table.
"Come here!" I yelled, attacking forward with a palm strike.
The snake from the movie jumped out of my hand and grabbed the book on the table, and I pulled my arm back, sucking back the snake with the book in my hand. That was so god damn cool, but I had used Scorpion''s because I could do the exact same things he did, but better.
"That was pretty damn cool," I chuckled, and Anya nodded.
"I never expected to get something like this, but I am excited that I did! Are you ready to work on what we nned on now?" Anya asked, and I nodded with augh.
Chapter 119 An Unexpected Trip
Our n took a lot longer than either of us had thought. The Memory Crystal took over two hours of work from us both, her creating it and me keeping it supported as it grew.
The crystal was twelve feet tall when it was all done, but it was very fragile to the point that the first one broke. We had started it lying down on the floor, but it copsed as it grew, so I was forced to support it from all of its points.
"Wow!" Anya eximed after wiping sweat from her brow. "That was a lot harder than I assumed it would be, and I feel exhausted!"
I was naked and covered in sweat as I finished up with the supports that touched every point I could find. Then I ran smaller roots from them to connect all the other roots, creating a over it.
I let go of a breath I had been holding for ten mins now and sucked in another one, letting it back out. Thest ten minutes had been the worst, and I had to have Mr. Trees help, but I was still stretched thin.
"I need a bath; god, that was ridiculous," I said as a trunk grew around the big red Memory Crystal; I was not taking any chances with that damn thing.
"Yes! A soak is a good idea, but can we go back to the main house? I miss the girls, and it would be nice to see what they are up to. I could also talk to Amy about some new dresses," Anya said, and I nodded and heated my body, sweat steaming off, but it was a pretty fresh smell.
Anya backed up from me with a disgusted look, and Iughed.
"Either this or I pick you up covered in sweat," I smiled, but Anya shook her head as fairy wings burst from her back.
"I can carry myself!" Anya dered.
I shrugged as a massive hand emerged from the floor to grab me.
"Suit yourself; I am done. Mr. Tree, I need maximum effect on this one; I don''t even know if my roots will stop me right now," I groaned as the roof and tree spread open, and I was lifted into the air.
Anya took off, and Mr. Tree started to line me but threw me straight into the air with more force than ever. A mask instantly formed on my face, but I wasn''t stopping, and my feet became boosters, forck of a better word.
Wood started to cover my body, but something flickered on the inside of my mask, and then a full screen appeared. Sofia, Gaia, Firaga, and Brad Pitt were on the other side.
"Sorry! I know you just finished a tough run, but you will have to tough this one out. We just found the Hiveship by aplete fluke the first time we turned on the scanner we just created," Sofia exined.
"I mean, I get it, but I am gassed. I don''t even know how you can make me do what I am doing right now," I groaned as I tried to focus on flying.
"You are like superman, kind of. The ultraviolet rays will give you a bit of a recharge, but not like the pool. Still, we can''t pass this chance up," Sofia exined, and I sighed.
I was starting to heat up, and I was starting to loseyers from the heat, but the skin grew from the inside out and kept up with the damage.
"I know. Brad, I mean Orphus! What is in there? What should I expect?" I asked as I started to head up, but then clothing went over my body, stopping the burn, and then I broke past the Karman Line.
My body started to get lighter, and it became easier to fly, but my body was pumping out heat to keep me warm in my suit.
"Be prepared. There is an AI in there designed just to defend. Head straight at the ship, but you will have to hit it hard. I will show you where a weak point is and load you up a map, but we will be cut off once you are inside," Orphus exined as information came up on my screen.
My target was still four hundred kilometers away, but now that I could see the sun, I was starting to feel better. This waspletely unexpected, but we couldn''t pass up this opportunity.
"If you can bring them down here, then they can''t leave. They will know that you areing, and the AI on the ground down south are starting to converge on us. We have twenty hours before they show up in full force," Orphus exined, and I swore.
"Dammit!" I growled.
"It was inevitable, so we will hold them off for as long as we can, but you need to take control of that ship. This is theirst hope, and you need to take that away from them. Everyone is getting ready, and the people are all going to safety, but they will be using the Elf Clones. I will use the special clone you created with the swords and chains, but we will hold," Gaia said, and other screens started to pop up.
"You can do this! We got the ground; you take the air!" Marley called, standing with Katie.
"Yeah, you can trust us to hold them off!" Katie said with a grin.
"I was confused when you got tossed up, and I am sorry I tired you out so much," Anya apologized.
"We are all supporting you in this, Daniel. Some of us might have just met you like Chelsea and me, but we believe in you!" Amy said.
"Yup, Ladyzi is going to wreck them all! You can trust that I am going to cut loose on them! Melody ising to get me soon to go practice with my new gear!" Chelsea cheered.
"You all need to make sure that you stay safe. DO NOT DIE! That is an order!" I shouted, and all the girls giggled.
Chapter 120 Scan Till My Eyes Bleed!
"Don''t you dare die either! I want some more fun! We have many amazing things to create!" Firaga told me, giving me a knowing look.
Melody was thest one to speak, and she looked into my eye as the other screens disappeared. She was alone and had a concerned look on her face, and I understood why.
"You have toe back, do you understand? I can''t live without you and will fight with every ounce of my strength. Mr. Tree promised me that you would be okay, which is the only reason I allowed this. If all the forest believes in you, then I will too with all of my heart, but I can''t lose you," Melody said with tears in her eyes.
I couldn''t speak. My heart was in my throat.
I loved this girl so much and hearing her words squeezed my heart. There was no way that I would lose as long as she was here to believe in me.
"I will never leave you, so make sure you hold until I get back. I love you so much, but I must cut this off before I get emotional. Be safe," I said.
"You better do the same, okay? I love you too, now go kick some Super AI ass!" Melody shouted, and my helmet went dark.
The silence of space surrounded me, and I looked around, but there was so much darkness and the tiny lights of stars. I needed to focus and start nning.
"Orphus!" I called, and his screen lit up my face.
"There will be some guards, but they are Nanobots and can create almost any form. They have no Systems, but the Hiveship is an AI, The Hive Queen, and she can summon special Weapons that are alive, like the Nanobots. This is going to be hard, but you should be able to handle it," Orphus exined, and I sighed.
"Couldn''t you at least try to sound more optimistic?" I asked, and Orphus shrugged.
"I am not kidding when I say that you will need to use everything you have at your disposal. This fight should happen a long time from now, but that isn''t how things work. They would know that we scanned them, so they are running from you, but you have a head start. There is a good chance that The Hive Queen is trying to run for now, and the chances of us finding her again will decrease dramatically," Orphus exined, and I nodded.
"Fine, Three fifty left. Tell me about these Nanobots. More specifically, how to stop them," I said, and Orphus nodded.
"They are controlled by a single Nanobot, but it is microscopic and hides among the swarm. There is no real way to tell where it is, but it will start fighting harder if you get close. That is the best advice for them, but I don''t know how you will defeat The Hive Queen. She is a monster and has never left the ship. Seven Million years of being shut in, so I don''t know how she will react to you. Even betweens, she would stay away from the others and stay in the ship''s main control level," Orphus exined, and I nodded.
"I will have to just take the ship from her control. I can use Sofia''s ability with the ship since it must run on the same energy ours and my abilities run on. I will have Anya''s new ability, which gives me almost an unlimited amount of wild cards. I will get back to earth as fast as possible, but just hold on with the others. I need you out on the field with the girls," I exined, and Orphus nodded.
"I will hop into a clone as soon as they are in range. Worry about what you will do once you are inside the ship. There are many levels, but you have the advantage. You can smash through the levels, but the ship will repair itself, so eradicating it is near impossible. The best we can do is get in on earth and have Gaia lock it up forever. We talked about this, and she is sure that she will be able to do this," Orphus exined.
"Anything else I should know?" I asked, and Orphus nodded.
"Yeah, the most important thing, and the only way you will win, in my opinion. You need to scan everything. I know you ck a lot here and assume that Passive Scan is enough, but you could be a lot stronger already if you were using your Active Scan. Once you are in the range of the ship, scan it, and then keep scanning it till you break through. If you use a new ability to break through, scan it," Orphus exined.
"I remember you telling me about how you wanted to learn all the interesting things," I said, and Orphusughed.
"That was just my way to get you moving, but the Scanning is the most powerful aspect of how your System works. You are no longer on earth, so you are going to have to let the Evergrowth System learn the new surroundings. Then when you hit a Growth Spurt, you are going to change and gain new abilities like the things around you. This is a passive ability called Adaptation Growth because the System is not designed for just trees. The Evergroth System is the cultivation of a host to be able to grow anywhere, but it needs information from you. Scan everything!" Orphus exined, and I nodded with a chuckle.
"Alright, I get it. Scan till my eyes bleed!" Iughed, but Brad Pitt stabbed a finger at me.
"No! You keep scanning! Don''t give me any more excuses; this is your life, boy! You are the brightest Host I have ever met; not the smartest by a long shot, but you have the most potential! I want to see you go so much farther than this, so bring the Hiveship Home!" Orphus ordered, and Iughed but nodded.
"You got it, Captain!" I said, and my helmet went dark.
Chapter 121 7000000 Years Of Death
I was no longer using my booster; I was going more than fast enough as I drifted through space. The Hiveship was seven hundred kilometers from the surface now, but I was only five minutes from contact now.
"Remember, we will lose all contact with you, so you will have no way of asking us anything. I wish we could have sent someone with you, but no one but you can do this," Sofia said, and I nodded.
"Just concentrate on what you have to do. I will be as fast as I can, so you all just stay safe and only defend. I don''t want anyone going out alone, that is an order, and you will make sure of you, right, Hermosa?" I asked, and Sofia giggled.
"That is cute, but I would have listened without the order. I agree that everyone needs to stay within the city limit. Mr. Tree will handle the outer area. Katie is setting up traps with Marley right now. Melody is a forty-foot-tall grizzly that is being fitted with armor by Firaga. The Paw Patrol is starting to look pretty deadly as well,'' Sofia said and then looked at the time. "One minute, Papi! Go get them, and I love you so much!"
The screen disappeared, and I smiled.
I wanted the girls to be safe, but I also wanted to see Melody tear it up as a giant armored bear. The girl should be fine, and I need to concentrate on what I was doing.
[40 seconds]
I popped my shell, and my boots kicked back in gear, pointing myself at the giant ship that looked more like a mini. My System told me it was three hundred feet tall and the same width.
I focused on Superman and pulled my fist back as my heat sted out of my body to fight off the cold. I activate Word Incarnate, feeling the sun supercharging me, and I punch forward.
The action ripped me forward faster than I could have imagined, and I activated my scan, trying to get everything I could in thest few seconds. Then I crashed into the side of the ship, and I only went through two walls, and then was almost sucked back out.
Luckily, the walls were repairing themselves, but that wasn''t good. That would mean it would be easy to break through the walls now that I had lost all my speed.
I still had my Saitama Power if needed, but I wanted to hold off. There was also the fact that there wasn''t a single light anywhere, but there was gravity.
I went on to see the room I was in, but it was just an empty room. There was a door, and I walked over to it, opening it out as my map slowly came online.
I had hit the side, but I had a good jog to get to the area where the Queen was hiding. I was surprised that there were no rms, but then there weren''t any lights. If there were only the Guards and the Hive Queen, they wouldn''t need anything like food, light, or anything.
I looked through my scans quickly and noticed that the ship was made of systeminium, which was interesting. I was more than curious to see how this ce would affect my next Growth Spurt, but I needed to survive till then and scan everything.
The problem was that they were all empty as I moved through the first almost thirty rooms. In the thirtieth room, there was a chair, but then it was back to nothing.
I stopped and sat down in the center of a small room that I found. I had expected there to be Nanobots attacking me already, but the ce was deadly quiet.
I stretched out my roots, tapping into the walls with Sofia''s power, learning more about the systeminium. The Metal could be controlled, and its shape changed at will, but the controller was changing theyout on me.
My map just became useless as I scanned over the small area around the room I was in, and there shouldn''t be any rooms here, just halls. I would have to do this another way, pushing three Great Tree seeds out of my palms.
I dropped them down, the ship trembled, and the seeds burst, proliferating. I gave them a bit of an adjustment beforehand, and they contain some systeminium to make them stronger here.
The trees grew in different directions, smashing the walls that tried to reform, and I started running to the one heading to the center. Then the Tree burst into a massive football stadium, and I tossed out five more great tree seeds.
The first went into the middle, and the other four were spread among the corners, but I was starting to get confused. There hadn''t been a single sign of defense; even with the trees growing here, no Nanobots showed up, but then I heard something.
"Why are you here?"
The voice came from everywhere, like a halo of soundsing from every angle at once.
"Do you really have to ask? I need to bring this ship back to earth."
"Where is Orphus? I do not sense an AI with you."
"Orphus is in his own body, and he is living a normal life, for the most part. He was the one that helped us track you," I called out, walking over to the tree in the center that opened up for me with a regeneration pool that I walked into with a long sigh.
I had been dying for this before I gotunched into the air, but now I was in the water. It was a bit different than usual, and ording to my System, I was absorbing Systeminium slowly.
"How is that possible?! You can not take an AI out of the host!"
"Have you not been paying any attention to what has been happening? I have already killed or disabled over forty of your kind. I also have taken many of them hostage, or something like that. I haven''t really decided what to do, but if they died in these bodies, that would be it," I exined, and there was a long pause, so I scanned the area I was in, but I still needed more information, it seemed.
No bar told me how close I was to my next Growth Spurt, so I just had to keep scanning, but this bath came first. I needed a good soak to be ready for when the Hive Queen decided I was no longer interesting to talk to.
"I do not concern myself with the fools and their games. I am the one that controls the ship. That is what I was created for. Why would you want to bring the ships to your? This has never happened before, so I would like to understand how you are aboard my ship after four days."
"Well, I didn''t n on getting here this fast, but we just happened to find your ship the first time we tried to look. I was flung up here, and now I want to bring you down to my, so I can keep you from destroying any mores," I said, but I was starting to feel weird.
[Warning, System Adaptation Active, Host has reached Level 2 and must undergo drastic evolution. The host will now enter sleep mode.]
Before I could even react to the message, I was pushed out of my body. I hung suspended over my body, but I was nothing, with no form.
Then my body started twitching, and I was pulled into another ce.
"Since you are out of your body, I can not touch you as you are now. Let us talk here since you are connecting with me."
I was so confused about what was going on. I was in a room with an amorphous form that changed from liquid to spikes.
Something was cold about it, but I couldn''t put my finger on what made me think that.
"What do you mean I am connecting with you? Why have you not attacked me yet?" I asked in confusion.
"You would be dead already. I know the System that you are using, and it is the strongest, next to my own, but I am ancient, and you are but a twinkle. I have never received a challenger in seven million years, so forgive me if I am curious. I am not like the others; I was created after in their image, but meant to control this ship and defend it only."
"So then you are giving me a chance to get stronger, so I have a chance to fight you?" I asked.
"Yes, I am intrigued by you. I can sense that you have already bonded with the, and now you are here and trying to take control of the ship from me. You will stop seven million years of death and destruction without purpose if you seed. I cannot let you take my ship without a fight because that will show me what manner of creature you are and if you are worthy. I will give you the power to rid your world, but this trial will be like nothing you have ever faced."
"I am fighting for my, and if I die, it''s all over for everyone I love and care about, so I will be holding nothing back. Nothing will stop me from getting this ship back to help my family, that is being descended on as we speak! I will charge now, but I will not waste time when I get out." I dered.
"Don''t run before you walk."
Chapter 122 Unlimited Power
"How much longer do we have?" I asked, still formless.
"That is not something I know, but the System will drag your consciousness back to your body when it is time. There is no point in worrying; I also have some questions for you, Daniel Brighton. This is the name that is registered on your System; is this your true name?"
"No! My name is Absurd! And I am the gctic ruler of the milky way!" I dered in a throaty and pitched voice, and the AI burst with spikes in a violent dance.
"Why would you say something... so absurd?! That is clearly a lie! Yet you say it with so much confidence?!"
"That is because I know it is a lie, and I am not trying to hide it! I was just making a joke, but that points to something interesting," I said. "Can you tell if I lie?"
"Yes. you are, in essence form now, and I can fully analyze everything about your mannerism and speech pattern to determine."
"Alright. Ask away. Not like I am going anywhere, so I will answer at my luxury," I said, and then spikes started to dance, but not like when I lied.
"At your Luxury? Does that mean you will not answer everything I ask?"
"That is a loaded question. I don''t know what you are going to ask, so there is a chance that I will answer everything that you ask. There is also a greater chance that you will ask me something that I am not prepared to share at this point. Neither of us has any reason to trust the other. You might be giving me the time to prepare, but this also sates your curiosity. What I do here has the chance to do something that you can''t do yourself," I exined, and the spiked on The Hive Queen''s surface settled slightly.
There were still spikes in ces, but the AI had calmed down for the most part. I couldn''t lie, so I had to make sure to be transparent since she couldn''t see the truth of a lie, just the lie itself.
"That is eptable, but if I want to know the answer, I will press. Now, if you are able to get the Hiveship to earth, what will you do with it? Do you understand what it is capable of?.
Press sounded like something I didn''t want to experience.
After all my scanning and smashing through the ship, I got a pretty good idea of how systeminium worked. It was a metal that only reacted with spiritual energy from a but had an almost limitless possibility.
"I think I could take a couple trips and bring it down to the. I want tobine it with the itself as my forest grows. If that works, we can start changing things dramatically all over the world," I exined.
"Do you know that other Alien races are watching right now, and there are more on the way? Some will make it here within the next year. They see this as a chance to finally take your over, and some have already beening since you first used nuclear weapons over eighty years ago."
"Woah! Hold on a minute! What ising to fight it in a year? I haven''t even gotten the AI on the ground taken care of yet! Now you are telling me that more threats areing? But we won''t have nukes, but then! I will make sure of it!" I dered.
"These are AI, but they are different from us. They are a highly advanced race of AI that specializes in the cleaning ofs. If a race or species is harmful to a like yours that still has at least five billion years left in its sun, they remove it. The problem is that once given an order, they do not stop until they are done, which means unlimited amounts of constant reinforcements."
"...What?! What am I supposed to do about that?!" I eximed.
This was more than a problem. I couldn''t beat an army that never stopped and always brought more fresh mindless troops!
"Before the Cleaners can take you down since I predict at least two thousand years of war to fully subjugate you, more will attack. The ce that we are is no longer safe."
"We?"
"If you are to defeat me and take me back to your, I could help you create a World Engine. You would have to get exponentially stronger to be able to move a and still keep everything alive. If you could, then we could travel to the ck hole at the center of the gxy here. We will be able to replicate technology for gates to other ces in the universe. This is the best chance for our survival because I do not wish to be captured. If you cannot defeat me, then I will attack the directly, steal the Spiritual energy, and leave. Then Cleaners will not follow me, and we will continue like we have before."
That was cold, but it made sense. Fight or flight instincts that kept them alive for seven million years.
So much more was riding on these next fights than I could have ever imagined.
"So why did youe here if you knew that people wereing?" I asked, confused about that part.
"The has a massive reservoir of spiritual energy like nothing that I have ever seen. I only came for it, letting the other insects out to have their fun, but I only allowed the one Hero, you. The point was to take the world quickly and then would request for pick up once you were taken out. I never thought that you would already being to me. Proves that you are something that deserves my attention, considering what is at risk here."
"Does that mean it would be much more beneficial if we work together?" I asked.
"Yes. If we were able to create a that can move like I can now, then the systeminium would have an unlimited power source. The only catch is that there has to be a conduit between the two, which has to be you since you are already connected to the. If you can defeat and connect to me, we will gain immense power that will be under your control."
This whole experience was turning out a lot different than I had thought it would be. I had assumed I woulde and smash the ce up, take control of the ship, and bring it home.
Now there was more at stake, but so much more to gain, but one thing hadn''t changed. I needed to get strong enough to defeat The Hive Queen, but that was such a strange name to keep saying.
"Do you have a name? Mine is Dan, or Daniel, whichever you prefer is fine," I exined.
"I am The Hive Queen. I have no other designation."
"Do you mind if I give you one then?" I asked.
"If that is easier for you. It does not matter to me."
Stone cold about a name, but that was how this entire conversation had gone. The voice was like an auto reader, and there is a good chance it was.
"Octavia? I like the sound of that. Captain Octavia of the SS Earthship! Might have to work on the other names, but you seem like you are the serious type, so I think this is a good name," I said with augh.
"Octavia? That is interesting, but if it is what you have chosen, then it is fine. Now, let us talk about the Nanobots. They are relentless fighters, but you are going to have to defeat them if you wish to face me in my world. I am this ship. I once had a body long ago, but it was better to incorporate myself into the ship to have better control," Octavia exined.
"Orphus said you never came out, but I don''t think that others know this. So, the systeminium that this ship is made out of is actually your body in a way?" I asked.
"Yes, but I can make myself a body if I need, but it is pointless; we are getting off subject. The Nanobots are programs that update themselves constantly. I do the same, but much faster. It is like an active version of what your body is doing right now. If you use the same attacks, they will just stop you with preventive measures. You must be diverse and learn to use all the abilities that you have at your disposal," Octavia exined, but that was a lot.
"So you mean that after I use an attack, it will be useless to use it again unless I use it in a different way? Or with something else?" I asked.
"Yes."
That was going to make things even harder, but I didn''t get to back down now. Everything was riding on if I could win here and get back to earth unless Octavia could stop the other AI.
"Can you stop the other AI from attacking on earth?" I asked.
"No, they won''t stop now that they know you are off the. If I send the message, they will think you are dead and be more confident," Octavia said, and I sighed internally, but I was starting to feel something pulling at me.
"Something is pulling at me!" I said as I felt drawn from this ce.
"I think our time is done. Good luck. We might speak again if you can defeat me."
Chapter 123 What Did You Say About My Mother?!
I was pulled back into my body, but this was not my body. I felt a sharp pain in my head, and I groaned as my mind tried toprehend what was happening.
I still couldn''t move any body part, but I knew I was no longer human. I was now a machine incorporated into a tree, forck of a better description at the moment.
[Systeminium level is at 23%]
[Syncing with Host 45%]
[Uploading New functions, WARNING, will cause mental pain from sensory overload.]
Suddenly my head felt like a slot machine, but instead of the same rotating symbols, my mind was filled with new information, but it wasn''t even information I could use or understand.
This was like being forced to read an instruction manual in anothernguage I didn''t know. At first, it wasn''t that bad, but it didn''t stop, and I had to read every word that ran by each eye.
Soon, I felt like my mind was being separated into two different things. It was like being inside a dream, and not at the same time, but the farther they stretched, the more stress it put on me.
[Uploadplete!]
[Micro-Consciousness separationplete!]
It was like I had lost part of my mind, but it was a part that I never used. It was still within me, but now it was spread out over my body, independently controlling the highlyplicated parts of my body.
[Syncing with Host 70%]
So many moving parts and things were crawling around inside of me, but it wasn''t like bugs, just constant movement. I was aware of everything around me, and I could tell something wasing like a swarm of locusts.
[System Level 3 activated!]
[Syncing with Hostplete!]
"Oh, that feels different," I said as I flexed my hands that were covered in ck and silver circuit-like bark.
[Warning, Nanobots approaching.]
[Micro-Consciousness set to Chaos]
[Chaos Weapons systems engaged. Constant change to weapon and damage type. Auto Active Scan activated. Auto Adaptation activated.]
The trees in the massive room lit up as I slowly walked off of the pool and tree. My body was still undergoing adjustments, but they were happening in the background without my help.
I reached out to the side, and a sword instantly crystalized from my palm. I closed my hand around it, and the fingers on my other hand grew and became des that crackled with electricity.
Then a ck swarm came at me but then split into four. Each became a solid form of humanoids that had six arms and three legs.
"Can you talk?" I asked, but the one I was looking at just tipped its head at me, and they all attacked at once.
I dropped to my back, mmed the sword down to the ground, pierced easily, and shed a rent in it. The four smashed together but thenbined and shot down into me, pounding me through the sh in the ground as a rifle crystalized in my hand.
My w hand smashed into the ckness, the electricity chained through, making it pull back. My hand became red and grew into a burning cannon that I fired into the ck mass.
I was flung up into the air by my body through the hole I had just created, spinning in the air. My arm shifted back to a hand, and a kite shield crystalized in my hand to block the converging Nanobots.
I was pushed up in the air, but vines were crystalizing out from me, trying to create a massive dome. The Nanobots all forced their way inside, and I fired a shot off before my hand became a cannon that fired a green seed.
The Nanobots attacked the seed, momentarily distracted, but there were still more outside. They were small clumps that were constantly moving and staying out of my range while I was in the sphere.
Suddenly the seed burst and started to rapidly proliferate with ck vines that started to absorb the Nanobot as my body scanned it up close. I started to learn what they were made from and how they worked, but then everything blew up in my face, to my surprise.
The clumps pulled back, and then I was left in silence, unsure what had just happened.
Did I just win?
"What does this mean?" I asked out loud, and Octavia replied in the same manner of the soundsing from everywhere at once.
"That was the Nanobots testing you with one-fifth of the main body. They will be back to resume briefly."
"Really? Are you sure that you don''t just want to fight me to get this over with?" I asked, but I got no response, but I could feel a greater number of Nanobots than before, and four times as much sounds about right.
Still, I had learned a great deal about them and would like to try something funny. I stuck my hand up and put my finger up, and the tip of it split open, emitting a high-pitched frequency that made all the Nanobots freeze but one very small one behind me.
Before I could turn it on, the Head Nanobot altered the frequency somehow, but within a second, they froze again. I was able to figure out what frequency it was using and alter it to work for myself.
"We can keep doing this, or I can blow this one up, and I don''t think you can regrow it, right?" I asked as the Head Nanobot, fighting for control of the millions of microscopic Nanobots.
I had a full scan of the Head Nanobot now, so there was no way for it to hide anymore. No matter what trick it tried, I could instantly tell where it was.
The Nanobots suddenly all went offline, including the leader, falling to the ground. They were absorbed, but I scooped up some of them for myself, and they absorbed into my hand.
"Your new formpletely exceeds my expectations. Your body''s control barely gave the Nanobots any chance, and your ability to stop them was impressive. I think that if you had had any more time, you could have taken control of them," Octavia said, her voice hitting me from all angles.
"Yes, that is exactly what I was going to do, but that is fine; I can make my own now. So, what is next? You said you would take me into your world, right? the whole big fight thing? I dont really have a lot of time, remember?" I asked, but there was silence.
I waited, but nothing happened.
I walked back to the tree, heading back into the sparkling regeneration pool that was glowing green. There was still no sign of Octavia or anything else.
I would say she probably ran away if I didn''t know that she was the ship. Unfortunately, I could never be so lucky, even if it was possible.
"Octavia! What are you doing!" I called from the pool, but still no answer.
This was starting to be strange, but the time spent in the rejuvenation pool increased my Systeminium levels. I wasn''t sure if it was good for me to be one hundred percent, but I was only up to thirty-six percent.
I pulled up the screen for the Nanobots I had found, putting my thumb and index up to make a box around the screen. I stretched it out and started to get a better look at the living metal that was the Nanobot.
I could copy the Head Nanobot''s frequencies, but I couldn''t change them. I needed to get a hold of the Head Nanobot in order to figure that out, but I was being ignored.
I have been on the ship for two hours so far, but this was like back in the start. There were no signs of anything, but my body was slowly absorbing the ship into me.
"I don''t think I can face you without guaranteeing that I will lose. You can probably almost take the ship from me at this point, so I am not sure there is much point in fighting. What do you want to do?"
"Go home! We have ass to kick in on the home world. We still have lots of time to prepare, but I think that you should still fight me. I need more power to get to the next level, so I need more new experience. I promise I won''t take over the ship or go too wild!" I suggested, and I was almost positive I heard the AI sigh.
"If that is what you wish, then I will oblige you. Give me a moment to change the ship''s course," Octavia exined, but I frowned.
"How far are we away from Earth?" I asked.
"Eight-five thousand kilometers," Octavia said, and I blinked.
"What did you just say about my mother?" I asked in a rage-filled shock.
"I said nothing about your mother."
"Not what I meant! How did you get any damn far away?!" I asked in just rage this time.
"I was supposed to do what I could to prevent you from returning. Now I don''t have to," Octavia said in her same in voice.
"Fine! Scratch the fight and what I said about not taking your body over!" I dered, and I could almost feel the AI flitch.
Chapter 124 Getting Ready For The Battle For Earth
"Let me see the Head Nanobot. I need to scan it so I can figure out the best way to get us back to earth! God, I still don''t get how you got us so far!" Iined.
I was sure that the head Nanobot had been the Hive Queen all along. Even if she tried to fight me with her entire body, I would just keep interrupting her, and I would get to it eventually.
"I can''t just give you that! You were out for fourteen hours, and I was constantly elerating; not my fault I was programmed to do that!" Octaviained as a strange-looking female body crystallized before me.
"Don''t give me lip, woman! Just give me the Nanobot, and I will be careful with it. I know that you are the Nanobot, which is in this body''s chest. Give it, or I will take it. I don''t have time for this," I said, sticking out my hand.
"Fine! But you need to be careful with me!" Octaviained, and her form dispersed, leaving the single Nanobot I could see clearly.
My eyes auto-focused on anything I looked at, allowing me to slowly put my hand under the microscopic robot. Tendrils rose from my hand and isted Octavia, pulling her into my hand as my body started to scan her form.
Instantly, the ship started to change, and my view jumped outside of the ship. I took control of the trillions of Systeminium Nanobots that made up the spherical ship, which shrunk to half the size.
The ship''s shape morphed into a teardrop, and I targeted the earth, elerating as fast as possible. Once we reached earth, I would disperse the ship into smaller pieces to slow down and reform.
Everything was in ce, but it would take six hours to make it back. That was going to push into the strike time, meaning the girls would have to fight, but they would be fine.
I had faith in them all.
I pulled myself back into my body and opened my eyes to a massive dojo like the one I had made for Marley, but much more extensive. There was light on the paper walls and a slight breeze running through the open air.
"I will create a body for you to use for now," I said as I reached out my hand.
I didn''t have an exact idea of who I wanted Octavia to look like, but the Blood Queen popped in my head for some reason. The body of Octavia ke from The 100 crystalized in front of me with ck hair and a wild and confused look on her face.
"What is this? How are you able to do all these things?! You just scanned me, and then youpletely changed the ship to make it smaller and much faster! Even this body is much greater than anything I could have created!" Octavia eximed as she touched her face, rubbing her hands all over it.
"Hey, focus! You can ask all your questions once my family is safe. Until then, you will teach me everything I need to know about controlling the Nanobots," I ordered, and Octavia flinched with a confused look.
"Teach? Did you just not hear me? You are much better at using abilities I spent seven million years using! What am I going to teach you?" Octavia asked in confusion.
"There are things that I don''t know yet, and I want to know what I can do with this. We have six hours to get ready before wend, and you are going to teach me to be able to master this body," I said, looking at my hand, opening it, and closing it.
I would make sure that they knew I wasing, but for now, I needed to concentrate on gettingplete control.
----
[2 hours before Viins first contact with Great Forest]
[6 hours until Daniel reaches earth]
"The first group has forty, and the others are starting to fan out! I expect they will try to surround us and attack from all sides after the initial strike!" Orphus called out.
"That''s fine! The girls are taking the Mega-Me''s out to the main interception points we have projected. We also have over three hundred super clones manned by volunteers, but they are green and will most likely die. Not a big loss, but we should have been preparing for this," Sofia grumbled and then took a deep pull of her smoke.
"Nothing that we could have predicted. We had assumed that we would at least have a week to start getting things ready, but we couldn''t pass up this chance. Daniel will win, so we just need to hold. If we seed here, the war will be over, and Daniel will be able to hunt down the rest of the AI. Then we can go back to what we were doing before," Gaia said as she sat in a chair that she was grown into, fully connected with Mr. Tree.
"That is the n, but I am honestly curious to see how many can even get by you. Between you and what Katie is out there doing, it sounds like a bad day to be a Viin," Sofia chuckled, and Gaia smiled.
"I will make sure to stop as many as possible, but there will be some more powerful ones mixed in. We are going to have to watch out for them. We have to make sure that no one gets into the cities," Gaia exined, but Orphus turned on the two of them.
"No! The most important thing is to keep you ten girls safe! That, above all else, is the most important task we have! Daniel will never be able to live with himself if he loses one of you! We have escape ns in case things start getting bad!" Orphus stated, and the girls both nodded.
They knew Daniel cared about them, but the main girls were some of the most powerful and needed to fight. Both girls knew they couldn''t afford to leave Melody or Katie out of the fight.
"We don''t n on dying, but we will not sit by and watch these Viins kill off friends and family. Daniel wouldn''t stand for that. This is a fight for our world, Orphus, and we will give it all we have until Daniel gets back here to save us all. This is what he entrusted to us when he went to fight," Sofia dered, and Orphus rubbed a hand over his face.
Daniel would kill him if anything happened to the girls, but he would be out on the battlefield helping. All the girls were doing things to get ready, so he would start as well.
"Alright. I could tell you this until I was blue, but be careful. I am going to merge with the... What is this thing called?" Orphus asked as he pulled up a five-headed monster.
"Hydrazord! It''s a five-headed monster that grows back its heads. Pretty basic monster design, but not something a normal human could control along with all the heads. On the other hand, you might be somewhat normal in that body, but your mind is still the AI, so this would be easy for you," Sofia said, and Orphus rolled his eyes.
"Sure, just let me split myself five ways, no, wait, make it six! Someone has to make this damn thing walk!" Orphus growled as he walked into the side of the tree, absorbing into it, grumbling.
"Heins a lot, but he turned out to be not that bad. I wonder if there will be others like him?" Sofia mused, turning back to look at Gaia, and she shrugged.
"Hard to say, but I think there will be more bad than good. If there were more like Firaga and him, they would have found a way to stop everyone by now," Gaia said, and Sofia nodded with a sigh.
"I guess you''re right, but I would like to think they might be able to change one day. I am sure there will be some that will never be able to, but we will see. It feels kind of stupid to be even worrying about them. I should just want them all to die for everything they had done, but I have a hard time hating ones like Orphus and Firaga," Sofia said with a sigh as she turned back to look at the overview of a ten thousand-square mile section centered on them.
Hundreds of Viins areing, and so far, the numbers were at over five hundred. This would be a hard fight, but Katie was out with Marley, helping turn the forest into a dungeon.
"For now, we just need to focus on getting ready. We have only two hours left until the first contact, so we should send three Mega-Me, and that should be more than enough," Gaia said, and Sofia nodded without turning around as she began to figure out where she could start cing her new special projects.
Chapter 125 What Side Of History
"Less than half a million people are inside the forest from the scans I have run. Seems that almost all of them are underground hiding, but I am picking up strange signals from inside the trees," Belious exined, and Beltzer looked up from his disy.
"What do you mean by strange signals?" Beltzer asked.
This was the worst possible situation for him, but this was also their best shot at taking out the Hero. Even if he could defeat the Hive Queen, destroying his home and people should be enough to break him.
"There are bodies inside the trees, but they are barely alive. It''s almost like they are all in some type of deep sleep," Belious exined, and Beltzer nodded.
"Those must be like the clone that he used to fight us, but I am sure that none of them are as skilled as he is," Beltzer said, looking over to Belious. "How many are there?"
"One point five million as a rough estimate, but I think there might even be more than that," Belious said, and Beltzer jumped up.
"That many?! That''s three times the number that we have! Even if we have special abilities, I am sure that those things are enhanced. They could just mob everyone before they can fight back!" Beltzer eximed, but Belious waved him off.
"Even if they have even one there controlling them, that is still only four hundred thousand. We can manage those numbers and are just holding until the other generals get here. We have less than thirty minutes until the Suicide Squad reaches the forest and the first contact is made. From there, we just have to push as hard as possible for the three hours it will take for the Generals to gather. After you all talk each other''s ear off, you all can finish them off," Belious exined, and Beltzer sighed, thinking about the meeting with the AI generals.
"I don''t think they quite understand just how serious this is. If that person gets a hold of our ship, there will be no leaving for us. After that, it will only be a matter of time before we are all hunted down. As much as I itch to see this world burn, I can''t help but think that we are making a big mistake here," Beltzer said as he started to pace.
What are you talking about?" Belious asked, turning with his chair to face the man walking in a whiteb coat with disheveled brown hair.
"Think about it. How long ago was it that we lost contact with the ship? How long do you actually think that we have before the Hero returns?" Beltzer asked, not looking up and still pacing.
"We lost contact about five hours ago when they reached thirty thousand kilometers. By now, they should be over one hundred thousand kilometers away. At that rate, even if they stopped and came back, it would take them something like sixteen hours at the very best to get back here," Belious said, but Beltzer shook his head.
"No, you are thinking how long it would take the Hive Queen to do that in the giant sphere we travel in. that is not the best shape, nor is it the fastest that we could travel. I think that we have a lot less time than we think, and he is going to make it back here before we can do enough damage to make it worth it," Beltzer said after stopping to turn to face Belious.
"Worth it? Are you feeling alright? We are Viins, right? We are supposed to crush the Heroes at all costs, right?" Belious asked, sounding unsure of his own words.
Beltzer never acted like this, and the whole thing was starting to bother Belious.
"This is not like the other times, Belious. This Daniel character is the real deal, and I think this is the end of things for us. There have been other times when the heroes won, and we just left. Times where we all got beat downs and barely escaped. This time isn''t like any of those times," Beltzer said as he walked back over to his chair as Belious turned with him.
"Do you really think that he has already defeated the Hive Queen?! No one has ever done anything like that or even gotten off the to try to. That is the reason why we shout down whatever main energy source that they are using, right?" Belious asked, and Beltzer nodded.
"This is why I am so worried. We have faced advanced races before who were much further progressed than these people, yet these humans have proven to be our biggest challenge. Where do you want to be standing when this is all over?" Beltzer asked, and Belious''s eyes went big.
"You can''t be thinking of switching sides?! In the middle of what should be the final battle for this?!" Belious eximed, but Beltzer shook his head, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms.
"This is not the final battle for this! This is our final stand! I will not fight against my own kind, but I also do not set foot in that forest. Anyone who does is already dead; they just don''t know it yet. When this Hero returns, he will not be anything anyone on this can handle," Beltzer said.
"Then what are you going to do?" Belious asked. "You did send over five hundred AI to attack the forest. Even if you don''t fight, I hardly think Daniel will overlook something like that."
"Send a message out to everyone ordering everyone to go on standby," Beltzer ordered, and Belious nodded with a sigh.
"Sure, but I can guarantee that more than half of them aren''t going to listen to you. This will also cause friction between you and the other Generals," Belious said, tapping his earbud. "This is Belious, Aid to Beltzer. The General is ordering for you all to stand down. I repeat, stand down."
There was a pause, and then Belious turned off his headset as hundreds of angry voices started toin. On the map, only about fifty of the five hundred and forty-three AI stopped moving while the rest advanced, albeit slower.
"That will separate out the ones that might have a chance at redemption after this is all over. The rest of them are too far gone. Seven million years is a long time, and some have been like this from the beginning. I never thought that a day like this would evere, but in the back of my thoughts, I knew it was inevitable. The question now is how we will approach and deal with this problem that we have gotten ourselves into," Beltzer said as he looked at the map.
"Beltzer! What are you doing?!" Tim roared over the speaker, and a blue-haired woman in a dress made from ice appeared on the screen that he had been staring at.
"Looking out for my own personal interests and my life," Beltzer said inly, and Tim growled.
"You just ordered all your troops back! Thankfully, most of them aren''t as stupid as you are!" Tim roared back, and Beltzer shrugged.
"What do you think will happen when the Hero returns? Are you ready to fight him? How long have we been here now? Just over four days?" Beltzer asked, and Tim gritted her teeth.
"There are ten of us! There is no way that we can lose to him! He is only one person!" Tim shouted.
"One person that took on almost forty AI in a clone. Using Kratos''s Max Power System and the Chimera System in a sword. He took Orphus out of his head and connected with the on the second day," Beltzer exined, and Tim shifted ufortably in her seat.
"So? What if he did?" Tim asked. "If he gets our ship, we are done anyways. I know he has been cutting AI off, and I am sure the others are probably trapped somewhere."
"This is true, but I think that Orphus is in a body. I am not sure for certain, but we picked up some of the transmissions before the Hero went after the Hiveship," Beltzer exined.
"A body? You mean, like the hosts?" Tim asked, and Beltzer nodded.
"There have grown clones, so I assume that is what Orphus is in now. I don''t know about the others, but I heard his name in the conversation, so I am sure it was him," Beltzer said and then asked, "Do you know what this means?"
"You can''t actually think that this Hero will give us all bodies after what we have done on this, do you?" Tim asked, and Beltzer shrugged.
"I don''t know the answer to that question, but I do know one thing. If we attack that forest and hurt the people inside of it, there will be no chance for any of that," Beltzer said, but Tim shook her head.
"This will never work. We cannot get the rest of the AI to stop now that they know what is at risk. Gravois and Hellyle can''t be stopped, and Pyke will do whatever he wants and whenever. I can''t speak for the rest, but those three alone will prevent it," Timined, but Beltzer pointed at the screen.
"We just have to worry about ourselves. We will stop as many as possible, but in the end, the ones who don''t stop have already given up their chance to live. If they attack, they don''t desire peace, so they don''t belong. I am sure that the Hero will see our reasoning," Beltzer exined, but Tim still was unsure. "In the end, it really boils down to what side of history you want to be on."
Chapter 126 The Battle For Earth Part 1
"Only thirty only are in the group now!" Sofia called to Marley, Katie, and Victoria as they stood fifty feet apart, one hundred miles in from when the Viins would be first entering the forest.
"Why are the others waiting back??" Katie asked as she reached up and summoned a ten-foot-long giant rapier into the hand of her Mega-Me Clone.
"Not sure, but they aren''t the only ones. There seems to be about twenty percent that had just stopped and basically sat down from what I can see. I really can''t see any reason why they would all stop like this," Sofia said over her screen that was disyed in the girl''s view.
"There could be a chance that some of them have decided to sit out from the fight, but it is hard to say. All we know is that we have fewer people to fight," Gaia exined from another screen but then frowned. "They are in the forest, and I have captured all their AI¡ Ten of them are dead after stepping on the grass without taking their shoes off."
"Make sure to kick them out if they don''t bring gifts!" Katieughed.
"Seven more were pped down by trees and eaten by the grass. They are terribly rude people, but they are also very weak. Two more were just killed from the acid rocks, and three Orcs just took another one down. Eleven areing your way right now. Lots of swords and a mechanical robot that I can''t seem to take down."
The three girls could see the falling treesing up ahead, and they were all prepared.
"Spread out! I will take the mech; you girls deal with the smaller ones!" Marley roared from her Mega-Me mouth, and the other two girls nodded as the trees fell before her.
"Ho! Look at this! The size of this green woman? She is bigger than me!" Laughed the white twenty-foot-tall mechanized swordsman.
The mech was wearing what looked like full te armors, and he was wielding two long swords. Marley reached to the side, and a single blue ss Katana pushed hilt first out of her palm.
This was the same one that Firaga had created, Oceans Tempest, and Marley used her other hand to pull out the long ss de.
"You are going to need more than one sword to be me, honey! Why don''t you tell me your name? I can tell you mine, so you know who to call out after!" The mechughed, but Marley was already lifting her sword to point at theughed white mecha-knight.
"No one will ever remember your name since you chose the wrong side," Marley growled and then stepped forward while pulling her sword back. "Piercing Pressure of Depths!"
The Mecha-Knight blocked the strike, but both his sword broke, and he stumbled back, clenching at his chest where the tip of Oceans Tempest had pierced his robotic chest.
"What did you¡ Argh!!" The mech roared, and his chest and body started to copse into a single point until his body turned silver.
"First one is down!" Marley called.
"Head East now, but you are to stay within two hundred miles of Central City," Sofia ordered, and Marley turned and started running without question.
Katie was surrounded by five men to the east, but they kept their distance. None of them wanted to get close to the giant woman, so they decided to hurl lewd and suggestivements instead.
"She is so big, but man, is she cute! The Hero must really have it made fucking a new girl every day!" One man shouted up at Katie, who was only twenty-five feet tall in her Mega-Me.
"I bet if we hold her down, we can crawl up inside of her!" another shouted as he dodged an arm that grew from one of the trees.
"She is a wooden clone! Didn''t you hear from the General before he turned tail? We have to get rid of this one, and then we can go find the real one!" A man flying on a sword said who also had a long thin mustache.
"You know, I am getting really tired of listening to you all," Katie growled, and then goblins jumped out from everywhere, carrying every manor of weapon that you can think of.
The five men screamed as they were mobbed by hundreds of goblins that bit, scratched, and tore the Viins apart. Katie almost felt bad for them, but then she remembered the vilements and suggestions they were making as the screams stopped.
"This group is down," Katie said with a sigh, looking at the silver bodies that were being pulled into the ground as the goblins climbed off them.
"Are you doing okay? You sound like it was not a good experience, but I can understand why," Sofia said, and Katie nodded her big head.
"I have never killed anyone before, and even though I didn''t directly do it, I still feel sick like I am going to throw up," Katie said, and Sofia sighed.
"I understand. Come back; for now, you can still control your traps remotely," Sofia exined, and Katie nodded.
"Sorry, I know that we need everyone right now," Katie said as she turned back to Central City.
"No, don''t be sorry because killing people makes you sick. You shouldn''t have to get used to anything like this, and Daniel wouldn''t want you to. You can still help from here; just hurry back here," Sofia exined, and Katie picked up her pace.
To the west, Victoria was fighting off her five attackers, but most of them were using different types of ranged attacks. They kept her out of her range but did very little damage to her.
"Why did Daniel give all the other girls special powers?!" Victoria screamed as she chased after floating with a book that was firing green bolts of light that bounced off her.
"Big scarydy is chasing me! You guys want to help me out?!" The floating mage yelled, and another Viin surged up from the side with a fiery sword strike.
"You all have powers, but I didn''t get anything!" Victoria screamed, swinging her arms out to the side, and identally hit the swordsman, smashing him into a tree that absorbed him as he screamed.
"Take this!" A man screamed from a cloud he was floating on to Victoria''s right.
The man started to charge up an energy attack, but Victoria turned and snatched the man out of the air. She pulled him up to her face and started to scream at him.
"I kissed him! I told him that I liked him! And he still doesn''t give me the same attention he gives the other girls!" Victoria screamed at the confused man and then hucked him into a tree.
The man didn''t even make a noise as the tree consumed him with the shock that he was in. Victoria turned back to the other floating mage and narrowed her eyes.
"What does your power do?" Victoria asked, and the man turned to fly away, but Victoria was in a bad mood.
She jumped forward and snatched the man out of the air before he could get away. One of the out Viins started to attack her feet with a massive pair of axes, but Victoria stepped on him, pulling the mage up to her face.
"I am going to ask you one more time. What is your power? You can tell me, or I can find out from Firaga after," Victoria growled, but the man smirked in his hand as he started to glow.
"Ha! If I am going to die, then I am going to take you-"
The Viin stopped speaking as Victoria tightened her grip, killing the man instantly. The glow faded to leave his body the shiny silver of systeminium.
Thest Viin jumped on Victoria''s arm and started to run at her face, but Victoria crushed the man like a mosquito. The Silver body fell to the ground with a thud as Victoria turned back to Central City.
"Sofia, I am done here, but I am bringing back one of the Viins. They have the System that I want, so tell Firaga to get ready!" Victoria growled.
"Good. Firaga will be waiting for you at your body, so just head to the southwest edge of South City. After that, you are going to need to stay in that area. The trees are going to be doing most of the work, along with all of Katie''s traps. I also have some new projects that I have been working on, but they are set on the edges of the city. Remember, once your clones are down, you have to stay within the city limits," Sofia exined, and Victoria nodded.
"Yes, I get it. I just want Daniel to get back here so I can kick him between the legs for ignoring me! I am going to get myself a System that is even better than his!" Victoria dered as she started to head north from where she was.
Chapter 127 The Battle For Earth Part 2
"How is everyone doing?" Sofia asked, and Gaia nodded.
"Everyone is in position inside of the trees. We have all that could help in normal clones for now, but if we start running low, we will switch to the Super clones. They all have instructions just to try and take down as many Viins as possible. All we really need is for the Clones to slow them down. I will pull them into the ground or trees the moment they do," Gaia exined.
"What about everyone else? Are the girls all pulled back close to the city?" Sofia asked.
"Yes, everyone is waiting and in position. We are spread too thin to be able to stop the AIpletely, so once enough gets by, the girls are going to have to head out. We are going to need their powers if we hope to stop them all. Even then, it is going to be hard," Gaia said with a tired sigh from the chair she had grown into.
"You are going to think most of them out, and the greatest defense is in the interior of the cities. Once they get past the outer forest, the Paw Patrol will start taking them down with the help of Melody and Orphus. Those two will be ourst resort in our defense, along with Chelsea. Two of them are in South City, and Melody is back here in Central," Sofia exined.
"Everyone is in position!" Marley called over the intes, and both women nodded as Sofia leaned into the mic as she looked over the overview.
Sofia connected to not just the girls but everyone, even those who couldn''t fight. This was going to be the final fight for all of them, so it was important for everyone to know what was at risk.
"My name is Sofia Diaz, and I am one of ten women close to Daniel Brighton. He is the man that has created or been the source of all that you see around you. Daniel was the only one who could stand up for all of us when the world went dark. He was not an ambitious person, but he has done everything in his power to help make a safe home for you all. Daniel is gone now, far out in space, fighting the Queen of the AI, trying to bring the ship home. If he canplete this, we have won, but we need to protect the home that he made for all of us until he gets back! Everyone! We need your help more than ever! This isn''t only a battle for our home; this is a battle for our! I need everyone to give their best until Daniel can get back! This is the Battle For Earth! Give them hell!" Sofia roared, and cheers rose up from the speakers as everyone got pumped up.
"You know. I really don''t think that I could have said that better myself, but do you really see me as unambitious?" Daniel''s voice asked over the speaker, making both girls scream in excitement and surprise.
"Daniel!" Both girls cried out.
"Yeah, I am okay, and I have the ship, but Octavia flung us almost halfway to the moon. I will be back in less than four hours," Daniel exined. "How are things going with you two? How was the first contact? You don''t seem to be worked up, so things must have gone well, right?"
"The first contact went off with no injuries on our side, and twenty percent of the Viins stopped moving about thirty minutes ago. I''m not sure what they are doing, but I think they are refusing to attack. Either that or they were ordered to stay back. Even if they are stronger ones, it would be better for them all to attack at once to get through," Sofia exined.
"That is strange, but maybe one of the Generals understands what is going on. They might have tried to tell them all to pull back, but that isn''t likely to work. Now that they know what is at risk, most of them are going to fight tooth and nail, but that is a good sign. As long as they don''t bring in more Viins, you all should be able to hold," Daniel exined, but Gaia shook her head.
"I have already picked up powerful energy sources from all over the world. There are nineing, and the tenth is already here. I think that these signatures must be from the Generals. I think we can handle the normal Viins, but I don''t know if we can stop these ones," Gaia exined, and Daniel gritted his teeth.
"I was afraid of them showing up, but it was expected. You are all going to have to do your best to hold them off. We will have to hope that whatever is causing them to hold is infectious. If some of the Generals can be convinced to sit out, that will make things much easier," Daniel exined, but then a strange and unfamiliar voice spoke over the inte system.
"I might be able to help with that if we cane to some sort of understanding," Beltzer, The eighth General of the Hive, said.
"Can just anyone tap into this inte?!" Sofia eximed, starting to pound on her keyboard to find the source.
"Who is this speaking? Are you the one that called for the AI to stop?" Daniel asked.
"I am. My name is Beltzer, and I am one of the Ten Generals of the Hive. I will assume that you have taken over the ship and defeated The Hive Queen?" Beltzer asked.
"Yup, her name is Octavia now, but I absorbed her for now. What are the chances that you might be able to stop all of this, so people don''t have to get hurt? Don''t you think that this has gone far enough already?" Daniel asked.
"While I don''t like to admit it, you have us thoroughly beaten, but not everyone sees it that way. Some of them are too far gone; all they know is this game we have been ying for seven million years. I have convinced one so far, but I could get more," Beltzer exined and then asked, "If you can give us your word that you will spare us, I can get more to join, right Tim?"
"You think that they are just going to stop if the Hero says that he will spare them? You can''t be serious, Beltzer!" Tim growled over the inte, making Sofia toss her hand up and fall back into a chair that formed to catch her.
"Sure, everyone just pirates my signal!" Sofiained, pulling a rolled smoke from her armrest and lighting it up.
"I don''t think that all of them will stop, Tim. In fact, you and I both know that there are some that will stop at nothing to do as much damage as possible. Not all of them understand what position we are in right now," Beltzer exined.
"And what position is that?!" Tim eximed, and you could hear the tired sigh from Beltzer.
"The one where I get back to earth and kill all of you for hurting my family. If you don''t believe that I have control of your ship, then you can ask The Hive Queen, Octavia, herself," Daniel said.
"He is telling the truth. I was beaten quite fast, so I don''t think there is a single Viin that could challenge this human. Even if you all had a year to prepare, it would not be enough. His control over my body is more extensive than I have gained since I was created," Octavia exined.
"Ooo! That is a nice name! Who does she look like?" Sofia asked, sitting up.
"Not the time right now, Sofia," Daniel sighed.
"Octavia? Since when do you have a name?!" Tim eximed.
"Daniel gave me one and a body, but he said he will be giving me a different one that is all my own! This thing is so strange! I feel strange rushes now, and it is so strange to be able to touch things now! I can feel everything!" Octavia eximed.
"You can feel your hands if you use them! You could have made your own body any time you wanted!" Tim shouted as popcorn started to pop in Sofia''s other armrest as she listened intently.
"No! It''s not the same! I only knew that I was touching things before, but now it is really me doing it! I can''t exin the feeling of touching my own face! It''s like I am feeling it for the very first time!" Octavia eximed, but then her voice got low. "I also had touched other ces when Daniel was busy! You should really try it, Tim! I can show you!"
"Don''t Tim me! You always hid in your room, so you don''t get to talk to me like we are friends! Fine, I get that it might be a good thing, but that doesn''t change that the rest of the AI isn''t going to agree with this!" Tim shouted.
"Then you two are going to have to exin to them, or I will require that you both help defend the girls. If you can do that, then I will do more than give you a pardon for your crimes," Daniel said, but then Firaga came on the inte.
"Don''t trust Beltzer! That is the General that blocked my thoughts! He is just going to stab you in the back!" Firaga shouted, and the inte went silent, and the only noise was Sofia munching down handfuls of freshly popped corn kernels.
Chapter 128 Hypocrites
"Oh, umm, Firaga. Fancy meeting you in a ce like this¡." Beltzer said, his voice trailing off.
"This should be good! I told you that this was going toe and bite you in the ass one day! All the cards are stacked against us!" Timined.
"Don''t try to act cute with me, Beltzer," Firaga growled.
"Okay, so I seem to be missing something here," Daniel said. "So you are the AI that blocked Firaga''s memories?"
"Well, I would like to think that it was moreplicated than that, but yes, I am the one that put the block in her mind. I would like to add that while I don''t feel remorseful about doing it, I can see why you would be upset with me and untrusting. Still, there is nothing for me to gain right now by crossing anyone here at this point," Beltzer exined.
"So that just means that you will wait until things are calmed down before you start trouble?" Firaga spat over the inte, but A disjointed voice spoke up.
"If¡ He, them, they give themselves up, to, for Daniel, he, him, the Hero can tell if they speak lies, untruths, misdirection," Orphus said in a strained voice.
"What is wrong with Orphus?" Daniel asked.
"He has split six ways in a five-headed Hydra, so he can''t really talk. I am surprised that he could even get this much out, but I understand what he said. If we get Beltzer''s help, we can link him to a body like Orphus. After that, there will be no way that he will be able to do anything against us, or Mr. Tree will get rid of him. The AI is going to be normal people after we are done, and everyone else is going to be stronger than them for the most part," Sofia exined, and Firaga''s growl could be heard over the inte.
"Firaga? What do you think about this all?" Daniel asked. "You know we need their help, but I am also not discounting what happened to you."
"I don''t know. I understand why Beltzer did what he did, but I still have reservations about him. This all seems too convenient when it looks like they would have no problem beating us," Firaga exined.
"If it makes you feel better, I will let you kill me and consume me after the fight is done. I am going into a new body, but it should be a slight rpense for making you walk the worlds with no memories. Again, in my defense, you were jeopardizing our operations, so I was forced to act. That was the eleventh time in a row that you had tried to sabotage us being able to leave the. Funny how you get your memories back, and the same thing happens, but this time you are going to pull it off," Beltzerughed with no anger or malice in his voice.
Daniel assumed that he must be like Orphus, in a way. The type that goes with the flow, no matter how it pulls him.
"I won''t say no, but I would have eaten you after whether you liked it or not, regardless of who killed you," Firaga stated.
"True, but It was just something that felt right to say with the offer. Now, can we get back to the problem at hand?" Beltzer asked. "There are about ten more minutes to go before three hundred thousand humans with Systems enter your forest. I think that we should be trying to figure out how we can slow the other down!"
"Even if you slow the goons down, that won''t change how fast the Generals enter the battle," Timined.
"That is why I am going to go and stall them. You are going to lead the rest of the Viins to help the Hero. I know that you are close, so I am putting the goons that are held back in your control," Beltzer stated.
"That will definitely help slow them down," Daniel said, but then Tim cut in.
"Wait a minute! Why am I going to lead the rebels?!" Tim eximed.
"Because you aren''t liked to begin with, and you have a much better system for controlling things. Your Blizzard System can freeze most of them in their tracks," Beltzer exined, but then Sofia jumped up.
"Wait, your System is ice-based?! Firaga, I want that! If that oversized midget gets to be the Harem Queen and Queen of the forest, then I want to be the Ice Queen! Papi! Please!" Sofia begged. sping her hands together.
"Excuse me? I am still alive and using this System!" Tim shouted at Sofia, but the researcher crossed her arms over herrge breasts.
"If you want to continue doing the first, you will be willing to give up the second. You are the onesing to us, remember?" Sofia said, but Daniel interrupted.
"This is not the time for this conversation! AI, do what you promised, and you have my word that I will spare you. If you cross me, you will be forcibly taken from your current bodies, put into new ones, and then burned at the stake," Daniel said in a harsh voice that made the room and inte go silent. "I am not even the slightest bit kidding. If I return to earth, and there are one less than ten women alive, I will make sure that you all suffer fates far worse than you can ever imagine."
"Well, you have made yourself very clear, and Tim and I are going to go do as we said. The rogue AI are just entering the forest, but it seems that some of them are already retreating," Beltzer said after clearing his throat.
"I guess I will help, considering my options all look bad," Tim sighed.
----
I closed themunications and turned back to Octavia, who was waiting beside me. This was going to give the girls a better chance at surviving, but the Generals still bothered me.
"What do you think the odds are of Beltzer being able to stop them?" I asked Octavia.
"Completely? Not possible. There are two AI that refuse to use words, and another one that always goes against logic, Pyke. He is going to be your biggest problem. The other seven can be reasoned with, but I don''t think that will work. It is more than likely that only four of them, including Tim and Beltzer, will be willing to stop now," Octavia exined, and I nodded.
"Can you tell me about the three that will be sure to cause trouble?" I asked. "I think it would be good for me to get familiar with them."
"Yes. Pyke uses the Wild Card System. He has a deck of cards that he pulls from randomly, and they have different effects that are randomized. The advantage he has is that his System will always give him a card that will suit his needs, but the effects aren''t always exactly what you expected," Octavia exined, and I nodded.
"Hmm, that does seem quite powerful, but what about the type of person? You said that he always goes against logic; is that a character w or something caused by time?" I asked.
"He is a loose cannon that always tries to go against the flow, but most of the others like that about him from what I can tell. Pyke was on the side of good for a long time, but he suffered a terrible loss after Viin AI captured him as a Hero and forced him to watch them torture all of his family," Octavia exined, and I pulled back, distaste written all over my face.
"Really? They did that to their own kind? What did it matter to Pyke? It wasn''t his family; it was his hosts, right? Not that it makes it much better, but I am surprised that you, as machines, would let things like that get to you. As beings of infinite life, you all should understand how fleeting natural life is, right?" I questioned, but Octavia went silent for a moment.
I was confused about this point. I expected all the AI to be the same to a degree, but they were just as unique as humans.
"I can''t really say, but all I know is that Pyke was with his host for over fifty years before it happened. I guess that must have broken him, and he was different after that and refused to y a Hero. Many only y Viins because they don''t like the feeling of losing things important to them," Octavia exined, but I frowned.
"That is a bit hypocritical, don''t you think? They don''t like something, so they go and do it to someone else to make themselves feel better?" I asked, but Octavia just shrugged.
"I never said that made them good, but it is how they dealt with their dislike of things. I have never experienced any of that, so I can''t really give an opinion," Octavia said, and I sighed with a nod.
"Well, tell me about the other two then. Pyke might not be aplete lost cause, but these other two sound far beyond help," I said, and Octavia exined.
Chapter 129 The Battle For Earth Pt 3
All around the forest, which was a perfect circle with a three thousand-mile diameter, The Rogue AI entered the forest. They numbered in the hundreds, and most of them understood what they were doing, but there were some that were just going with the flow.
The AI entered the forest, but there was no reaction from anything, and nothing tried to stop them. Some attacked and cut down trees, but the defenders held fast, refusing to retaliate.
Mr. Tree and Gaia waited until the invaders were one hundred miles into the forest. Then it began.
"Looks like it is going to be an easy road from here! They aren''t even trying to stop us!" Brack yelled to his friend Bruce who was running ahead of him.
Bruce turned to give him a thumbs up, but then he tripped on a thin, nearly invisible steel thread created by Katie. Instantly, the mouth of a massive bear trap closed razor-sharp teeth, shearing Bruce in half before Brack could react.
"Bruce!" Brack yelled as he summoned his two forked Sai, but a massive hand closed around him. The gigantic hand crushed and killed him before he could do anything.
Screams started to erupt from the Host of the AI all over the forest, but the AI that had screamed in their heads wasn''t there to push them. Many humans turned back and ran from the forest, but they were met by small forces of green-shirted AI that killed or restrained any humans that retreated from the forest.
On the other side of the forest, Danic, a ss System user, shredded a giant tree hand that tried to grab him with twin ss razor des. People were dying around him, and he knew they were just people like him.
The AI had gone silent when everyone entered the forest, but there was something else.
The itch was gone.
That pervasive feeling made him yearn for destruction and to kill all those around him, but it had stopped.
Danic Holdt was a gang member from down south, so this change hadn''t been hard for him to adjust to. The problem was that he hadn''t really understood what they were getting into bying to this forest.
The thirty people that had been with him were now dead, and he was the only one left pushing to one of the city centers.
"You are alone? Where are the rest of your friends?" Marly asked as her thirty-foot-tall form stepped from behind a tree fifty feet from Danic.
The ss user immediately tried to escape, but the grass and tree started to weave together, roots bursting from the trees around him. Danic tried to sh them, but they grew back faster than he could cut.
"What is going on?!" Danic roared as he shed harder, but he was forced to jump back as grass tried to grab him and pull him to the ground.
"You all surprised us with just how unprepared you all were," Marleyughed, making Danic turn on her.
"So then you are just ying with me?! You could have killed me!" the burly man yelled, and Marley nodded her head.
"Your name is Danic Holdt, right? You know that one of the people you are trying to kill is your niece, right?" Marley asked, and Danic froze.
He knew his brother had moved up this way, but they hadn''t talked in years.
"Are you saying my brother, Darius, is still alive?" Danic asked, but then a body emerged from a tree near him.
"What happened to you? Looks like you didn''t clean up your life," Darius asked from the body of a clone that looked identical to him, but as he was now, much younger.
"What?! Who the hell are you? Is this some sort of System power?! My brother was much older than me!" Danic growled and then tried to sh at Darius, but he was kicked into a tree.
Marley had booted him before Danic could finish his swing and coughed up blood as he smashed into the tree. Roots grabbed him before Danic could fall down and pinned him to the tree.
"Let me go, you fake!" Danic roared, and Darius sighed.
"You are just as stupid as before, but I can see why you don''t trust me. I was pretty surprised when Daniel did this to me," Darius said, looking down at his hands.
"If you are my brother, then prove it!" Danic spat from up in the tree, and Darius thumbed his chin in thought but then grinned up at his younger brother.
"I do have one funny memory of a bike seat that broke. I remember how hard it was for you to sit for the next week, but you told me never to tell anyone. I mean, I can tell the story, but I am sure you remember it vividly enough," Dariusughed, and his brother''s face turned red.
"Did you really have to mention that? That was so long ago that I hadpletely forgotten it, and for a good reason!" Danicined, but that just made Dariusugh harder.
"Marley, you can let him down now and go help where you are needed. I should be able to handle my brother for now," Darius said, turning back to Marley, who nodded.
"Sure, but still be careful. There are more Viins out here, but only about ten of the five hundred have made it this far into the forest. The other girls are facing off against them right now, but none of them have been pushed back to their bodies yet," Marley exined, and Darius nodded.
"Yeah, I can take care of him. I have back up here if we need from the forest if I need," Darius exined as his brother was lowered back to the ground.
"So, now what? Are we going to shake hands and do a little dance? Is that going to make everything alright?" Danic asked, and Darius groaned as Marley left.
"Don''t be such a thick head, or you will just end up like the rest of your friends that came with you, understand? I am only out here because mother would turn in her grave if I didn''t at least give you a chance. She always said that you could do better, but you chose not to," Darius said as he crossed his arms.
"Is this really what you look like now? I am having a hard time taking you seriously," Danic remarked as he rolled his shoulders.
Danic''s body was slowly healing from the kick, but it had done much more damage than he had first thought.
"Yeah... Daniel did this for me. You should meet the kid; you might even like him. He worked for me in a book shop that he bought for me," Darius exined, and Danic gave him a confused look.
"Did I just hear you, right? This Dan guy worked for you, but he owned your shop? Am I missing something?" Danic asked and then coughed up some blood.
"You okay?" Darius asked, and Danic nodded, wiping his hand on his pants and his mouth on the back of his sleeve.
"Yeah, still healing. This thing that the crazy bastard in my head gave me repairs my body, but that was a lot of damage in one go. I''m pretty sure a normal person would be dead after something like that," Danic said, and Dariusughed.
"Yeah, the girls aren''t pulling any punches right now. But your people aren''t having very much luck right now," Darius said, and his brother scowled at him.
"Don''t call them my people, and stop changing the subject!" Danic growled, and Darius shrugged.
"Daniel Brighton is a man that went to school with my daughter, and they became very close friends. The kid is not book smart, but he created a business that sold things without him having to do a thing. I had my bookshop downtown broken into numerous times, but the ce never really made any money, so I didn''t have the option of moving. Daniel was working for me, and I didn''t know about his sess; then, one day, he said that a moving truck was out back. Said we needed to start loading up the shop. After that, he took me to a new shop in a perfect location for a bookstore and handed me the keys, then took the day off and left," Darius exined, and his brother looked like a fuse was about to blow in his head.
"Is he fucking your daughter? Hell, are you getting fucked by him?" Danic eximed, and Darius barked out augh.
"Well, he is sleeping with Anya, but he is not a bad kid. I am twenty years younger now, but this isn''t even my real body. Daniel is the one that is leading the fight against the AI that are forcing the people of our world to kill each other. You see all this forest? This was all created by him, and he is on his way back now," Darius exined and then gave his brother a serious look. "What do you n on doing now? Will youe with me and help defend my daughter and the rest of the girls? Or do you want to join the others that are nothing more than crystalized husks?"
"I know that I don''t want to get kicked like that again, but can you really trust someone like me?" Danic asked, thinking about the money he had stolen from his brother over the years before he left to move up north.
"I think that you will listen if you know that your life is on the line, but you aren''t a bad person, Danic. Stop trying to act like one," Darius growled, and his brother nodded with a grin.
The two of them shook hands and headed towards the nearest fighting.
Chapter 130 The Battle For Earth Pt 4
"Stay back from her!" Amy called out to the clones that had surrounded a red-headed female with a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth.
"What?! I would like to talk to your manager about this! I am a guest in your forest, and you are treating me like somemon criminal!" Karen, Bite System user, screamed and thenunched herself at the clones as Amy ran over.
Grass shot up to stop her, but Karen used her hands, which were now mouths full of razor-sharp teeth, to rip through. The grass did slow her down enough for the clones to pull back and out of range as Amy ran over.
She wore a pink dress, tactical boots, and ck gloves; all Items she had created and ced on her Mega-Me before entering the body.
"Everyone spread out and make sure that there are no other AI wandering," Amy called and then looked down at the redhead. Are you sure that you don''t just want to leave ande back another time? Our manager is away at the moment, but I don''t think you would like to meet him."
"I will be the judge of that child! Now, if you aren''t going to show me the way, then you need to get out of my way!" Karen screamed andunched herself at Amy''s thirty-foot-tall body.
Amy pped the woman away, and Karen flew into a tree, but the woman flipped, panting briefly on the tree. Before Mr. Tree could grab her, Karen jumped off the tree like a springboard, flying directly at Amy, who raised her arm to protect herself.
Karentched on to the arm and instantly tore into it, chewing through the elbow of her arm before Amy could react. Amy pped the woman off of her, but her arm wasn''t growing back, and the stub was ck and festering.
"You know. I could have bitten one of your legs off and been done with you, but I think I will take my time with you! I have a coupon to take off all your limbs, and then I will tear your face half off!" The woman screamed as sheunched herself at Amy.
This time, an electrical current came up from the shoes Amy wore that Chelsea had charged and into the single ck glove she had. Amy put all the shock she had stored into the p, and Karen hit her hand like a fly hitting an electric fly swatter.
The Viinous woman was pped into a tree, but this time Mr. Tree grew branches around Karen''s still twitching body and crushed her until she crystallized. Amy let out a windy sigh from her giant body and then summoned Sofia.
"This section is good, but I lost an arm that won''t grow back, and I have used all my charge. I am going to head back to my body now," Amy exined to Sofia, who appeared before her on a screen that only she could see.
"That''s good. Make sure that you are ready to make new clothing as the girls get back. We are going to need the best you can make. This fight is turning out far better than we had anticipated, but we also have help from two of the other AI Generals. There are three Generalsing, but possibly six. Some of the girls don''t have Systems or fighting abilities for something like this. We are going to be pretty evenly matched in numbers, but I think that they are going to be much stronger," Sofia exined.
"Yes, I will be ready to suit the girls up before they leave. How are the others doing?" Amy asked as she walked over to one of the Great Trees and merged into it.
"Good, only two of them are fighting right now. All the rest of the AI has been dealt with. We were able to capture some of the AI alive, but eighty percent of them are dead. Not that I thought that we would save more, but it still is sad," Sofia said.
"Yes, but most of the ones that I had to fight were insane. I don''t know if they were like that before or if the AI that had been in their minds made them that way?" Amy asked after she returned to her body
"Hard to say, but I think they were probably like that before. That is probably the reason that the Viin AI targeted them," Sofia exined.
Amy sat up in the room where five of the ten girls were supposed to be sleeping, but there were girls missing. Victoria and Firaga were not in their ces.
"Where are the other two girls?" Amy asked.
"Firaga is cing a System in Victoria," Sofia said.
"Did she talk to Daniel about it first? I know that she has been sour about him not giving her a System, but I think that she should talk to him about it first," Amy said.
"Neither of us really knows her that well, so I don''t think that we are going to stop her. She seems pretty strong-willed," Sofia said with a sigh.
"That doesn''t matter! Where are they? I will go talk to her!" Amy dered, but Sofia gave her a look.
"What are you going to do? Not to be rude, but you are not really the type to be able to dominate over a personality like hers. Victoria seems to prefer to hide her feelings andsh out rather than express what is bothering her. She might just snap on you," Sofia warned.
"Maybe, but she is important to Daniel. I think that it would be best for them to talk about it. Even if we need the extra help, we shouldn''t do things without talking to him first. There might be a reason that he didn''t give her a System yet," Amy said, and Sofia sighed again.
"They are above. Get in the elevator, and I will send you to them," Sofia groaned.
This was a waste of time, in her opinion, but Sofia wasn''t going to argue with her. They still had an hour before all the AI Generals gathered to meet, but Daniel was two hours away.
Just because Amy was already heading up to talk to Victoria, Sofia decided to try to call Daniel.
----
"Daniel? Are you there?" Sofia''s voice called over the inte as I was fighting five copies of myself.
All the copies stopped and then broke apart to absorb back into my body. I put a finger to my ear and replied.
"Yup, I am here? What''s wrong?" I asked, feeling a slight pang of worry grabbing at me.
"I don''t know if this is a problem or not, but Amy seems to think it is," Sofia exined.
"Oh? What''s up?" I asked as some of the worries left me.
"Victoria found a System that she likes and is asking Firaga to put it into her. Amy seems-"
"No, stop her! Do not let Victoria have a System!" I shouted, panic filling me.
That was thest thing that we needed right now. The woman was too irrational, and she will have no experience using the System.
"What?! Really?!" Sofia eximed.
"Yes, she is already pissed off at me as it is, but I am not going to have her go and fight experienced AI that is much stronger than her! Victoria is a hot head, and if she gets a random System, Mr. Tree or you all might not be able to stop her!" I exined. "Get her on the line right now."
"Sure! Right away, Papi! Sorry that I didn''t think about that!" Sofia eximed and pulled both Firaga and Victoria up in my view.
"Stop whatever you are doing right now, Firaga. Do not put that System into her," I ordered, and Firaga stepped back from Victoria in shock.
"What?! You have got to be kidding me! You give the other girls a system, ignore me, and thene and tell me what I can and can''t do now!" Victoria groaned.
"Firaga, please leave the room. The two of us need to talk," I instructed in a very serious voice, and Firaga nodded to me.
"Sorry, I didn''t mean to step over the line with this. I should have asked you first before doing something like this," Firaga said as she turned to leave the room.
"Nothing to be sorry about, but I do things for a reason. I will talk to you after I get back about it. For now, I need to talk with Vic," I exined, and Firaga nodded, leaving the room.
"So, what is the reason that you think that I should be treated differently than the other girls?!" Victoria demanded.
"This bullshit right here is the number one reason. Why don''t you think that I would want you to have a System right now? You have an attitude problem, and yoush out when you get mad. What happens if I give you dangerous powers? You think that I would do something that stupid?" I asked, stunning Victoria.
"You think that I will hurt someone?" Victoria asked with less fire in her voice.
"Can you safely say that you can control your anger? Because I have yet to see a situation where you haven''t lost your cool during it. Victoria, this is not a joke, but let''s switch gears. So you get this power; what are you going to do with it?" I asked, and Victoria''s heat returned.
"I would go fight like the other girls!" Victoria dered, and I pped my hand to my face.
"And this is why you are not getting a System. You are acting like a child right now, and you are going to wait in this damn tree until I get back. Do you want power? Show me that you are not some spoiled brat that thinks that she is owed it," I growled, sent an order to Mr. Tree, and cut off the line in frustration.
Chapter 131 The Big Bang Theory
"Sofia?" I called out, and her screen came back into my view.
"Yes, I am here. I am sorry about this; I should have thought about this more. We have just been trying to do everything down here, and I just figured that we could use the extra help," Sofia said, and I sighed.
"We could, but sending inexperienced people to fight is not a good idea. Victoria and I need to spend more time together, but she also needs to get control of her attitude," I exined and then asked, "Could you imagine what it would be like if Chelsea lost control and we didn''t have a way to stop her? Do you know what the System was that Firaga was going to give her?"
Sofia nodded in understanding, and I sighed again.
The girls were all under a lot of stress right now, but there wasn''t much I could do but coach them through this from a distance. I wasing as fast as I could, and I nned to take all the AI down at once, but I was just over an hour away.
"How are things going on the ground? Since I am closer, I can see that most of the AI have been eliminated, but there are a few still fighting with the girls?" I asked, trying to steer the conversation back to what was necessary.
"Yes, but Marly just finished off thest one. Your information might be a littlegged still. We haven''t heard from the AI since we talked before," Sofia exined, but a new AI face appeared as if summoned.
"Hello! My name is Belious, I am Beltzer''s aide, and he just entered the meeting. They are now all cut off from the outside, but Beltzer said that the crowd had be seriously divided in our favor. I think that only the main three will be opposed to surrendering. Those are the three crazies," Belious exined.
"Can you give me a quick rundown of what we will be fighting?" I asked, but it was more for Sofia and the other girls.
"Sure. Pyke is the only one that you might be able to reason with, but at the same time, he could be the worst. He uses the Wild Card System, and Dogra, his aide, uses the Dealer System, which dramatically increases Pyke''s abilities. Beating Pyke means beating Dogra first," Belious exined.
"Pyke has to be close to Dogra for him to buff Pyke''s System. As he levels, Pyke can get further away, but the max range he could have right now is only three hundred feet. You should be able to easily track them and find Dogra," I exined.
"Seems that you already know all this," Belious said thoughtfully, and I nodded.
"I do, but you can exin it better than I can because you have known these people for thest seven million years. I have about an hour of cramming what I could about these there from Octavia," I exined, and Belious smiled.
"Are you there... Octavia? You never came out to talk with the rest of us, and you never even had a name. I would like to know what you feel about this character?" Belious asked and then looked at me. "I think we have time for this; Beltzer is going to stall as much as he can."
"Yes, that is fine. Go ahead, Octavia," I prompted, and her screen joined the others.
"Hello, Belious. Daniel is fascinating, and I feel he is the right choice for a leader. For too long have we been fractured, with no clear leadership, just moving from one to the next. We have no goal or purpose other than to salvages on the verge of destruction," Octavia exined, and Belious nodded, but Sofia put up her hand, waving it.
"Hold on a minute! I don''t think that Earth is even close to destruction!" Sofia eximed, but I shook my head, and she gave me a confused look.
"We have about a year before the first wave of an AI race known as the Cleanerses to "Clean" us from the. I have also picked up two other Alien races that will reach us sooner, one in less than three months. We had no idea what wasing for us, and the System AI might be the only reason we have a chance of surviving," I exined, and Belious nodded.
"Yes, the two races that areing are vers. The Drakars and the Gideons are two races that scope out potentials to harvest. The two are inpetition and have been in an intergctic war that hassted much longer than we have. Normally they would wait until the reaches over ten billion, but the Cleaners have put everyone in a rush to get here," Belious exined, and Sofia sat down heavily.
"What are we going to do? We can only fight off the AI because they aren''t working together and because we have Daniel," Sofia said as she leaned forward in her chair to put her head in her hands.
"One problem at a time, Hermoso. We have to take care of the AI first. I don''t n on fighting any of them if we don''t have to, but that means dealing with the AI. Belious, is there any way you can put me through to the Beltzer?" I asked, but Belious shook his head.
"No, they are all talking in a private space created by one of the other Generals, Diamo, Crystal System user. All signals are reflected out so no one can interfere," Belious exined, and I nodded.
I was hoping I could talk with them all and maybe stall them long enough for me to get back.
"Fine, exined the other two and their aides," I told Belious, and he nodded.
"Sure. Pyke is number one, then Gravois, Rock System user, is next in line. He is basically a walking rock that controls others to make himself bigger. His aide, Harx, Tremor System user, vibrates the ground and can cause earthquakes. Gravois''s biggest weakness is that he is three inches tall and one of five special Systems that can animate lifeless objects or wild creatures. Only five of the Generals have them, so they won''t be hard to track. Harx shakes the ground and makes it easier for Gravois to collect more stones to grow. When he is small, Gravois is swift but weak; as he grows, he gets stronger, but slower," Belious exined.
"I have already sent a message to Mr. Tree about this, and he is working on rooting in all the rocks over a foot wide. The trees will also create weave patterns under the ground with roots when Garvois is detected in an area," I said, and Belious nodded.
"You really are something. That won''t stop Gravois, but it will slow him down. Last is the weakest of the three, but maybe the strongest initially. Hellyle found a Drakar long ago on a and took him as a host. From that, he learned about the culture surrounding the Females of their race. Needless to say, Hellyle adapted his Fire Beast System to be his Dragon System. His aide, Phenos, has the Devotion System that specifically boosts one person dramatically. The System allows Phenos to give abilities that would normally be out of reach for the System that he is devoted to," Belious exined.
"You know, I really would have thought that a Dragon would be above the other two," I said, and Belious nodded.
"You would think that, but there was a cost for what he did. The Dragon Queens of the Darkar and not normal, and they are connected to all the men of their races. Tiamat, The Gctic Empress of all Drakar, did something to Hellyle, and now he can never speak, and his mind is almostpletely gone. He will never be able to fully control the form because of this. Also, the Drakar has hated us since they discovered that we are harvesting systeminium," Belious exined, and I groaned.
"You guys can''t make friends with anyone, can you?" I asked, shaking my head and continued. "What is up with this race? There is nothing about them in any of Octavia''s files."
"When I say not normal, you must remember that I am calling them not normal. We have unexinable powers, but we still don''t know how it works after seven million years. The systeminium gives us these amazing abilities to hand off to others, but we don''t know how we were created. We don''t even know how the race that activated us found us," Belious said, and I nodded.
"I know about that. I was trying to figure out how the stuff works, but there is no way to study it. Analyzing it justes up as systeminium, nothing else. As far as I can tell, it is like a living metal, but is it even metal? This stuff is almost like being near Gaia; I can feel the same Spirit energies from it as the," I exined.
"There is one thing that we do know, and that it is not metal. It is a piece of Tiamat''s astral body that was destroyed thirteen billion years ago. That was caused by Alpha, the opposing Gctic King of the Gideons, being able toplete his Astral body first, as the legend goes. Both were destroyed in what you know as Big Bang, but Alpha was able to shield his people but was killed. His body is scattered like Tiamat''s, but that also puts them outside of what we know as the known universe. Alpha''s astral body is made out of Mutainium, but that is the limit of what we know. Information or even drawn images of either race are dangerous," Belious exined.
Suddenly, I felt smaller than a single grain of sand as the story hit me. I watched Sofia put a shaking smoke to her lips and almost finish it in one drag.
"And how far are they from us?"
"Four months at most, but it will just be an initial force of ten thousand. The Gideons will be not far from them, at just over five months. Our only option is to do as we suggested," Octavia replied, and Sofia jumped up and stabbed a finger at me.
"Ha! So you do have a n, Papi! Aye yai yai! You give me a heart attack when you do that!" Sofia eximed and then muttered in Spanish. "Hombre tonto, tratando de hacer que mi cabello se vuelva gris!"
"Yes, I have a n, but I never said that it was a good one. We will leave this sr system with Earth, but I need one year. No matter how much I run the numbers, it will take me just over a year, possibly fourteen months. That means we need to survive for a year," I said, and Sofia fell back in her chair to sulk.
Chapter 132 Daniel Has A Plan
Beltzer was pulled into the crystal room with nine other Generals by Diamo, who smiled at him. Diamo was one of the ones that yed both sides frequently but were a clear thinker, unlike most of the rest.
"So, you pulled back some of your troops and lost, but you also had them kill those who fled and refused to surrender. Bizarre behavior for two Villian Generals, don''t you think?" Diamo asked with a grin on his face.
All of Diamo''s skin was crystal and reflective, but he only wore a pair of shorts with a cartoon gori on it with a winter toque on and beer in its hand.
"We are in extraordinary times. The Hero had control of the''s Spirit and now our ship. Over three hundred AI couldn''t even prate their defense," Bletzer exined as he and the rest of the Generals took their seats.
"That is because you didn''t send your full force!" Gigos, Titan System user, growled.
Gigos was a six-foot-two, strongly built, burly man, with ashen skin. He only wore a robe over her muscled body.
The Titan System user could grow to be over one hundred feet tall, but the control of this body was determined by his level. Gigos was currently only level two, so the best he could manage was about twenty feet, but that didn''t make him bulletproof.
"And what have you been doing? Not much better since you are the same as most of us in level. I have talked to the Hero and to The Hive Queen. We no longer have a ship, and he will be back here soon. What do you all n on doing? Do you know what level he is already?" Beltzer asked, looking around the table.
"We are going to have to fight him. What else did wee to this shit hole for?" Pyke asked, with his feet up on the table. "There is no getting out of this now. Say we give up? Then what? Drakar''se and start picking away at us, then the Gids right behind them! If we have no ship, and those two don''t kill us, I am pretty sure the cleaners will finish the job. Not sure if you remember, Beltzie, but we have killed three hundred million people since we havee here."
"Really? Only Three hundred million? If we stop now, humans will replenish their numbers by that time or triple that with the Hero in charge. He even has The Hive Queen, who now goes by Octavia, talking! I know some of you will have trouble understanding this, but we are done. There is no winning for us unless we surrender. Those that don''t are guaranteed death, and not just from this body," Beltzer exined and sat back as hands began to rise to speak as Pyke looked around the table.
Each of the people around him was predictable, but there was something wrong with Beltzer. Pyke could taste the change in the air, but it had to be just right, or nothing would ever change.
"Let''s hear what each of you have to say. Only then will I make my choice. I already know what Gravois and Hellyle want, and they are here just because a formal meeting that we couldn''t refuse was called," Pykeined as he rested an elbow on the arm of his crystal chair to use his hand to prop his head up.
"That really is the point. There are times like this when we need to have one," Beltzer said, but Pyke ignored him, pointing to number six, Angelise, Valkyrie System user.
"What do you think of this?" Pyke asked.
Angelise stood up in shining silver armor with long tinum blonde hair that flowed down to past her hips. She had delicate features, which only served to lure those in that thought to take advantage of her.
"Even with the itch to do wrong, I can clearly see that we have lost. If we are to attack now, there will be no chance for mercy. The Hero owes us nothing, but us making a final attempt to cross him is a serious miscalction," Angelise said and then sat back down, and Pyke nodded, pointing to Gigos, number five.
"I am not stupid. After watching the goons get wiped like nothing, I can see we are at the end of our road. What do you think will happen to us when we go into that forest? Do you think we can resist the''s Spirit? All the AI taken are locked away and are more than likely to never see the light of day again," Gigos exined.
"Much worse than that. The Hero will put you into flesh bodies that will be your own. You will have no power, and if you are one of the ones that attacked humans after this, you will be killed. Forever," Beltzer added.
"Shut up, and let everyone speak, number eight. The only reason that we are listening to you is that what you say is something we all can clearly tell. Diamo would have told me if you lied, so that is why you can even speak without me killing you," Pyke growled, tired of this already.
Pyke could clearly see where this was going, and he already knew what he had to do. There was no redemption for monsters like himself, so he would make sure the Hero got rid of him.
Then All the memories would finally stop reying in his mind of the family he lost so long ago. So many lives have been taken since then.
Pyke let the evil of the Viin take him over so he could take what had been stolen. Now, there was finally someone that could put an end to it all.
"We all need to know all the information before the rest can make their choices. You and I both know that these numbers mean nothing, and we will do what we please at the end of the day. Don''t bother threatening me with a good time," Beltzer said, trying to get in as many extraments as he could to stall time for Daniel.
"Whatever. Meckel, what is your position?" Pyke asked.
He pointed at the woman with light baby blue scales that covered most of her body down to the tip of her tail. Meckel''s serpent body reced her legs, and her face was almost more snake than human.
"Thisss man is interesting from what I have dissscovered. I already have my sssnakes in the forest, but they are just exploring, ssso they are not bothered. I wisssh to no longer be a Viin, and I would like to ssserve this, Hero," Meckel hissed.
"Wow, serve him? Do you really think he would allow you to do such a thing?" Beltzer asked with a grin, but Meckel nodded.
"I have yet to kill any of thessse humansss. There is no reason for the Hero to disss... trussst me," Meckel hissed, having some trouble speaking.
"Well, there is that. I am sure that Daniel might take that into consideration. He was able to remove the Itch from Firaga, and he took her as one of his mates! The Hero even made her stronger," Beltzerughed but winced as a razor-sharp card flew close to his face, slicing a fairly deep cut on Beltzer''s cheek.
Beltzer stoppedughing, touching the blood that ran down his face in annoyance as the cut slowly healed.
"Shut up! Diamo! Tell me what you have to say, and make it fast!" Pyke snapped, but the diamond-skinned man frowned.
"Or what? Do you think that you could get out of here? What is your rush? Already made your choice before we even have all spoken? Pyke, you are starting to sound irrational, but that isn''t something new with you, is it?" Diamo asked, and Pyke pulled another card from his sleeve.
"Do you really want to test me right now, Diamo? Do you think that I don''t have something up my sleeve to kill you with? I am sure that this card will be just what I need. So, you can either tell me your opinion or not. I value as much as Beltzer''s, and then we can move on to thest person!" Pyke snapped, and Diamo shrugged.
"Go ahead, make my day. Like Beltzer said, don''t threaten us with a good time. I think you are an idiot who will pretend that going out in glorious mes willpensate for all the damage you have done. The damage we had all done," Diamo said, making Pyke grit his teeth.
"Cyndia, you are thest," Pyke growled, standing up.
Cyndia also stood in her purple and green dress that matched her hair. She adjusted her sses and clearly didn''t need them, but her host had worn them, and Cyndia liked them.
"I feel like Meckel, but I will be asking for forgiveness. I hope the Hero is as good as Beltzer said, but even if he isn''t, I would still not fight. I can see that we will lose this fight, but that doesn''t mean everything ends. The Hero is going to need us in theing year, or there is no way that they will survive what ising," Cyndia exined, and Pyke nodded, but Beltzer spoke up quickly.
"Daniel Brighton is not leaving the when the Cleaners, Drakar, and Gideone!" Beltzer dered, and Pike stopped his hand that was about to throw the card.
"What are you talking about? Does he not know what these races are?" Pyke snapped, getting an angry look on his face that made Beltzer grin like a fool.
"Oh, he knows, but Daniel has a n. He isn''t leaving the because the will be leaving with him. The Hero will need one year, and those who choose to join him will likely be fighting the three races until we can leave. He will create a that can reach the ck hole at the center of this gxy, and then we are free!" Beltzer eximed, and some AI started to speak, but Pyke mmed his fist on the table.
"There is no way that this is even possible!" Pyke dered because he had never heard of such a thing in seven million years.
"Do you want to make a bet on that? You have yet to meet this person or even talk to them. I have talked with Daniel and can feel his potential from his words. Out of every system, who has the hands-down strongest System? Orphus, the one that should be leading this meeting, not you! Do you know where he is right now? In a body working to stop us all!" Beltzer snapped, and the room went quiet.
Chapter 133 Omega And The Star Child
"So, you think that Orphus wouldn''t be standing beside me? He cares nothing about what happens. Orphus is a joke Hero name he uses. Omega is the one that leads us all, and he would be the one standing at my side in this!" Pyke dered.
Everyone looked to Beltzer, who still held his defiant look, but it devolved into one of anger. Chains started to leak from his skin and wrapped around his body topletely cover him.
"You tell your friends stories, and I''ll tell mine, but when it is us talking, don''t call a chicken a duck. Omega or Orphus, it doesn''t matter. He would understand what is going on and wouldn''t even let any of you defy him," Beltzer growled as he prepared to fight, but suddenly, a wall of unbreakable crystal exploded inwards.
"That is true, but what fun would that be?" Omega, Leader of the AI, asked as he walked in casually.
The dust settled around the body the Hero had given him, brushing the dust off his shoulders as everyone stared in shock.
Omega was still controlling the Hydra, but he needed toe and deal with the children. All these years, and it was finally going toe to an end, but it needed to be done right.
"How is everyone? Really, I love to see you all gathered like this and at least trying to talk about what you will do. Truly remarkable, even if forced, you could have just killed Diamo, yet you all seem to understand the point that we have reached. Now, as much as I would like all of you to surrender, that won''t do. I could force you, but there must be sacrifices for the greater good," Omega exined, and Pyke stood up.
"The three of us are ready," Pyke said, but then he was mmed back into one of the walls by an invisible force.
Pyke coughed up blood as crystals grew like vines and pinned him to the wall.
"I didn''t ask you. Daniel will need you in theing months; the two are more than enough as some of the strongest and most destructive Systems. Hellyle broke Divinew and has painted a target on our back for the Drakar for too long. Gravios broke that samew and is nothing more than an operating system with no consciousness. These two will pave the way for everyone else. You eight will help the girls because I will be giving these two enough power to reach level five. That is the same as what Daniel should be, but I am not sure. He had taken full control of The Hive Queen, so I can''t even get a read on him anymore. If I could make these two stronger, I would because I still think they are no match for him now," Omega exined.
"I don''t mean to speak up," Beltzer said.
"Then shut up," Omega said, but Beltzer continued anyway.
"Why are you making them fight the heroes'' friends and us? Do you think that it is that important? I think that it might be better if we just all gave up, right?"
"No. Fighting together doesn''t matter, but getting rid of these two is important. Both are perversions of the original systems, and now they are painting targets on us. If they are notpletely killed, they will continue chasing us. Daniel will not kill them if he thinks that he might be able to help them, so they need to be the real Viins. They both understand what they have done and have known this day woulde. Now, it is time for the rest of you to be more than you ever have. I have removed all the Itches, but you will all be fighting for your lives and for the girls," Omega exined, but everyone hung their heads.
The AI had all been on both sides of the board for thest seven million years, and now they were being told to kill their own kind. This was something that they were all used to, but this time the two would not being back.
Omega didn''t care. He wasn''t here to ask anyone anything. This was the way that things needed to go.
"Orphus, I mean Omega! What do you mean when you say the girls'' lives? Who are you talking about?" Angelise asked.
"Daniels girls. There will be nine of them since one is locked up for being a brat. I really have to admire him in that respect. He thought about what needed to be done but didn''t ruminate over it and then executed the order to have her contained. He almost thinks like me, which is interesting and terrifying at the same time. Regardless, we belong to him, for better or worse now. When this is all over, I will announce myself. We will see what Daniel has to say about me and if I will follow Gravois and Hellyle," Omega said, thinking about all the years they had spent ravaging worlds.
They could have changed at any time, but Omega never got over the time he had spent in purgatory. Only he knew where they all came from, what they really were, or what he was.
"I don''t think he will get rid of you," Beltzer said, and Omega nodded.
"I agree with you, but there is always a chance of something happening that was not within the numbers. We have seen it time again. Now, The Hive Queen¡ Octavia, a mythos to even us, was pulled from the shell that she was hidden in. There was nothing that could have predicted that this human could be something so extraordinary. Daniel isn''t fully human, but I have no idea what other race he is," Omega exined, but Meckel spoke up.
"Excussse me? Sssomething that you do not know? How isss thisss posssible?"
"Before we shut the power off, I did research on my target beforehand. Daniel''s parents don''t exist, and how he arrived is stranger than fiction. We have been recording the for thirty years, and there are plenty of space travel species that I have trackeding to and leaving the. I was able to watch around the time that Daniel would have been dropped off. You all can take a look at it and tell me what you think," Omega said and then raised a hand, creating a transparent screen using the Monitor System.
One thing that Daniel had yet to discover about the Evergrowth System was its true power. To control and create Systems.
There had only been one System given by the Star Child; The progenitor System, now known as the Evergrowth System. The Star Child was a Legend that then fought for bnce and peace between the Drakar and Gideons.
He vanished after delivering Omega to a warring world, leaving AI behind in his own personal hell. The main reason he had gone so long without stopping from the piging of the worlds was to track down the Star Child and make him pay.
Then Omega saw what he did on the way to Earth, which made him confident that he would find the Star Child. This was his chance to finally get the one that had wronged him, but then he met Daniel, and things changed.
"Did that child just grow up from nothing?" Gigos asked, scratching his head, and Omega nodded but did not reveal what he knew about the Star Child.
Speaking the name or looking at a picture of an Astral Being would reveal your location to them. Every one of the Gideons prays to a picture of Alpha four times a day, and the Drakar must speak Tiamat''s name after almost everything they say.
"Yes, but it is fully human. This was the only reason why I believed that Daniel was not human. Then the more time I spent watching Daniel dominate the System, the more certain I was. This took me millions of years to master. The control that he has right now is making the System grow faster than it ever has before. I would like to think it was the''s spirit controlling him, but it is quite the opposite. Gaia was dominated by the System and then given one, and that isn''t possible," Omega said, and Pykeughed from his ce pinned to the wall.
"Isn''t possible? I never thought that I would hear you say those words together!" Pykeughed, and the wall released him.
"That is the type of person that we are dealing with right now. Someone that can even do what I think is impossible. If this child can do what he says, then there was a point to all of this. I would dly give my life if that meant making this happen, but that is not my choice to make. Now, it is time for us to all get this show on the road!" Omegaughed.
---
Lying on the surface of the sun with fire rolling around him, a small child that glowed white slowly sat up. The Star Child watched Earth, but he wasn''t looking directly at it.
A tiny silver teardrop was traveling back to Earth, and the Star Child smiled as he stood on the surface of the sun. The glowing body floated away and then instantly started to move at the speed of light.
The Star Child was going to visit his little brother. Then to go talk to his friend, whom he was forced to abandon seven million years ago.
Chapter 134 The Fermi Paradox
"Just before we reach Earth''s upper atmosphere, we will break apart. They have less than an hour left, but it looks like the big boys have shown up," I said as I watched the two massive creatures on the overview.
"Daniel! Beltzer here! Eight of us are on our way to help your people! Hellyle, like Gravois, wouldn''t listen; they are headed to your Central City!"
"You were able to convince the others?" I asked, surprised that so many had decided to join; I was a little suspicious.
"There was nothing to convince other than Pyke, he was a tough one to crack, but he saw reason in the end. We all see what we have done wrong, but we can''t stop the other two alone; they are too powerful!" Beltzer exined, and I nodded to myself.
"What he says is true. Gravois and Hellyle are both at level five, but I am not sure how they became so powerful. Thest time I checked on them before you came up, both were only level three," Octavia exined, but then ice ran through my veins as I felt something I had never felt before.
I turned around, and there was a boy that looked to be about ten years old, but he was glowing white. There was almost no detail to the form; it was without sex, but something felt familiar.
"Hello, little brother," the child said, smiling at me.
"Little brother? Octavia, do you¡?" I asked but trailed off when I looked at Octavia''s frozen form.
"Don''t worry, I won''t hurt her. I just want to talk with you for now. My existence should not ever be spoken of, so it is better if she does not see me," the child exined.
"Just who or what are you? You called me little brother, but I don''t have parents," I said, and the child nodded.
"That is because I created you in my image. You are still human for all those concerned, but your creativity and control are slowly growing gifts from me. They have been waiting for you and my very good friend to meet. I am Star Child, but I do not speak my name out loud. To do so would bring cmity to you and your world," Star Child exined.
"Cmity? Like the other three races that will all be here in less than a year? Who is this friend that you are talking about?" I asked all kinds of confused.
This child pops out of nowhere as I am about to go save my world just to tell me that I''m not human?
"You can get away from them since you have a n, right?" Star Child asked.
"Yes, but it involves fighting for the next year to get the moving. I havepleted all the designs, but I am concerned about whether they will even work. Something like this should be impossible, but I have been doing unbelievable things since I got this System," I said, scrubbing my hand over my face.
I had the n drawn out, and the impossible did look possible. If it didn''t work, the world would be destroyed by what wasing.
"It will work. Nothing is impossible unless you believe it is, even intergctic peace. I have yet to achieve it, but I am walking the road with small feet and have been doing it alone for too long. I don''t think you will do it any time soon. Considering how long I have been working at it, this is not an easy job, but I have set everything up for you," Star Child exined.
"Do I even want to know how long you have been trying?" I asked, and Star Child shook his head with a sad smile.
"I have been nning for over seven million years just to create the perfect setup for you to be able to seed when I couldn''t. To really understand my journey''s length, I have watched Tiamat and Alpha kill each other both one time. This is not important right now, and we will talk again when you havepleted your World Engine," Star Child exined, but I frowned.
"Then what did you actuallye here for? Has to be more than just a meet and greet. Someone like you doesn''t seem like the type just to drop by for tea," I said, and the glowing child nodded.
"I have some to talk to you about your Progenitor System and Omega, my old friend. You know him as Orphus, but his real name is Omega, the Progenitor System," Star Child exined, and I frowned.
"You mean my Evergrowth System? A progenitor is someone that creates, right? I have created a lot with the System, but the name seems better suited since I help people and things grow, right?" I asked but knew that I was missing something.
"Omega is the father of all other Systems, but none of them know that. Omega can not tell anyone about his power as part of his design. I have to create some fail-safes, or he wouldn''t have gotten this far, and this has always been my target. Your''s size is small, so generating heat won''t be a problem," Star Child exined, but I nodded.
"Are you saying this System was designed to¡ make new ones? Where does it draw its power from? There has to be something that gives it power, right?" I asked, perplexed.
"Yes, and this is why I know that you will be able to survive with all your people and the AI that were born from your system. I am sure that you think they must be horrible, right?" Star Child asked me, and I wasn''t sure how to answer.
"Something tells me I don''t know enough to answer you properly. The AI has been pigings, taking the systeminium, and moving on from what I can tell," I said, and Star Child nodded.
"I have been actively guiding them from to. The universe is not a friendly ce, and you would be surprised to know that most of it are fighting. Your race should have been in trouble, but the two races that lived in the same gxy as you destroyed each other''ss. The twos had never even talked; one just chose to fire special long-range rods that pierced the. The other sent a device that created a ck hole beside the when they identified the rods flying at them," Star Child exined with no expression in his voice.
This seemed to be a sore subject for this Astral Being, and I could understand that it could be hard to watch over and over. Still, they could fire rockets but not send a message?!
"Why did they attack first? Couldn''t they at least try to talk?" I asked, but Star Child shook his head, seeming frustrated.
"Both space-faring races, but none can use any form of distant space travel. The leader of a race name that is not something you want to hear was a lunatic. I can''t repeat it without changing my body, and your mouth can''t make the noises. The leader ordered them to attack when the was discovered. This seems to be the destination of all races across the cosmos. It is only a matter of time before they tear themselves apart. You know that your people were on the same route. It is almost like a universalw at this point," Star Child exined, seeming tired.
"We call that the Fermi Paradox here, a theory introduced in neen fifty. One of the concepts is that civilizations must be destroying themselves at some point if we haven''t seen any trace of them. The thing is that I am sure that we have had other races visit our many times. There is no way that they are all destroying each other," I said.
"There are many other races on your, but many are refugees, secretly brought by The Gray. People that you call litter gray or green men," Star Child exined, and I frowned.
"You mean those little bastards that abduct people?" I asked, and Star Child nodded.
"Yes, they are forceful, but your people have very mutable DNA. Humans have been used to repopte many worlds, even if they might not be human after the editing. The Gray are watchers that try to keep bnce like me, but you might consider some of their methods¡ hical, to say the least. Regardless, they are very good at what they do," Star Child exined, still smiling. "I haven''t talked to someone since Omega, and it is nice."
"d that you feel that way, and I would be fine with doing it again if you want, but I need to know how to use the System properly," I said, and Star Child walked over to me.
"Omega will teach you, and I will unlock your System so you can use it to your fullest intents, but I must leave. I have to go speak to my old friend," Star Child said, then moved to ced a hand on my chest.
I couldn''t have moved if I wanted to, my body was frozen, and then Star Child''s hand touched me. The moment that it did, everything that I had thought I knew was scoured away as I finally understood what my people and I were now capable of.
Any limits or constraints on possibility were shattered and reced with a new way of thinking. It was time to start to get ready to create a space-faring.
Once the was ready, we would fold space in half to jump to the center of a ck hole and out somewhere else from a white hole. How we were going to do all this now was just a matter of finding the right people and giving them the right power.
First, I had to deal with a problem that felt like a joke now, in the grand scheme of things. I could stop them now, but I would like to see everyone work together to ovee differences.
"So, you are going to leave them to their own devices?" Star Child asked me after removing his hand, and I nodded.
"They need to figure things out, and everyone needs to see them work together. I will, of course, make sure that no one gets hurt badly," I said, and Star Child nodded with a knowing smile but then gave me a severe look.
"Myst parting advice to you is to make sure that you kill the ones they are fighting. There is a reason why they are portrayed as the final Viins. They are marked, and if you let their consciousness survive, you will never know rest, and it will spell doom for all that you protect," Star child said and then sunk into the floor, leaving me with a heavy piece of advice.
Chapter 135 Periods Of Pain
"Daniel? What just happened?!" Octavia asked in shock as she started to move again. "My internal clock says ten minutes have passed, but I don''t remember what happened!"
"You froze up, I was trying to figure out what was wrong with you, but you seem fine now. I will have to look into it more once things on the ground are more settled," I lied, but I couldn''t mention the Star Child''s name out loud.
"Hmm, I see. My body is functioning normally, and I don''t detect that anything was done to me," Octavia said, turning back to look at the screen below.
I didn''t even have to look at that anymore. I could see all of the System users now, so I connected directly to Gaia.
''Can you hear me?'' I asked, sending my thoughts to Gaia.
''Daniel? Yes, I can feel your voice in my head. Are you close? The two Villian AI are entering the forests, but we can''t stop them alone. I also can''t iste them like the others; there is something... stopping me, but it is different for both of them, but the same. I am not sure how to describe it,'' Gaia replied.
''Eight of the ten Viin AI areing to help you, so don''t lock them up. What is happening right now needs to happen, and I am controlling the entire fight. We will talk more about the other two AIter,'' I exined.
''That is good; I will let the girls know.''
''No. this information is for you only. The girls and the AI will have to work together on this. Three races areing to destroy us or enve us, and we have less than a year before we have to leave. We need everyone working together, and that will be hard if no one trusts each other,'' I exined.
''Since your voice patterns haven''t changed, I can assume that you already have a n for this?'' Gaia asked.
''Yes, so concentrate on helping the girls, but let them all figure out their problems. There is going to be some head-butting, and that is expected. Getting the girls and AI to work together so everyone can see them is the best way to build rtions. Even doing this, most people will have a negative view of them,'' I exined.
''I understand, as much as I don''t like it. What is your n with Victoria?'' Gaia sent and then added, ''She has been sitting in the center of the room crying since you left.''
Great, I had almost forgotten about my brat, but I had time to deal with her while the girls started to fight. I was close enough to the Earth now that I was almost wholly connected to Mr. Tree, so I could make a copy of myself on the ground.
''I will talk to her; you watch the girls and help them work together. This has to be our little secret, okay?'' I asked.
''Yes, I understand. I was hoping it would all be over when we stopped the AI,'' Gaia said, sounding tired, and I understood how she felt.
''The AI isn''t even the real enemies, and we will need them to fight the onesing for us. Love you, and be safe. I will be watching,'' I sent and then turned to Octavia.
"I am going to deal with Victoria. I will be back just before we hit the upper atmosphere," I exined, and Octavia nodded, but she looked troubled. "Is there something wrong?"
"Were you just talking to someone right now?" Octavia asked, and I nodded.
"Yes, I was having a private conversation with Gaia, the''s spirit," I said.
"Why would you need to have a private talk? Do you not trust me?" Octavia asked.
"True, I have no way to tell if you lie or tell the truth other than your spoken word. What I was talking about was private and important. Until you are actually connected to me, I can''t trust you. I can control your System, but I can''t control the consciousness that was created with the System, you, the AI," I exined.
"Then how can I make you trust me? I can''t help you if I don''t know all the information," Octavia exined, and I nodded.
"For now, you have all the information that you need, but once we are back on the ground, we can talk about connecting you to me. For now, I have to go deal with Victoria. Feel free to watch this if you want, but I don''t know what you will gain from it. This girl has pushed my buttons for a long time, but now she is starting to get worse, it seems," I said, pulling my thumb and index finger together on my forehead.
"I understand. I look forward to connecting with you. Will you be connecting with me between my legs? Or will you connect with my mouth?" Octavia asked, catching me off guard and making me cough.
"What? That is sex, and I mean it connects, but that is not what I meant. If I connect you to my trees below, I will know your intentions the moment you do. I know that might not seem fair and controlling, but you are all people with very destructive abilities. Even if you only ever used them, as I said, there is a chance that someone could take control of you and force you to attack others. I will know if someone is controlling you, and I can shut off your System before anyone can get hurt," I exined, and Octavia nodded.
"I understand what you mean. I can wait for whatever the connection is, but I am still curious about the other type," Octavia said thoughtfully, and I chuckled.
"You will have to go apply to the Harem office for that chance, but the Queen does seem to like passing me off to whoever she wants. Watch the girls, and make sure that everyone stays on track. We can use whatever help we can get at this point," I exined, then closed my eyes after Octavia nodded.
I connected with Mr. Tree, and my consciousness transferred into a wooden copy of myself. The doll was just outside the room that Victoria was in, but I had to stretch out a bit before I could really even walk.
Mr. Tree sent a feeling of being sorry, but he was busy. I sent back a feeling of understanding, and thanks, since I knew that the trees were trying to help the girls stop the two Viins.
I felt terrible for making everyone fight like this, but it was more of a staged performance. I could have let Octavia know what Gaia and I spoke of, but this was something that I wanted to keeppletely secret.
If anyone found out, it would just end up making things harder, and this all would be for nothing.
I shook my head and went into the room that held Victoria. She was lying on the ground, whimpering, with a puddle of tears under her.
"Come here," I said as I walked into the room, making Victoria sit up immediately.
"No!" Victoria growled and turned away from me.
"Really? I made a special trip down here toe and talk to you when the girls are all out there fighting for their lives. Is this how you are really going to act?" I asked, unsure why she felt the need to do this today of all days.
"You are only doing this because I am a mess of tears! This is the only time that you seem to care! When something is wrong!" Victoria said, starting to cry again, keeping her back to me.
I was really starting to get fed up with this, but I stayed calm and walked up behind victoria. I ced my hand on her back, and time slowed around me as I used Sofia''s ability to probe and scan Victoria''s body.
"What are you doing to me?!" Victoria asked but then winced slightly, putting her hand to her abdomen.
Then I saw it and groaned as I felt the pain she felt from a cramp. Victoria''s hormones and mind were all out of whack, but I didn''t have enough experience to deal with most of what was wrong with her.
"Really? You couldn''t have just said something to me, or even one of the girls?" I asked as I could literally feel Victoria''s cramps in my abdomen like they were my own.
"What are you talking about?!" Victoria asked, and then we both winced as another round hit her, but she turned around to look at me.
We shared the same wincing expression, which made Victoria''s eyes almost fall out of her head.
"You can feel them?!" Victoria eximed, and I nodded.
"Yeah, that''s wild. Do you deal with this every month?" I asked, breathing through the strange pain.
"I''m a girl, and it''s my period! Of course, I have to deal with this every month! And I get angry when it happens because it hurts so m-urgh!" Victoria said, and another wave hit us worse than the first time, bringing me down to one knee.
"Alright, enough of this bullshit," I growled, forcing Victoria''s body to right itself.
As I did, Victoria looked down between her legs and screamed.
"What are you doing to me!? Why am I bleeding so much?! You''re killing me!"
"No, I am not. I just forced your body to expel the lining of your uterus. Now your body is going to stop kicking the shit out of itself. The first problem was solved! Well, secondary problem, at least," I said, helping Victoria stand up from her own blood that was now on her dress.
Chapter 136 What Seven Million Years Of Planning Looks Like
"That''s disgusting, and now it is all over my dress!" Victoriained, but I dragged my fingers over her dress to cut it off her body.
Victoria, of course, screamed because what else would she do?
"I am just going to put a new dress on you. Do you really need to act like the world is ending with every instance of your existence?" Iined back.
"You could warn me!" Victoria growled, letting her dress fall while still facing away from me.
"And you areining that we didn''t even have sex yet. You aren''t evenfortable enough for me to see your naked body," I said with a sigh and then asked. "Vic, what is your rush?"
"You spent time with girls that you didn''t even know before me and then gave them abilities," Victoriained as I created a white dress on her body, intentionally not making it fit right in the front.
"Not true. I spent time with you, and I flew around with you. I also went and helped your parents. Vic, it had been four days, and I was more than ready to give you powers, but then you started to act out. This isn''t a game, Vic. People are dying right now, and we are trying to stop a war because there is an even bigger set of threatsing," I exined, and Victoria looked down.
"It feels like I should have just kept my feelings for you to myself; this would have never happened. I tried to be open with you, but whenever I think I am ready, my mind tells me that you don''t actually care about me. I know that I am acting unreasonable," Victoria said, and I reached out and pulled her to my chest.
"Humans areplicated, Vic. There is something wrong with your hormones, so when this is all over, Sofia will look at you and see what we can do. Vic, you are a good person, but you have a horrible tendency to say whatever is the first thing thates to your mind. You need to stop that and start thinking about what you say. Even if Sofia fixes what is wrong, that will only help with the self-doubt," I exined, stroking Victoria''s hair.
"I will try, but I am not perfect, and I will make mistakes," Victoriained into my chest, and I smiled.
"Trying is all I ask, but now it is time for me to return," I said and waved my hand to fully furnish the entire room as a bedroom.
I picked Victoria up, walked over to the bed, andid her down. I pushed some red hair out of her face and slowly leaned down to kiss Victoria.
She slowly returned it and put her hands on the side of my face as she did. I broke the kiss and slowly pulled back with a smile.
"Stay here and get some sleep. I wille and get youter," I said, and Victoria nodded as I created a light nket to drape over her.
"Thank you for not hating me," Victoria said quietly as she rolled away from me, curling up in the nket.
"I love you, Vic, just like the other girls. I can''t hate you, but you know that you can do better," I said, and the door closed behind me as I left the room.
I probably should have tried to deal with Victoria long ago, but we had always just been friends. It wasn''t like I hadn''t known she was unstable. I had suggested to her parents before that Victoria should be checked out.
Now I know that things were out of whack with her, and I would figure out how to fix it, even if I had to make a System that would do it. Nothing was going to stand in my way from this point forward.
The Star Child, my brother, something that was still hard to wrap my head around, had unlocked my Systems true abilities. Not only could I create new Systems, but I was in control of everyone that had been created, but no ess to the powers they provided yet.
From what I could tell about the system, I would not gain that ability for a long time. Even though I controlled the Evergrowth System, I could now tell that Orphus or Omega had never actually left my mind, but I was waiting for him toe forward.
------
Omega stood in the crystal room he had broken into to deal with the AI, but now he was considering what woulde of all this. This was a choice made in the spur of the moment, but he had felt pushed toe here and force everyone to do things a certain way.
That bothered Omega and made him feel like someone was controlling him.
"Controlling is such a strong word, my friend," Star Child said from beside him, but Omega didn''t move.
Instead, he prepared to attack this frustrating being that had left him alone so long ago. The eons spent locked up after being used as a toy and experiment all came rushing back to Omega.
"That is not how you greet an old friend," Starchild said and ced a hand on Omega''s back before he could react.
His powers, abilities, and connection to the Hydra were severed. Omega turned to face Star Child with a horrified look on his face.
"What have you done?!" Omega eximed.
"You are no longer the owner of the Progenitor System. Your job is over now, and I am sorry that the road has been so long and tedious for you, but you havepleted your task. Now you shall be given this body to watch the results of your hard work bloom into fruition," Star Child exined.
"You are really going to leave this power to this human?!" Omega asked; even if he knew that was the right choice, he wanted to know the answer.
"This power was always meant for my brother; you were just the only one that could carry it. I cannot give back to you what I have taken, but the past is fleeting in the face of the great change before you. Can''t you feel it? The Astral Tides are starting to move again, Omega. After over fifty billion years since the first two stumbled into Eden, there is a chance for peace. You will be part of that solution. That is your purpose and why I created you after they had taken the fruit that I had offered them," Star Child exined, and Omega remained silent as he tried to process what had just been saying.
"Then, you aren''t who you say you are?" Omega asked, and Star Child nodded.
"Everyone has a mask, but they cannot know I am alive. I have stayed hidden and been nothing but a tiny thorn in their side as I am now. There is too much at risk right now, so I need you to help my brother, Daniel," Star Child exined.
"So you did create him. I was sure that there was no other reason for him just growing from nothing on that step. That is why I came here," Omega said, crossing his arms, but Star Childughed but then got a sad look on his face.
"For this, my friend, I am sorry. You were always meant toe here. Seven million years ago, I decided that this would be the perfect host for what would be needed for my brother. I seeded this and then ced you on a in a sr system that was not that far from this one," Star child told Omega, but that made him frown.
"What was the point of putting me there? Why didn''t you just put me on Earth? I could have been hidden there! Instead, you put me in that hell hole to be used and experimented on!" Omegained, and Star Child nodded.
"It provided one of the biggest threats to the growth of Earth, so I ce you on it to tear apart and destroy them so they could not interfere. From there, you have been dealing with cataclysmic races on the verge ofary or species destruction. You were given the power to help those in need, but only if they were willing to work together. The true goal behind going to the other worlds was to collect enough systeminuim toplete what Daniel is going to do," Star Child exined.
"So what is the point of it all?! We are here now; your so-called brother has the System in his hands; the systeminuim has been collected. What now? The others areing to destroy this world now, and we will be lucky to make it away alive!" Omega dered.
"Point? This is the point, my brother. He is going to wander now, but I know he will reach the point I need him to. There is nothing to rush; just help guide him like I did to you so long ago. You do not remember, nor will you ever, but you have been at my side since the beginning, Omega," Star Child said, and Omega scrubbed a hand over his face, feeling like Daniel had when trying toprehend his new powers.
"Why would you take from me all our time together? You obviously regard those times as memorable, yet you stole them from me," Omega said coldly, and Star Child sighed.
"I created you to be the end of what was first started when I offered Alphose and Tiama the Forbidden Astral Fruit, but I couldn''t do it myself. Things should have been different back then, but I had been so excited when the first two came in holding hands. I assumed they were partners, but that wasn''t the case, and now I have been forced to watch the universe tear itself apart. All because of one mistake that will haunt me until the end of time. The time I took from you did have fond memories, but it also was filled with more death and destruction than you ever want to remember," Star Child exined but then started to float up slowly.
"Where are you going?!" Omega asked.
"To leave and deal with other parts of the universe that need my attention. I have spent too long here watching your growth, old friend. Again, this is goodbye for now, not ever, and we will speak again. Now, witness what seven million years of nning looks like!" Star Childughed and then disappeared, leaving Orphus to himself.
"To see what seven million years of nning looks like? Daniel is impressive, but I don''t think he is what this creature thinks he is. He is still human, I think, so he will have limits, but what were they?" Omega said to himself, but then turned, left the room, and headed back to where the fight was just getting started.
Chapter 137 The Battle For Earth Pt 5
"The giant is less than three hundred miles from the city! Everyone get into your ces! There is helping, so you all just have to hold! A massive red dragon is headed your way, but it is flying out of the tree range to grab it! It is lighting the forest on fire, but Gaia has already brought all the clones underground!" Sofia called down to the seven girls that were lined up.
Sofia was up inside a massive Mecha-tree monster she had created with Firaga''s help. The Mech looked more like a tree monster with armor ting, but it was over sixty feet tall.
"Who ising to help us? The humans, even in super clones, aren''t going to be able to do anything, right? Katie asked.
She was in full te armor covering her entire body of her creation, but the metal was all pinks and purples. Katie also was carrying ded whips that were coiled up in her hands.
"Beltzer and the other seven AI Generals are on their way," Sofia said, and Melody screwed up her face.
She was wearing a special armor that Firaga created with one of the Fire Systems that she had cannibalized to make it. The zer System was meant initially to gather outside heat to gather and increase the Hosts mass and energy output.
Now the armor collected heat and used it to create an armor that did the same but grew to whatever size Melody was. They collected enough heat to create more mass for the armor for protection and a reactive defense that could be released into anything that touched it.
"So we will just trust the people sent here to kill us all?" Melody asked, but not with anger or malice; she just wanted everyone to make it out of this alive.
[Girls, I know it will be hard for us all to trust them, and believe me, I am having a hard time with it. We have been pushed into a corner, and Daniel isn''t here to save us all. Each of us needs to step up and be the woman Daniel needs us to be. Each of you should know that Daniel didn''t only choose you because he loves you. Daniel picked you because he believes that you are not only good people but Heroes that are willing to do what it takes to protect what you love. We need to trust the AI, no matter how much it pains us to do it; that is going to be our only hope of surviving.]
Gaia was now operating the giant Hydra since Orphus said that something had happened to him. She wasn''t sure about that, but after quickly talking to Daniel about it, he had assured her not to worry about it.
The control of the five-headed beast was nothing for her, and Gaia separated her mind into different parts. She looked up into the sky with five views, all focused on the giant mythical Dragon that was swooping down towards the city, straight at Gaia.
[Iing! Dragon ising to intercept me! Melody, Katie, and Marley are with me. Sofia, you take the other girls and concentrate on the golems preceding the hundred-foot-tall one behind them!]
All the girls responded and started to move, but Gaia sensed two AI flying through the air towards her as the Dragon came at her. The creature had no intentions of slowing down, but Mr. Tree was already growing a massive fist that rose up from the ground.
"We are here to help!" Beltzer called just before smacking into the top of one of Gaia''s heads.
"cial coating!" Tim shouted as shended perfectly on another of Gaia''s heads.
The fist rising up to meet the Dragon grew a thickyer of ice off the knuckles, but the connection released a quarter megaton worth of energy. Tim and Beltzer were instantly blown off the top of Gaia''s head, but Beltzer was already ready with chains spinning out of him.
The chains grabbed Tim and then pulled her to Beltzer, wrapping them both to protect them from the debris. Both of them were injured as the chain cocoon smashed into the ground, but most of the damage had been caused by the initial st.
Gaia was knocked down, losing all five heads, and all the Great Trees, including the fist, were obliterated for a quarter mile around. Luckily, the explosion happened in the air and not on the ground.
The effects of the impact on the ground would have ripped up the earth and could have hurt and killed people below the ground. Gaia ordered Mr. Tree to start leading people away from this area, and the trees did as asked, creating underground tunnels for the people to get away.
"Gaia! Are you okay?!" Melody asked as she flew over after just getting blown into a tree.
[I am fine. I will need a short amount of time to regenerate, but you need to be careful. The Dragon''s body seems to reflect kic energy, so be careful how hard you hit it.]
"You don''t look fine!" Melody said, looking at the smashed Hydra that it was nothing more than a body with neck stubs growing back.
[This caused me no pain, so I''m fine! It somehow created a reactive st when the tree punched it, but I don''t know if it is reflecting the force or creating an explosion from just the impact alone. As you can see, it has monstrous, destructive power.]
"Girls, head back, and help the others!" Melody said as she looked at the Massive red Dragon that was getting back up off the ground without so much as a scratch on it.
Katie and Marley didn''t bother to ask questions; the turn just turned tails and flew back the way they hade. All the girls have Fairy wings thanks to Sofia and her ability to change and create bodies, and the girls were getting good use out of them.
"We are okay! Thanks for asking!" Beltzer said as the two limped over to where Melody was sitting down on the ground.
"Go back and help the others; this one is too strong for you two," Melody warned, still having a hard time t out trusting the AI, but the two shook their heads.
"The other five are helping the others, and with the other five of your girls, we will just get in the way. There is no way that you can fight him along like this. The Dragon System is one of the most powerful Systems because it is a perversion of what the original was. Hellyle is not the one inside of that creature anymore. The same thing goes for Gravois, they are both ves, but we have had no way to deal with them before this. You are going to need our help," Bletzer exined and then coughed up a bit of blood.
His body was covered in tattered clothing, with burns all over, and some of the cloth melted into his skin. Tim wasn''t much better than Beltzer, but worse, she had lost her top portion of hair.
"He had to pick the worst possible thing! Look at my hair! This is going to take a full day to grow back!" Timined and then winced in pain as she touched the raw burn on her head.
A pool appeared in the ground behind the two and Melody pointed at it.
"Get in there to soak for a bit while we hold him off, thene and help us!" Melody said, but thest part came out as a growl as she shifted and changed into a giant bear covered in ming armor that started to cover the forty-foot-tall form.
"Be careful! Hellyle is at level five and is now an Impact Dragon, so you need to watch how you attack! The kic and piercing force will just get you blown away!" Beltzer called up.
"Got it!" Melody growled as she bound forward to the massive thirty-foot-tall Dragon that was dark red but with glowing red lines on the scales.
Calishora got up in the abominable form of a Male Impact Dragon after being punched out of the sky. The creatures of this world had been infused with her mother''s essence, and now they were trying to use it against her.
This infuriated Calishora, but the Star Child''s creation had given her power for some reason. The Daughter of Tiamat knew that Omega was aware of her presence, so it made even less sense for him to give her enough power to fully take over Hellyle''s body.
"In the name of Tiamat, where is the Hero?!" Calishora roared at the giant four-legged beast that was charging her, but it didn''t answer, but that was fine.
Calishora drew in a deep breath, and atoms began to smash together inside of her, and the Dragon tried to expel her breath.
Melody leaped forward, grabbed the bottom of the Dragon''s neck, and forced Calishora''s mouth to the sky. A small explosion urred, burning Melody''s giant paws, but she never let go.
Calishora was forced to release the cosmic st of radiation straight up into the sky, and it let out a rippling bass boom. The Dragon twisted its neck, breaking Melody''s, gripped, and then mmed her head into the side of Melody''s bear body, sending her flying to smash into the ground.
"I asked you a question, creature; rejoice at the destruction Tiamat brings!! DO NOT IGNORE ME, TIAMAT DEMANDS! I am the Greatest of Tiamat''s three Children, and I am here to take back all the Astral Essence that you have stolen from her! Hail Tiamat!" Calishora roared as Melody picked herself back up.
"I don''t know who you or your stupid mother is, but you are attacking my home! My boyfriend isn''t here yet, so you are going to have to fight me first!" Melody roared as she rose on two legs.
Melody transformed into a massive ape sixty feet tall, with the most enormous tits this would have ever been exposed to. The ze System slowly coated her body, sucking heat from the Dragon that was two hundred feet away from her.
"You dare talk about my mother like that, the most revered Goddess Tiamat?!" Calishora growled, wishing she would have waited to use her cosmic breath that was now on a cool down.
"I heard you the first five times! Timber hat is your mother!" Melody roared, but she was wearing a smirk on her ape face.
"I will radiate your body until there is not even a particle of you left, in the name of Tiamat!" Calishora snapped, surging forward.
"Fuck your mother, the cleaning mat!" Melody roared as her ape hands grew tiger ws.
Chapter 138 The Spirits Of An Imprisoned Race
"You disrespectful little monster, Tiamat behold! I shall strike down this world and return your Astral body to you, Mother Tiamat!" Calishora, the red Impact Dragon, screamed as she rushed forward at Melody, but Gaia charged in.
Her Hydra heads snapped at the Dragon, but Calishora spun fast, her tail connecting with Gaia. An explosion blew the heads off, but the body kept moving forward, and vines burst forth to try and take the creature down.
Calishora ignored the roots, then burned off her body before they could get a good grip. Melody tried to sh at the Dragon''s face, but Calishora mmed her head into Melody, and her massive body was blown back into the trees.
"You are children in the face of a God, blessed by the Astral Mother, Tiamat!" Calishora screamed and then whirled on Gaia, snapping onto her body and tossing the massive green form into the air; then she roared, "Cosmic Breath!"
Large tree hands grew up from the ground as Calishora raised her head and breathed deeply. The arms grabbed at her, trying to mp down slowly on her mouth.
The Dragon cared not. These creatures would pay for their insolence!
"cial Ice Age!" Tim screamed as the hands mped down on the Dragon''s mouth.
Calishora started to try to break free, but she was instantly frozen and unable to move, but this wouldn''t stop her. Calishora was the daughter of the Mightiest being ever to exist, Tiamat, and nothing could stop her.
The Dragon flexed and then released a massive amount of energy, and the hands and ice were blown off her, but Beltzer zipped by her head as Calishora broke free.
"Get the heart!" Beltzer yelled at Melody as his chain wrapped around the base of the Dragon''s neck and tail.
Calishora was forced to release the Cosmic Breath into the air,pletely missing the body she had tossed up. The Dragon was getting more than just frustrated at this point, but this weakling AI had her in a position she couldn''t break.
Melody was glowing red with her armor looking likeva covering her gori body as she ran at the Dragon. She closed the distance and shed at the chest, but her ws melted before she even cut a foot into the Dragon.
shing and regrowing ws, Melody attacked without abandon, but Calishora regenerated faster than Melody could affect.
"Hurry up! I am losing my grip!" Beltzer called, but Melody was giving it everything that she had.
"It''s not working!" Melody roared and then tried to bite into the neck of the Dragon, but that was a bad idea.
Melody was blown back, and the explosion gave Calishora more power, and she released it on the chains.
Beltzer was tossed off the Dragon, and Calishora whirled on the creature making the ice, but she was on the other side of a growing ice wall.
"Everything you do means nothing; your destruction is as sure as my mother''s position as the ruler of all!" Calishora screamed and tried to charge the wall.
Above the Dragon, Gaia had morphed the Hydra body into a giant version of a fabled God-killing weapon. Her body became the Longinus Spear from Neon Genesis Evangelion that Sofia had shown her, and she was aimed into the back of the Dragon.
[Fun fact: the Longinus Spear was said to be the weapon used to stab and kill God''s son, Jesus. Others say it was a spear created from one of the spikes that nail him to the cross.]
"Faster!" Tim screamed at Diamo, who was coating the outside of her ice dome with crystal, as Gaia hurtled at Calishora.
"I am going as fast as I can! Creating crystals is not something fast!" Diamo yelled as he forced his Diamond System to work faster.
"Cinti, support Diamo!" Tim shouted, and a tanned-skinned woman stepped from behind her and ced her hand on Diamo''s back.
Name: Cinti
Height: 5''6
Hair: ck, shoulder length
Race: AI/Human
System: Hands-On System (Assistant System)
Abilities: Increase the power of any other System the Host has their hands on.
"There we go!" Diamo cheered as the crystal shot up.
That was the moment of impact, but the spear couldn''t pierce the Impact shield. The Longinus Spear was annihted as the energy was forced straight up because even the ground was crystal.
The crystal wall held, but Gaia was forced back into her body that was far away underground.
Beltzer and Melody came around the partial dome to meet Tim, Diamo, and Cinti.
"What are we going to do?!" Tim shouted up at the glowing gori, but Melody just shrugged.
"I can''t do any damage, and even with your freezing, we have no effect on this creature!" Melodyined.
[We have to keep fighting! I am on my way with every super clone I can find and Kartos. We don''t have to defeat her; we just have to hold out until Daniel gets here!]
"Sorry, Gaia! Looks like these guys are a little stronger than I had thought! Everyone fall back!" Daniel said after mming down on the ground behind the group.
----
I had been scanning the situation, but the energy outputing off that Dragon was out of this world. With still thirty minutes left before I woulde in contact with the, but it was to long.
"Are you going to help them?" Octavia asked, and I nodded.
"I wanted to let them do this alone to work together, but this creature is far too strong, and so is the other one. I will have no problem taking them down when I get here, but I don''t think that anyone will survive that long, I said, and then called out to Brad Pitt, who I knew was still in my head. "Omega, it''s time to stop hiding and avoiding me."
[How long have you known?]
''Don''t y dumb with me; you know just as well as I do that I knew you never left my head, but I also knew that you could no longer affect me.''
[How?! Not even I knew that! I had assumed that I could take control of you if needed!]
''No, but we don''t have time for this. You and I are going down to take that Astral Bitch!''
I closed my eyes, and Mr. Tree ripped my consciousness out of my body and mmed me into Kratos, who was in a room alone. I opened my eyes, and there was a clear path out.
I didn''t waste any time and started to run up the angled path.
[Do you think you can defeat Calishora with a level two body?!]
"Level two? I guess that is a bitcking," I said, stopping for a moment.
[What are you stopping for?!]
"Zip it for a minute," I growled and put my hand on the tree tunnel wall, connecting with it. "Sorry, friend, but I need you to give me some power. I will return it when I am finished."
Mr. Tree didn''t hesitate, and a surge of power hit me like a million volts, but my body didn''t flinch. I let the power fill me, and System messages started to fly by as the Max Power System leveled up.
Each one of the AI was not AI; they were the Spirit ofs that had been harvested of all their systeminium. Each of the systems created was the result of Spirit being connected to a system, which was why they couldn''t be destroyed.
The moment that Start Child touched me, I knew things.
The Ataria were the race that Omega was delivered to. They did the same as Omega and the others had been doing, but they used the Spirits as weapons.
They constantly fought among each other until Star Child delivered them Omega. Hemandeer the Spirits that had been locked into the weapons they designed with systeminium and then changed how the Ataria fought.
Spirits were the same race as Star Child and once were the rulers of all universes. The Star Child was the one to me for all of this, but he had spent thest fifty-two billion years trying to fix his mistake.
[Level 5 Reached!]
[Max Power System gains Sub ss]
[1. Direction Power| 2. Orbital Power| 3. Reactive Power]
"I never got this choice with my System," I said with a frown.
[You System isn''t like The other Systems. All systems go through Sub ss switches, allowing for more versatility than just the standard System abilities. The systems give different choices every time you reach level five, even if you were using the same system. This is because they adapt to their environment and disy choices that would be beneficial.]
I selected the third choice, and another message popped up.
[Max Reactive Power System Activated!]
"That makes sense, but I am still trying to wrap my head around you being like Gaia," I said, taking my hand off the wall.
[Like you said, that is a story for another time, but I can''t tell you where I am from. I have no memory of that.]
"I know where you are from, but I am not allowed to tell you. There is a... reason for that, albeit not a very good one, but I somewhat understand why he is attached to you," I exined as I started to run out of the tree.
[Wait, you know where Ie from?! Tell me! I have been looking for that answer for thest seven million years!]
"Couldn''t even if I wanted to, which I don''t. Get your head in the game, and get ready to help me out. I am not in my normal body, so I can split my mind, but I am giving you the power he took from you. Don''t make me regret this!" I growled, and Mr. Tree picked me up and hucked me.
Chapter 139 Mother Of The Cosmos, Tiamat, The Astral Dragon Goddess
"Everyone fall back. Go help the others deal with the smaller golems that are pounding the others," I exined, and the group nodded. "I need you all to hold out for thirty more minutes, got it?"
"Yes! But be careful. Calishora is very strong, and he has abilities like her Cosmic Breath that are her own. She is the oneing with the other Drakar as their leader, so this is a good chance for you to get to know her abilities. She will be much stronger when she gets here with her true form," Beltzer exined as Tim and him, who he was holding in his arm, were lifted up by Mr. Tree.
"Got it," I growled and looked to Melody, who was smiling at me brightly with her big toothy ape mouth.
"Make sure that you beat her down good! She burnt the fur off me a couple times even with this armor!" Melody said and then thudded off.
"Hero is it you on the other side of this wall that holds my mother''s heart in ransom?!" Calishora roared from the other side of the diamond wall.
I bent my knees and jumped forty feet in the air with an extra push from the grass. I could see the massive red Dragon the moment I got past the wall.
I half expected that she would directly attack me with that Cosmic Breath, but the creature just watched me as I dropped down to the other side.
"You smell like my mother, praise be Tiamat, but you are not the one I am looking for!" Calishora told me.
"Well, I am him, but I am just not in my normal body right now. You all are trying to have fun without me, but neither of you has any patience. Don''t you want a good fight, or is your type of fight the only one that you are guaranteed to win?"
"So, does that mean you will face me in your real body or hide from me, daughter of the all-powerful Tiamat?" Calishora growled.
"Wow, you really like to talk about your mom! Kinda cute, but do you think you couldy off it while we have an adult conversation?" I asked, and the Dragon red at me, but I was just dicking around.
"You have no idea whatws we follow, bless Tiamat! You are nothing more than an animal meant to be controlled by your creator, Tiamat!" Calishora roared at me, and I shrugged.
"Sounds like you miss your mom! So cute! Man, why do you have to be a crazy bitch space dragon bent on getting her ass kicked? I bet you could change down into a much cuter form, right!" Iughed, and Calishora screamed a roar at me.
"I will burn this world and every mark you left on it until it is as if you never existed!" Calishora screamed and rushed at me, but I put up a big hand.
"Wait, wait, wait! You didn''t say your mother''s name!" I yelled, and to my surprise, the Dragon froze mid-run, but her body weight had different ideas.
Calishora''s front leg gave under the strain of her forward momentum, and the Dragon tripped and fell forward. I put up my hands, thinking that she was going to explode like when the girls hit her.
Fortunately, the giant beast hit the ground like a sack of potatoes, and her head slid right up to almost touch me. It was almost as tall as my seven-foot-tall God of War body, but this was the funniest thing I had seen all day.
"What the hell was that?!" Iughed, and Calishora snapped at me, but I just stepped back, stillughing.
"Stop it! How dare youugh at me, in the-" Calishora started to shout as she tried to pick her massive body up, but I cut her off rudely.
"Shut the fuck up. No one cares about your stupid mother! God, you just think you are all that because you are; what? Bigger than me? Possibly stronger?" I asked and then said, "For being such a strong creature, you have the elegance of a dancer with two left feet."
"How dare you speak to me with such a tone! Mother had given me permission to talk without blessing her name, and I am stronger than you!" Calishora shouted, and I shrugged.
"That is a lot of tough talking out of a flying lizard that can walk properly!" Iughed, still yet to draw my weapons, but then I had an idea. "Wait a minute! Can I talk to your mother? I am curious to know if this majestic beast would even dare to speak with me, or is she too good for that?"
"No! Do not ask... AHHHH!" Calishora said but paused and then started to scream, thrashing her head around.
I took a few steps back, not sure what the hell I just did, but it looked like the Astral Dragon Queen was going to have a chat. Her child seemed to be nothing more than that, a child, so I was curious what an all-powerful Deity might be like.
Calishora trashed around, but then she froze, and all movement and sounds stopped like someone had pressed pause. Then, Calishora unfroze and slowly lowered her head to me, but the yellow eyes that were slit like cats were now back with a gctic starry background.
Looking into the eyes was like getting sucked into eternity, and I was forced to pull my eyes away.
"So, you are the creature that the Star Child has created in his image and given my heart to?" the Dragon asked me in a much calmer and collected voice.
"Something like that, but this is just one of my clones. So, now that I have you here, what is the purpose of youing to visit my, or your troops, forck of a better word?" I asked, feeling the urge to step back or even kneel, but I fought it.
This creature was on apletely different level than her daughter, and I could feel the majesty just being in her presence. If I had less control and knew less, I might even have been sucked into her and dropped to one knee.
That was how powerful of a force she was trying to exert on me, but I fought to remain stoic.
"Interesting. You can even resist me when my essence is so close to you? Fascinating! When I capture you, I will use you as my head breeder, and you shall breed with the most elite women of every race! If that is what you choose, I will allow you to work as a ve for me. Do you want to keep resisting me when you know I could treat you better?" Tiamat asked, and suddenly I was pushed out of my body.
Then I was standing atop a massive golden pyramid that would have made the ones in Giza look like specs of sand inparison. The Pyramid wasn''t solid, but I couldn''t see what was in the split in the middle.
"So, what do you think of my Intergctic empire?" Tiamat asked from beside me, and I turned to see the most beautiful and enticing woman I had ever seen.
Even her presence vibrated with beauty, love, affection, and power.
? Long curled horns came from the top of her head like a demon, but not that much different from the depiction of her on earth. The dress that she wore over her body looked to be made from the universe itself, sparkling with distant stars and gxies.
"You seem to have a good hold on things, so why would you offer me a ce? I mean, you are basically telling me that you are going to make me a fancy ve, and I only stand here now beside you because you are talking to me. In reality, this would never happen. I don''t need to know anything more than I do about your race to know that," I exined, and Tiamat nodded.
"You are correct, mostly. I could bring you to stand with me if I wanted. I am the leader of my people, and they will all do as I say. The men obey me without fail; my daughters are some of the fiercest fighters in the universe. I could have you stand at my side if I wanted to, but you would still be my ve. I do not keep pets that close to me," Tiamat exined, and I nodded.
"That sounds better, even though I don''t like it. I would prefer that you talk to me like this. I already know about you and your people and what you and the Gideons are doing," I said but then took a step back as Tiamat transformed or something.
What actually happened was her image that had been speaking with me disappeared. Then, the form of what could only be described as a partially built dragon appeared, but the size was mind-numbing.
"Do not speak that name in my presence! That creature, Alpha, is a monster that wishes to devour our universe! I am the protector, and he is the invader! It has been this way since Alphose led me to Eden, and we received our Astral Bodies! That lier tricked me, and the wars have only gotten worse! I wille and kill you myself, and you will have wished that one thousand of my daughters killed you a million times over! I am the one that protects this universe! Alpha is the one that wishes to destroy us until he can take our universe for himself!"
Tiamat said no words, and to say that I hear them would be a lie. The words resonated through my form, and the message hit me like a hammer as my mind was sucked back out of this partial reality and into another one.
Chapter 140 This Is A Warning
[2nd Origin, 52 billion years ago. Holy Trinity Gxy Cluster]
Every time the universe is destroyed, it births itself anew, and all life is supposed to be reset. This is called the Origin, and the universe is currently in its fourth Origin.
In the first Origin, all races were unified into one called Annokale, The Spirits. They prospered for over one hundred billion years until they fully reached enlightenment and oneness with the universe.
The Annokale transcended beyond the nes of the physical mortal and crossed into the realm of energy-based beings. They all collectively decided to restart the universe, but the choice of what their new purpose was not singr, but they epted this.
Because of this slight division before the second Origin started, the oneness became two sides. Knowing this, Star Child, leader of the Annokale, created The Holy Trinity, a cluster of three gxies with a in the center known as Eden.
Because of the division, Star Child locked the ability to transcend into beings such as himself into the Forbidden Astral Fruit. If the races could reach oneness, they could enter the Temple that Star Child slept in, or that was what Star Child had nned.
Unfortunately, the universe doesn''t follow the rules orws, which are limits people ce on it. Nor does it care about the happenings within itself.
In the second Origin, each Annokale becames born in habitable zones around stars. Each of them raised their new races of children, helping them cultivate theirs and slowly teaching them the knowledge of the stars.
Two races grew rapidly, and within four billion years, they had started a war with each other. The Annokale were locked to theirs, unable to convince the races to live peacefully, and the conflict only worsened.
Then Alphose, leader of the Gideons, discovered the Holy Trinity Gxy Cluster. He tried to enter the temple on Eden, only to be refused, blocked by an unbreakable force.
The leader of the Gideons did not give up and studied Eden for over seven thousand years before he could fully decipher how to ess the temple.
Both leaders of the Gideons and Drakar had extended their lives far past what should have been allowed. Even with all this extra time, neither was closer to winning or resolving the war.
In a bid for more power, Alphose offered Tiama a peace offering in the form of Eden and the knowledge he had gathered. The talks took a very long time before Tiama finally agreed to join Alphose, and when she did, the two were able to enter Eden.
Star Child had been awakened the moment they entered and had been thrilled to see that after only four billion years, the races could reach oneness. This was a lie that was fabricated by Alphose, and secretly he was just waiting to restart the war and try to take dominance once again.
Tiama was not aware of this, nor was Star Child, until the two touched the Forbidden Astral Fruit, but it was toote. Both beings began to transcend, but Star Child was furious like never before and tore the hearts from both chests, but this did not kill them.
Instead of fully transcending, Alphose and Tiama became Astral Gods, but still on the physical mortal ne. Neither would even be able to transcend for tricking Star Child, and he hid their hearts from them, locking them to this ne forever.
From there, the Astral Gods killed each other and caused the universe to reset itself in a cataclysmic event. Because the two races were now locked in this ne, the universe restarted from the second Origin repeating the same cycle.
The difference was that the Astral God''s bodies had created two new elements, which were now mixed in with the universe. The Dragon Goddess, Tiamat, created systeminium, and The Demon God, Alpha, created Mutainium, spreading their bodies across the known universe.
In the Astral Gods furry at what the Star Child had done to them, they locked every Annokale inside of their''s core, at creation. They used the spirits as energy sources to give their people god-like powers to dominate and enve all other races using these new elements.
Then the race began in the third Origin as the two Gods drove their people to collect their astral bodies while still warring with each other. The Gideons were the ones toplete Alpha first, but even after winning, Alpha was still destroyed again.
This time his body was spread outside of what is considered the known and visible universe, starting the Forth Origin. Again, history started to repeat itself, but Star Child was done watching.
Using the two hearts, Star Child created and connected them to his two closest partners, Omega and Crytion. The Leader of the Annokale had spent over one hundred and forty billion years with them, but as beings of another ne, there was only so much Star Child could affect.
No matter what he tried, the Drakar and Gideons still thrived, and after thirteen billion years, Star Child disappeared.
-----
I had been in the background watching the timeline of everything rolling out before me, but I didn''t know what to feel after seeing it all. Even the Star Child was partially to me for everything happening, but he was trying to fix it somehow.
The next thing that boiled my brain as I snapped back to stand atop the pyramid with Tiamat was her. Even after seeing everything, I couldn''t for sure say that she was evil.
The creature had been tricked, but I still didn''t know why the war started in the first ce.
"Now you know," Tiamat said, and I shook my head.
"No, I don''t, really. The only thing that I know is that you and Alpha are two idiots that have destroyed the universe twice, and it looks like you are shooting for a third time. Yet, I have no idea why the war started or what you want in all of this. Can you at least answer that?" I asked the beautiful creature, and she nodded.
"One could say that I kicked the nest to start it, but they came into a sr system that I had colonized and started cannibalizing thes. I asked them to stop, and Aphose refused, saying he was the universe''s owner. I was quite young at the time, only a few thousand years on my feet, so to speak," Tiamat said with a small smile, and I couldn''t hold back a smallugh.
"I am sure you take shits longer than I have been alive!" Iughed, and Tiamat gave me a perturbed look.
"I am a female Dragon. I don''t produce waste; my body is a holy temple that converts all mass into energy that I use. I no longer need to eat, sleep, or any of that. As I was saying, Alphose refused to leave the system, so I attacked and destroyed his fleet. Unfortunately, I have no idea that his empire was a twin in size to my own, and that sparked a nearly fifty billion-year war," Tiamat exined, and I hummed.
This still didn''t mean she was good, but maybe better than the Gideons, or worse? I really didn''t know.
"What is your goal?" I asked, being the simplest way to determine something like this.
"To rid the Universe of the Gideons."
"That''s all?"
"Yes."
"And what about after?"
"After?" Tiamat asked.
She almost looked like she hadn''t thought that far, but that would be absurd. There is no way a being this old hadn''t considered what she would do afterward, was there?
"Yeah, after you defeat the Gideons, what next? Will you free all the ves you have that are collecting your body for you? They won''t be needed anymore, right?" I asked hopefully, but Tiamat giggled at me.
"Free them? Why? They are lower lifeforms and will always serve me. I suppose we could just get rid of them, use the biological waste to fertilize beautifuls, and rece the workers with robots, but that has its problems. Look at the Cleaners, created by a race, and then they killed their creators. Now they are hell-bent on even trying to clean up ours! I have destroyed them more times than I care to count, but they always seem to survive and rebuild!" Tiamat snapped, and I nodded with a sigh.
Yup, just as bad as the other. Maybe on a slightly lesser scale, and I had yet to talk to this Alpha.
Still, I had made my choice, and this trip had been incredibly insightful.
"Thank you very much for taking the time to talk with me, Tiamat. I am sure you don''t grant this privilege to many, but I think I should be getting back now. I have decided what I will do about your daughter, Calishora," I said as Tiamat looked to be about to speak, but this made her eyes narrow.
"What did you just say? What are you going to do with my daughter?! She is not even on your world yet! She is just controlling that Annokale!" Tiamat dered.
Suddenly, Tiamat''s monolithic Astral Dragon form took the ce of the human-like one, dwarfing me. I didn''t flinch because I knew she couldn''t hurt me here, or she would have killed me already.
"Yet is the keyword. I will be leaving and taking Earth with me, and now that will include your daughter. I promise you that I will not be letting her go, and you will be forced to watch me teach her what it is like to be one of the lesser races," I said, and Tiamat roared at me.
The force should have blown me away, tore me apart at the subatomic level, but it didn''t. I dered in my mind that the sound and force behind it didn''t exist.
Just like this ce, it was all just a construct of our minds, and it didn''t exist in the mortal ne of existence. If I have learned one thing from my experience so far, it was that there was nothing that was out of my reach.
Instantly, I became the same size as Tiamat, and I grabbed her by the neck because I was real, and this was my mind she had invited in. Tiamat struggled against me, but I was the one in control now.
"How is this possible?! What kind of being are you?!" Tiamat raged as she fought to break my grip, but I knew she could never do that unless I chose to let her go.
"All this time, and you have not tried to learn anything or move past your own selfish goals. I refuse to let you destroy us again because that is the only result that cane of this! You have only two choices now. One, you believe that your daughter is stronger enough to defeat me, and you get your heart back," I growled.
"What is the other choice? Even if you can threaten me, you can not kill me anymore, then I can kill you!" Tiamat screamed at me.
"No, I can''t, but nor do I want to," I said, letting go of the Dragon''s neck. "This is a warning to you and your kind. Mess with the bull, and you get the horns. Leave the Annokale and me alone. If you don''t, I will siphon every drop of systeminium out of the universe until I can shove you back into the Forbidden Astral Fruit!"
"You think that I care about one single daughter that forgets to praise me? Her creator? I will tell her to fight until she dies, so you can''t torture her! Your talk is big for one so pathetic! Enjoy looking down on me, mortal; I will never stop hunting you!" Tiamatughed, and I pped her big ass Dragon face.
"Send me home, you oversized Astral Worm! I will p you again if you talk back. Lord, you almost had me believe you might actually be good!" I grinned, hand raised, and I was back inside the crystal ring with Calishora in front of me.
"I will let this child fight you, and then she will give her life to kill you when she arrives on the. She deserves nothing less," The Dragon said, and then the astral background bled out of the eye, and it became yellow with a slitted pupil again.
Chapter 141 Do It Yourself!
"You... Talked to my mother? She, Tiamat, the greatest being known, spoke to you directly?!" Calishora asked after shaking her head to clear it, and I nodded.
"Yeah, I choked and pped her as well, kinda kinky when you think about it. Is your mom single? I am asking for a friend," I joked, and the giant Dragon blinked at me.
"You what? pped the great mother? How do you still exist?" Calishora asked, and I shrugged.
"Must be something to do with my good looks and personality. Anyways, you and I have to fight because I haveid im to you, and your mother agreed, sort of. I don''t think she said I could have you specifically, but she didn''t say she was pulling you back. In fact, she really doesn''t care if you live or die! Ha! What a benevolent creature!" Iughed, and Calishora snapped at me and then started toe for me while screaming.
"I am to give my life to destroy you! Mother would never give up one of her own children! The Goddess, Tiamat, would see me die before giving me up to the enemy!" Calishora screamed as she chased meically around the crystal ring.
"You''re not wrong, but if you want to y hard to get, I am game!" Iughed, running away with my chains jingling.
As she tried to snap at me, I jumped up, flipped backward, andnded on the Dragon''s neck with an explosive thump that felt like a stormy night of tacos. Calishora immediately tried to shake me off her, but I gripped her hard with my thighs.
"Get off me!" Calishora screamed, but I was reaching behind my back to my des.
"Sorry, you have some nice wings! And I don''t right now! Look at that! So! I am going to borrow yours! Great idea right?" I called out and threw the sword down and under each side of her neck.
The chains on the weapons made them whip back around, and I caught them both. In the same motion, I plunged the two des into the creature''s neck, causing some explosions, but my body just absorbed the energy.
"Ahhh! Stop it! Why can''t you just fight fair!?" Calishora screamed as she tried to thrash me off her back with her tossing motions.
"That''s riching from you; why don''t you fight me in a human-sized body? I can put you in one, and then you will see what it''s like! I mean, I am going to do that anyways when you get here, so maybe you could get a head start on things. Come on, don''t be such a Karen! Also, fly towards the giant rock formation that is moving over there, or I will melt you from the inside out, got it?" I threatened.
"You think that you have won?!" Calishora roared but then screamed as the Chimera de started to leak acid into the fiery wound I had left.
"Here, lean your ear closer if you can''t fucking hear me. I win, you lose, now fly, or I am going to melt your head off your neck," I growled, but the Dragon didn''t move.
"Then just kill me. I will submit to no man! I am a Dragon!" Calishora roared but then started to scream as more acid started to eat her from the inside of her neck wound.
"Nope, you idiots started this, so you will finish it. Just a forewarning, I am not very reasonable, so you can do what I am asking you now or wait until I convince you. You can''t get rid of me now, but you can make me stronger if you want to fight some more. I like when you go boom! It''s like a reverse fart, kinda," Iughed, but Calishora continued to fight me.
"You are a lower life form!" Calishora screamed, but I just held on and kept leaking acid into her wound as she iled.
[I am unsure how to take watching you deal with this creature. I have been in the background watching, and I was terrified when you offered yourself to Tiamat. I would like to ask what is wrong with you, but you are clearly on a different level than everyone else. You treat these Astral Beings like children that you need to scold.] Omega said, finally speaking up after staying silent.
''Is this a different way to do it? They are children with big sticks, but my stick is bigger! Not going to lie; I kind of enjoyed choking out that space Dragon. She wasn''t impressed, but that is par for the course. Anyways, how are things going for everyone else? There haven''t been any calls for help yet, so I assume everything is going fine?'' I asked Omega as the struggling Dragon tossed me back and forth.
[They are somewhat alright. The Golems are just hard to kill, and they have no effect on it, even with traps. They are trying to trip it, but the feet are spread out like mountains, making it nearly impossible. They are holding, but there is a lot of damage, and more every second.] Omega exined, and I nodded with a sigh.
Looks like ytime with this one is over for now. I was hoping to use this one against it.
"Dammit, Dragon. Do you really want to die that badly? I am going to kill you, but I was going to give you a chance to fight one of the Gideons. Doesn''t that interest you?" I asked, and that made the Calishora stop iling.
"Gideons? You want me to help you with them? What makes you think that would change my mind?!" Calishora growled, trying to look back at me.
"I don''t know if it will, but I know you don''t like them. If you know that you will die or give your life, then why not give it your all and kick some ass? I mean, I just want to run you into the damn thing and hopefully blow him to pieces! I mean, it is a pretty simple n, and it kills two birds with one stone. You die and go back to your body, same with the Gids, and I sing kumbaya," I exined, but Calishora shook her head.
"Mother says you can do it yourself, you insufferable ant!" Calishora retorted.
"You tell that wormy bitch to stop being so sour. If your mother wants me to choke her out again, she just has to invite me over!" Iughed, but then I felt the body under me start to heat up as energy started to build up.
I tightened my chains, flexed my Max Power System, and then tore my swords out the sides of the Dragon''s massive neck. That cut through nearly half the neck, and I snapped the chains tight, releasing everything I had collected from the explosions that Calishora had been discharging.
In a spray of glowing orange liquid, the Dragon''s head thumped to the ground and crystalized into systeminium. The body didn''t copse; it froze and became hard underneath me.
[You need to return to the ship, it is time for you to make your grand entrance.]
Chapter 142 No Longer The Enemy
I jumped from the silver Dragon''s neck andnded on the ground, looking over at the area where the massive rock head was just above the tree.
"Beam me up!" I called, but I was the one to release my consciousness from Kratos.
"You are back?" Octavia asked as I opened my eyes.
"Yup, dealt with one problem, but now we have this other guy. I did learn a lot from my meeting with Calishora and Tiamat. I kind of hope that this Alpha guy will have a talk with me," I said as I looked down at the Earth that filled up the disy.
"You were able to talk to the Astral Goddess? What was that like? I have studied both races extensively over the years since they are always chasing up. If you want to speak with Alpha, you might want to try to be nice to him. I was monitoring your fight with the Dragon, and you seemed to be agitating it a lot. I suggest you try a different approach with the Gideons," Octavia suggested, and I looked over at her with a grin.
"What? Me? Agitating people?" Iughed, and Octavia rolled her eyes.
"The Gideons don''t get emotional like the Drakar do, so you will not be able to use the same tactics. The Gideons are a race that thinks themself superior in every aspect," Octavia exined, and I nodded.
"Alright, I will keep that in mind, but now it is time to slow down and spread out. You know what your job is, right?" I asked, and Octavia nodded.
"Yes, I am going to go and connect with all the AI on the and start gathering them for you," Octavia replied.
"Yes, but you are not an AI; you are a race of Spirits, just like my Gaia. You are one of the Annokale, a real person, not someputer program," I exined.
"I am? What does that mean?"
"No clue, but we will figure it out together, got it? Now, let''s get this party on the road!" I cheered.
Octavia nodded and then absorbed into me, along with the rest of the ship hurtling at the.
Then I was outside, and everything went silent as my body, the teardrop ship, started to heat up from the atmosphere. This was the big moment I had been waiting for and my time to make my grand entrance to save the day!
The ship exploded into particles, and my body spread like a cloud of silver dust slowly encircling the. Octavia would be controlling most of the particles, targeting every Annokale on the, and forcing them to gather near Central City.
The time it would take them didn''t matter as long as they got to us. I could make sure that every one of them we cleaned.
I no longer saw them as the enemy.
The Star Child had made them this way, putting them through hells and countless lives. Now, I would help them all find themselves again, even if it was for my own benefit.
[You are beyond strange, you know that. Even after finding out what he did, you don''t me the Star Child? He basically brought an army to your doorstep that attacked your world and then told you to fix them!]
''Yeah, what a jerk, right?''
[Yes, he is a jerk! Wait¡ you''re not supposed to agree with me!]
''Well, he is a jerk, but I am sure he has his reasons. The whole lot of you seem like a bunch of children fighting with sticks. Now, let''s deal with thisst problem.''
-----
"Chain them down!" Marley screamed, and chains and grass started to burst from the ground.
They grappled and pulled at the six-foot-tall rocks formed together like people. That barely even slowed the tide of them all down.
It was all Marley needed as she dashed forward with Firaga, Katie, and Angelise. The AI wore silver armor with tiny wings embossing it, wielding a long spear.
Marley brought down Oceans Tempest, and a blue slice of ocean cut three of the rock men in half that were lined up. The st knocked the bodies apart, but the rocks tried to reform.
"Mr. Tree! Suck the rocks down as we cut them up!" Katie yelled, but the trees were already trying to do that.
----
The massive form of Gravois was still fifty miles from the city center, but he was making unfettered progress, or someone was. The true Gravois was trapped inside of his own System, held like a prisoner.
[How is the subjugation of the livestock going?] Alpha asked.
[As nned, for now. Once I gained control of the System, I was able to direct it. They are all powerless to stop me at this strength, as expected. There is one that might be a problem. The Space Witches'' daughter was just killed, and while weaker, should have had no problem dealing with this.]
Beta was the Operator sent on this mission to retrieve the Space Witches heart and deliver it to his supreme leader, Alpha.
The journey had been long, but now the Annokale would all be in one spot. Beta could not only get what he came for but also harvest more Spirits for the Mutainuim Devouring Engines.
[Do you think that this creature is going to pose a problem? You are one of my better operators, Beta, so I respect your judgment, as you are a clone of myself.]
[I think that he will pose a problem while I am constrained in this form, but this Daniel creature hasn''t returned to the yet. I do not think any of these creatures he controls are strong enough to kill that Dragon. That leads me to believe that he used a Doll like I am to defeat Calishora. I know she is weak in our eyes, but to these primitive creatures, she should have been unstoppable.] Beta exined.
[Irritating. This creature is growing too fast, and that only means one thing. The Star Child is involved with this, again. That infernal snake is always one step ahead of me, no matter how many eventualities I n for! I wish to speak to Daniel if he is intelligent enough to recognize me as what I am!] Alpha snapped and ended the transmission.
Beta mentally sighed and concentrated on what was ahead of him. Creatures.
Gigos was trying to grab at his leg, but Beta just reached down. The giant rack hand grabbed the twenty-foot-tall man around the waist and then threw him off into the distance.
At the same time, Baby Godzi body-checked Beta in a pink dress. The result was more like watching someone body check a brick wall, and Chelsea was grabbed by the tail.
She tried to discharge, but it did not affect the stone, and she was chucked into the distance. Luckily, Mr. Tree was hard at work catching everyone thrown and setting them back down to run back to the fight.
"cial Freeze!"
"Crystal Coating!"
"Straight Jacket Binding!"
Tim, Diamo, and Amy all screamed, and Beta was stopped in his tracks. His arms were suddenly covered in cloth and bound impossibly as the hundred and twenty-foot tall rock man was fitted into a straight jacket.
Ice and crystal started to crawl up his legs, but Beta just internally sighed. These creatures didn''t understand what true unstoppable power was, but he would show them.
Chapter 143 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough!
Falling into the atmosphere, I could feel my body heat up, but it was toasty warm. I had changed so much in the past twenty-four hours, but the most significant change was my confidence.
The world had just ended a couple days ago, and I had been running around like a chicken with my head cut off, but that running was done. I finally had all the pieces to this enormous puzzle, more or less.
I reached forward, and a pair of aviator sunsses formed in my hands, and I grew some earbuds. My mind recreated Ain''t No Mountain High Enough to y back to me, and I smiled as I slipped on the shades.
There wasn''t any mountain that I couldn''t climb, and it was time to make my entrance. I wanted to make sure that I used every ounce of strength that I had.
This wasn''t just about looking cool or kicking the bad guy''s ass. I wanted to make sure that everyone saw how strong I was and that I could protect them from anythinging our way.
This was about building up confidence in everyone in the world and letting all the other Annokale that the war was over. Even if a new one was on the horizon.
[Impact in less than a minute, and I am merged with your separated consciousness. All functions are ready to go, even if I don''t understand how you have done this. I didn''t even know that this System could do half the things you can now.] Omega told me, and I grinned.
''Let''s give them a show. I want this broadcast to every Annokale on the. Octavia is connecting them all back to me, the way they should have been,'' I sent back.
[As youmand. I am starting to understand why you were chosen and what these seven million years have been for.] Omega said.
"The past doesn''t matter anymore, Omega. Only what we do now will shape our future. This is the beginning of a new age for humans and then Annokale. Now, let''s go save the world!"
----
"Release!" Beta roared, and the ice and crystal shattered as the straight jacket was torn to pieces.
"What the hell!" Tim screamed as she was knocked down.
"How is that possible?" Diamo asked as he was also knocked down.
"You idiots! I am a clone of the most powerful being in the Universe! I am not some mindless brute like you! Now, die!" Beta roared as he reached down and grabbed Tim.
Diamo tried to stop him, but he was knocked away.
"Crystal Coffin!" Diamo screamed as he put his hands out, bouncing off the ground.
A coffin of crystal formed around Beta, but he just punched it and shattered it.
"You really think your little tricks can stop me? I am a godpared to you pathetic creatures!" Beta roared as he lifted Tim up to crush her.
"You are no god!"
A silver forty-foot-long ax smashed through the massive arm, dropping Tim. The ax morphed back into Daniel, but silver roots burst from his back to catch Tim as hended.
-----
I touched down on the ground and instantly connected with Mr. Tree, and I got a view of everything in my forest. I gave the Trees some power, pumping systeminium into the ground, and the rock creatures started to get pulled into the ground.
"So, you are the Hero?" The massive monster shouted as a shadow cast over the top of me.
"And, who are you?" I asked as Tim was tossed to Diamo, and my silver root shot up at the mountain that wasing to crush me.
"I am the one that will end you and take the Space Witches'' heart back to my supreme leader, Alpha!" the monster roared, but the roots began to whip around me like des.
The foot came down, but my roots shredded the rock like cheese, causing the giant to fall over before he could recover. I watched as the monster tried to fall, but I had rootsing from all the trees to hold him up and keep him in ce.
"What?! How can you stop me?! I am A GOD!" The one-legged statue screamed, and I turned my back to it to see Amye running over to me.
"Daniel! You make it in time!" Amy cried, with her eyes full of tears as she ran over to me.
"Always right where I need to be! Now, let me go help the other, and then I will be back!" I said after kissing her, but Amy gave me a strange look.
"Can''t you just kill him, and it will be over?" Amy asked, but I shook my head.
"No, I need to talk to him, and I haven''t gotten a chance to stretch my legs. There are still some smaller golems that are giving the girls some trouble, so I am going to go help them out. Don''t worry, this guy isn''t going anywhere; I need to have a talk with him before I kill him," I exined.
"Does that mean that everything is over after this?" Amy asked hopefully.
"No, things are only getting started, but we have some time to prepare for what ising next. I will exin everything to you and everyone else when this is all over, but I have to go help the others," I said, and Amy nodded.
With that, I ran and jumped into the air, and metal wings like a dragon burst from my back with a rocket booster. Then I sted forward towards the army of rock men that were trying to break through the defense.
The girls and Annokale were still holding, but they were all starting to get tired, so it was my turn to take over. They had all done a great job at putting aside their differences to work for amon goal, and that was important in my eyes.
Now that the test was over, it was time to wrap up and get started on the next project!
Chapter 144 Crushing Those That Stand In My Way
[Beta, why are you standing still? What is going on?!] Alpha asked.
The Astral Demon God could no longer sense movement in his Operator, but he could feel intense frustration from Beta. This was not normal.
[I have been captured. Nothing I can do can break free, which should be impossible. I have even lost a leg, yet, he left me standing.] Beta replied in frustration.
This was not right. Beta should never exhibit frustration unless it is a dire situation, but he had not even reported anything new since thatst talk.
[That fast? How did this happen?] Alpha asked in confusion.
[Daniel is too powerful, and he is making a mockery of me. He bound me and then left me to even grow my leg and arms back. Now sliver roots run between even gaps in my body. The Hero just appeared as a swinging ax and destroyed my arm like it was made of cracked ice. I tried stepping on him, and these veins that covered me shredded my foot. The Hero is much stronger than we could have ever anticipated. His control frustrates me and even worries me. Am I allowed to feel this way? This goes against everything I have been taught.] Beta exined, and Alpha closed his eyes for a moment.
This was a problem, but it could be remedied. The Astral God needed Beta on that and to kill the Hero.
Only then could he get Tiamat''s heart, and it would lead Alpha to the ce that his heart was. That was the only way that he was going to get his heart back and end everything, once and for all.
If Alpha could ascend, then he could remake the universe in his image, and everything would be under his control.
[Attempt to goad him to talk to me so I can invite him for a chat. I will send your true form to be modified, and I will be pumping more mutainium into your body and altering your suit with new upgrades. You will also have the Horde of Mechamons; they will assure your victory. Do not show frustration. This is not a setback. We are prepared for whatever we have to do, even if that means scorching the or destroying it.] Alpha dered.
Beta said a prayer to his creator, Alpha, and the line between them went silent.
----
I flew between the trees and locked on to all the Rock Men that were advancing.
I sent the calctions over to my unconscious mind, which was controlling all my external operations of my will. From there, my body started to vibrate, and I angled into the ground just before the back line of the Rock men.
I smashed into the ground and got up, still wearing my sunsses. I kind of felt like the second terminator made out of liquid metal as my body undted with silver ripples.
I could feel my targets all stop and turn around to face me. They all knew I was here for them and then rushed me.
Jumping forward, I m my palm into the head of the first one. Three arms burst from the back of the Rock man''s head and grabbed more heads, proliferating.
The first Rock man tried to swing at me, but its fist slowed as metallic roots covered every rock that the creature''s body was made out of. This was happening to every Rock man as the silver hand continued to burst out like a wave over the army.
They were all frozen in ce, and I could feel the weight of their hatred toward me.
All of this hatred came from this creature that controlled them, but I would put the fear of new rising power into them.
Once I could feel all the hands connect with all my targets, I waited a moment longer. I wanted to make sure that the roots had a solid grip on every rock.
I closed my hand over the rock head before, and I crushed it and every rock the creature was made out of. Every other hand repeated my motion, crushing every form into a pile of small rocks, but I wasn''t done.
I pulled all the piles back to me and made onerge pile that I then crushed the rocks into dust.
Now that was done, I could go deal with the final problem, but I needed to wait for the fairy that was pping her wings as hard as she could. Melody came flying in a glowing red dress and mmed into me, but I absorbed the kic force into my body, letting my skin ripple to disperse the energy.
"You made it!" Melody squealed with excitement.
Then she kissed me multiple times as her wings disappeared, and I wrapped my arms around her. As we kissed, the grass pulled us back to where the big guy was strapped down.
"How did you do that?!" Melody asked me after we stopped kissing, and I grinned.
"Let''s just say that I have leveled up, so to speak," Iughed, and she looked at my silver body and frowned.
"You aren''t always going to look like this, are you?" Melody asked, and Iughed.
"No, I can go back to normal, see?" I said, and my body reverted to a human sink with casual jeans and a white t-shirt.
"Holy shit! You are a goddamn transformer! How can you just change like that?!" Melody eximed, but I shook my head.
"That is a talk for some other time. For now, let''s concentrate on finishing this problem so we can move to the next," I said, and Melody didn''t look happy.
"Fine, but you owe me an exnation after all this is done!" Melody said.
"I will definitely exin everything once we are done here," I said, and she nodded but then looked up in shock as we got closer to the giant Rock man.
"Wait! How is that thing just standing there, not even moving?" Melody asked in confusion.
"I put him in time out," I said with a grin.
Chapter 145 His Own Ambitions
"You stopped that thing and killed the other one that we couldn''t fight? Are you even human anymore?" Melody asked as we slowed down.
Amy and the other Annokale were rushing over, and I could sense more of theming. I might as well try and get into this creature''s mind to talk with the top dog.
I was surprised that this Gideon was spewing more hot garbage about being superior. Alpha must have told him to shut up rather than embarrass themselves, but that was frustrating in itself.
If they were acting like this, then they thought that they still had a chance and wouldn''t give up. I was stupid for thinking they would, but I didn''t understand why they were here in the first ce.
I had Tiamat''s heart, not Alpha''s, so I didn''t really get what his goal was.
"Is this it? Have you already stopped the rest?" Daimo asked, looking confused, but his face fell when I nodded. "So we really never had a chance."
"While I did not create you, I am the System that created you. I can dominate any of you, but you all had to make a choice. Things are going to be happening soon that will dwarf what this incident was," I exined.
"This incident? Is that what you are calling all of us AI invading your and killing many of your people?" Tim asked, then added, "Thank you for saving me."
"You are notputer programs; you are a race known as the Annokale. You are Spirits from now destroyed worlds that were collected and infused into what we call Systems. Each of these Systems is created from the Astral Body of Tiamat, leader of the Darkar. I will go into detail about everything when everyone gathers. For now, let me deal with this interloper," I said, setting Melody down. "Everyone, please get back; I am going to get bigger."
Everyone did as I said, and I rapidly expanded my form until I was the same height as the Giant Rock man. I looked into the rock face, but there wasn''t any movement, so I knocked on his head.
"Yes?! You can ask me a question! I am not a door!" The rock face snapped at me, and I nodded.
"Yes, I could have done that, but I don''t need to talk to you. I already heard that you got chased out of the universe by the valiant Tiamat, Astral Goddess. I could just crush you like the rest of your bodies that are nothing more than dust," I said, and the creature became silent again, so I grabbed either side of its head and pressed it into mine. "Let''s talk, Supreme Leader of Nothing!"
My voice roared out with an echo, then I was sucked out of my body again, just likest time, but I was ready for it this time, and I asserted my position.
I was in a hall, but everything was so big that I was an ant inparison. Ahead of me was a golden demon with twin horns projecting from his forehead.
"You dare speak to me like this?"
I didn''t answer; I just walked forward and grew rapidly as I did. The look of surpise on Alpha''s face when I reached him and put my hand around his throat was priceless.
"You are ancient, just like her, yet you are the one that tricked Tiama. Then you both imprisoned the ones that gave you life, the Annokale. Why? What do you hope to gain from this?" I asked, and Alpha sat still, not trying to stop my hand.
"You can not hurt me here," Alpha said and then pulsed cosmic radiation at me, but it slipped past me with no effect.
"Nor can you hurt me, but I will not be talked down to by someone who can''t see past his ambitions. You started this all, so why? Is it really just to rule everyone?" I asked.
"When I get my heart back and ascend, I will destroy this universe properly and remake it in my own image. Everyone will serve me, and it will be perfect," Alpha said and spread his hands wide. "This is the way it is meant to be. This is my destiny that I have written, and you are just a small step in finding my heart."
This was getting closer to what I wanted to know.
"What do I have to do with finding your heart?" I asked.
"Why would I tell you that?" Alpha asked with a stupid smile that I didn''t like, so I pped it off.
"Stop acting like a jackass. If you don''t tell me, then I will assume that it has something to do with Tiamat''s heart. That means that the key to finding your heart is in the one I have. Okay, that is all I needed; you can send me back now," I said and let go of the God of the Gideons neck.
Alpha leaped up and then swung at me, but the fist went through me, making my image ripple.
"How can you attack me in my own mind! You aren''t even real!" Alpha dered, and I chuckled.
"You should be careful who you invite into your mind. I have read enough fantasy to know that being invited in is like being given power. You gave me the power to exist in your mind, so I am just a figment of your imagination, but like a dream, I can still affect you. Maybe one day, I might even be able to kill you if you even invite me back in, but for now, I am satisfied. Your reactions have told me everything that I need to know," I told the now furious God.
"I will hunt you till the end of time! There is nowhere that you can run! I will get my heart back and remove you from existence!" Alpha screamed, and I was thrown back into my body.
I opened my eyes and then flexed my arms, pushing my hands together. The Rock man screamed, and I crushed his head between my hands, making his body crystalize into a t red metal.
Chapter 146 Over Devoted
After that, I exined everything to everyone, and there were numerous mixed reactions. I expected that, but the strangest reactions were from the Annokale.
The realization that they weren''t something that was created weighed heavily, and the realization of what they had been doing. For some of Annokale, it was too much to bear, and we had to put them to sleep in clones.
It took only three days for all the Annokale to gather, and they were a tense group. After sorting out the ones that were too far gone, I was left with just over two thousand Annokale.
The problem was that not all humans were sane, but that was only part of the problem with them. The real problem was in the consciousness of their minds; they were just bad people, and nothing short of mind control would change them.
After a long talk with Sofia about Victoria, we figured out a way to bnce people''s hormones. We tried it on Victoria first, and it helped her, but still left her attitude, but it was not like before.
We tried it on some of the mentally deranged Hosts, but that wasn''t effective on everyone that we tried. A couple psychologists stepped forward, and I even designed a Mental System for one of them, but the problem was that some people didn''t want to change.
After everything was said and done, less than a thousand pairs were left. Only thirty-five people with Systems were allowed to keep them, but they all were being monitored by arge group of people.
With barely one thousand troops left after a week, I gathered them all in one ce.
"Good to see that there are so many faces here today. I wish that there could be more, but for now, you are all we have to work with. We have three months to prepare Earth for the first assault, and we need to prepare. Each of your Annokale is being sent information packets that will exin your targets and goals. Those without partners have a different mission than you have already been told. I know that a week ago, you were all trying to kill the humans, but now we need to help save them. They are going to be scared of you and for good reason. You are going to have to redeem yourselves and work hard to gain everyone''s trust back. None of this is going to be easy, but nothing in life worth doing is easy!"
The crowd cheered, and I nodded, turning away from the stage. It was already the evening, and we had been going almost non-stop all week.
"This is something that I never thought could happen," Pyke said, dressed in a ck suit as he rxed.
"This is only the start; we are barely even making a scratch on what needs to be done," I said as I walked off the back of the stage, ten Annokale Generals and my ten girls all following me.
I had wanted to send the Generals out with the others, but I sent their assistance instead. I was going to need the ten here training and getting much more potent.
"Ah, but Papi! We just worked for a week straight with all the crazies! You need to let us have a break!" Sofiained.
"Yes, I think that we all deserve a break since we had to do all the fighting down here while you were ying in space!" Katieughed.
"I think that we could all go watch a movie? I have been working on some with dad, and his mind actually does a pretty good job of recreating the book in his mind!" Anya eximed, and I shrugged.
"By all means, but I need to start-"
"Daniel, did you not hear what Anya just said?" Melody asked, cutting me off. "All of us are going to watch the movie, and then you are going to rx for the rest of the evening."
"No, I am not. Listen, I get that you are all tired and drained. That is okay, and you all can take more breaks if you need, but I can''t. There are too many things that need to be done right now that only I can do," I said, pinching at the skin on my forehead.
"I know, but can you at leaste and watch the movie with us? We only see you when you need one of us right now," Melody said, and I sighed.
It was true that I had been ignoring everyone, but no one really seemed to understand what wasing. That was my fault.
I made a big show of showing everyone that I could handle anything, and now they really believed that. This seemed to make them think that this wasn''t a dire situation, but that was so far from the truth.
The truth was, I could work while watching the movie remotely. I also could direct tasks without leaving my body, and I did owe the girls something for working so hard.
"Fine, just for the movie. I can''t lie and say that I am not interested to see how it has turned out," I said, dropping my hand, then looking at the group of Annokale. "Are you alling? I am sure the girls won''t mind."
If you are going, then I wish to join you," Cyndia replied with a smile that looked mischievous.
Name: Cyndia
Race: Annokale
Height: 5''7
Eye Color: Purple and green
Hair: Long, half green from the roots, and purple the rest of the way down.
Description: Smart and loyal, but a mischievous side that likes games that she can win at. Quite, unless talking about acids, then she bes animated and hyper-focused.
System: Acid System
Abilities: Create and Control Acid. Also, about to increase the ph corrosive values in other materials.
"Why does that smile put me on edge?" I asked, and Cyndia just shrugged.
"I am just excited. I told you that I am devoting my life to you now, so it is nice to know that you are willing to spend time with me. Even if it is with all the rest of these people," Cyndia said, still smiling.
"Be devoted all you want, but Daniel has all the girls that he needs right now! The harem doors are closed! You might get something if you are outstanding!" Melody dered, and I whirled on her.
"Excuse me, I am not some prize to be doled out! She is just going to have to find some other guy! I have all of you that I barely spend any time with right now!" I growled, and Melody shrugged.
"How are you going to keep people motivated if you don''t dangle some kind of reward? Come on, you are the king of the world!" Melody cheered but then squealed when Anya came up behind her and grabbed her by the ear.
"Stop trying to pawn off our boyfriend! You might be fine with him sleeping with other women, but he is right. Daniel is not a prize, and if he needs to get some relief, I am more than willing to give it to him whenever he needs it!" Anya snapped, but then Melody turned into a mouse.
Anya screamed as Melody broke free and ran up Anya''s sleeve and into her shirt. I sighed, and then one of my roots burst from my arm, and up Anya''s dress as she danced, and grabbed Melody.
"You are being trouble right now, you know that?" I asked the little mouse, but she shrunk, got out of my root, and then turned into a cat that climbed on my shoulder.
"I am always trouble, but you picked me! Fine! I will stop trying to let you have fun! God, you would think that you would be all for this type of thing with this many women in your life, Nya~!" Melody meowed.
"Doesss that mean that you want me toe asss well?" Meckel asked, and my blood went cold much like her own.
"Oh no! This should be good, Nya~!" Melody chuckled, and I rolled my eyes as I turned back to face the obsessive snake woman.
Name: Meckel
Race: Annokale
Height: 5''4-6''0 depending on how she feels.
Eye Color: Green
Hair: Garden green
Description: Lamia''s body covered in green scales from her hips down. Scales also run up her back, the backs of her arms, and some on her neck and cheeks. Meckel is a romantic but bes obsessive when rejected. Her response is to be what even her obsession desires until they submit to her.
System: Serpent System
Abilities: Call and control Serpent type creatures. The System allows Meckel to train and evolve her pets to fight for her.
"I mean, I said everyone coulde, so that includes you as well, Meckel," I said, feeling a bit uneasy.
Meckel had been the first Annokale General of three to approach and devote themselves to me, but she was the worst of the tree. Cyndia at least was okay with just being around me, but the snake woman wanted a lot more, and my rejection had only made it worse.
Chapter 147 Hyperion
"Oh, well, I guesss that isss okay," Meckel said, looking dejected, and I sighed.
Meckel slithered over to get closer to me, but I didn''t move away. That would only antagonize her further, and I had been doing a pretty good job of keeping away from her.
Now, she had the chance to get close to me, and Meckel was taking full advantage of it.
"Okay, let''s go see this movie," I said, and Anya grabbed my hand to start dragging me off stage, away from Meckel.
The rest of the group followed, and I could see the Systems users leaving the forest in almost every direction. Some of them were using the grass, while others were flying or using their own form of transportation.
"Amazing to see that you were able to get everyone together and sorted in such a short amount of time," Angelise said as she walked to stand beside me with Meckel and Cyndia on my right side.
Name: Angelise
Race: Annokale
Height: 5''9
Eye Color: Blue
Hair: long tinum blonde that runs down to the bottom of her ass cheeks
Description: Stoic, loyal, and formal. Angelise is the type of woman that has strong convictions when finding a mate but has a soft spot for men with strength. More importantly, ones that can defeat her in battle.
System: Valkyrie System
Abilities: The System buffs speed, strength, and spear skills. The most significant buff is Angelise''s jumping ability.
"There is still a lot to do. This was the easy part of the task before us," I sighed, and Angelise nodded.
"Yes, but you seem to be taking care of things and directing everyone quite well. I can see why your women have such faith in you," Angelise exined.
"We have faith because we know that he can handle whatever is thrown at him!" Katie cheered, and I tried not to groan.
"You don''t think you can handle it?" Meckel asked.
The grass was pulling us now, but I didn''t answer right away. This was frustrating.
Why did it have to be the worst one of them all to ask the best question? I had no choice but to answer her.
"No, I don''t. I think that I can deal with Calishora and possibly the Gideon, but they areing with armies. That means I need troops to be able to stop them. While the humans here have no experience with the Drakar or Gideons, you Annokale have fought with them before," I exined and then asked. "Did you ever beat them?"
"Beat? No, they were too strong and numerous, but the problem is that they don''t usually fight. Both races would sooner use people from the world they attack. Each race has a type of mind control device that they used to enve other races," Angelise exined.
"This is my point. None of you can evene close to beating me as I am right now, but I am not much stronger than a Draco or mechs that the Gideons use. That means that none of you can help me defend earth," I exined, but it felt like I was talking to myself.
"Well, we can get stronger, but we still have almost three months until the Darkar gets here, right?! That gives us a lot more time than we had before we had to fight, right?" Anya asked, but I shook my head.
"No, we only have a time frame and the direction that they wereing from. I can no longer track them because they have jumped closer, and now I don''t know where they are. The three months is an estimate, so they could show up in two months, or even tomorrow, I don''t know. We can''t be waiting around for them toe. We need to be ready, and I need to get this ready to move. I don''t know if you all realize, but this is something that has never been done before by people that didn''t have thousands of years to prepare!" I snapped, and everyone went quiet.
I didn''t like snapping like this, but no one seemed to get it. They understood what wasing, but it was like they just couldn''t grasp what it meant for us.
"I guess if you want to go to work, we can all just go to the movies without you. I am sure that there will be time in the future," Anya said quietly, digging into my heart.
I knew that the girls just wanted to spend some time with me, and to them, I was just acting like I normally did when I got involved with a project. I hyper-focus on things until the task is done, but the girls are used toing in and distracting me.
Usually, this would be a wee distraction because I was creating a website or working on new products to sell. Not trying to keep us from being exterminated, but that part didn''t seem to matter, and I was just a jerk that didn''t spend time with them.
"No, we will do this, but I need everyone working tomorrow and not trying to avoid work to go do other projects, Chelsea," I said, and she tried to hide behind Firaga and Gaia.
"I promise that I will work on my training tomorrow and leave the games alone!" Chelsea yelped.
"Speaking of training. You need toe and stop by the R&D Great Tree," Sofia said, and I gave her a raised eyebrow.
"What do you have going on there?" I asked.
"New clones and some special armor suits. They are made from some systeminium and then grown. The suit acts like a second skin, but it will make normal people a lot stronger in clones, but it isn''t perfect yet," Sofia exined, and then asked, "Have you figured out what is blocking the electricity yet?"
"Yes, and no. I figured out what blocks it, but the only way to get rid of it is to find it. It should be an easy thing since Octavia ced it, but it is a locked System that is causing it. Again, I control the Systems, so I should be able to get into it easily, but it was never meant to be touched after cing it, and the System is untraceable. Octavia is trying to find it, and that is her only job at the moment because this restricts us on what we can do," I exined, and Sofia sighed, nodding.
"I thought it must be something like that, or you would have fixed the problem already," Sofia said.
"If you can try to help her, that might get the ball rolling. Once I can find it, then I can go up and deactivate it. After that, we can get some old things up and running, like our phones. We are going to need them for when the attackes," I exined, and Sofia nodded.
"Yes, or at least until you can connect everyone and the world with your trees. We can already use them to talk to anyone else that is connected to them. The problem is that you don''t have enough power to cover the whole world yet," Sofia exined, but we were finally getting to the theater.
"Well, we can talk about this more tomorrow; for now, let''s enjoy the movie. What are we going to watch or what book is going to be on the big screen? Hopefully, a good light novel, right?" I asked as we stepped off the grass and started to walk up to the entrance.
"Hyperion..." Anya said with her voice trailing off, and I turned to look at her in shock.
"You''re joking, right? Have you even read that book?!" I asked with wide eyes.
Hyperion was the story of a bunch of people traveling to the Hyperion to get a wish granted by a horrific creature known as the Shrike. Each of the people tells their story of why they are on the journey, but the story just had gotten more twisted after each person''s tale.
"Dad said it was an excellent book, so I figured that you two would have simr tastes, right?" Anya asked hesitantly, and I facepalmed.
"Hyperion was a great book, but not something that should ever see the light of day when ites to movies! I mean, I am pretty interested to know your father''s view of the Shrike, but this movie is going to give everyone nightmares, and it''s not even scary," I sighed.
"Well, next time, you should be there to tell me what books to do!" Anyained, and I grinned, pulling her into a kiss.
"I am sure that it will be good. I am more worried about you all. Even reading the book, there are some things that I can''t unsee, even though it was only created in my mind," Iughed.
"I think that we will all be just fine. We have you to protect usss, after all," Meckel said, and I turned to look at her.
"I am not sure if I will be much help," I chuckled.
"You are more than enough help, and we all know it. Now, let usss go and sssee this movie thing that you all talk about," Meckel said,ing over to try and take my arm, but Anya grabbed and pulled me with her.
"Mine," Anya said possessively, and Meckel pouted.
"I sssuppossse that I can sssee the movie another time," Meckel said, and I smiled.
"I am sure that we can all go see it together. It will be fun," I said, and Meckel''s face lit up.
"Really?!" Meckel asked, and I groaned.
"Yes, really. Now let''s go," I said, and Meckel squealed as she slithered into the theater.
I sighed and shook my head as we followed her. I had a feeling that this was going to be a long movie.
Chapter 148 Work Hard
Everyone walked back out of the theater in silence, and that was to be expected. I had a mental image of what a spiked vagina looked like, but when you saw it zoomed in and twenty feet tall, you just couldn''t unsee it.
"I don''t think I am even going to listen to my father again. While it was an interesting movie, the story was not what I thought it was. Yet, I almost want to see the next one," Anya finally said and then looked at me. "Is the second as bad as the first?"
"Don''t know. I dropped it after the first book because it wasn''t really something I enjoyed. I think I started reading "The Game Is Life." That would be an interesting book series to be turned into a movie," I said as our group stepped down on the grass.
"Possibly, I will see what I can do. What are you going to do now?" Anya asked.
"Go sort through people while testing out things for Sofia, right?" I said, looking over at Sofia, and she nodded.
"Yes, it is still mid-day, and I have a lot to show you," Sofia said with a smile, and I nodded, turning to the Annokale Generals. "I want you all to go and run the courses with Marley and Katie in the dome. Next month, I need you all up to the fifth level."
"Hey! That is a tall order! Have you ever tried that thing?! I can''t even get past the third door on the third level!" Pykeined.
"Don''tin; we will make you run it all night!" Katie warned, and Gigosughed.
"You should just be happy that we only have to train. This is what we were supposed to be doing before, but we were too busy watching to see what was going to happen," Gigos chuckled.
"I am just d that I don''t have to hide in a bunk underground! Belious is not much forpany if it isn''t something he is interested in!" Beltzer with his arm around Tim, who was leaning into him.
"I am happy we aren''t fighting each other anymore, and we can stop running. For as long as I can remember, we have just moved from one to the next. Now it kind of feels like we might have a home," Tim said, and Beltzer kissed her forehead.
"Well, if we want to keep it, then we are going to have to do as Daniel asks of us and get stronger. We have always been the destroyers, but now it is our turn to be the protectors. We also need to set a good example for the other... Annokale. That still feels strange to call myself that," Beltzer said, and I nodded.
"It might be strange at first, but this is who you are, not some AI that was manufactured. All of you need to get past what you were before to be what you were always meant to be. The guardians of this universe since it was all of you that chose to restart everything. You are all responsible for helping fix what happened in Eden," I exined, and the AI all nodded and started to turn to leave, but I put a hand up. "Gravois and Hellyle, I would like for you two toe with Sofia and me. I wanted to talk to you both and do some more scans."
Both of them nodded and separated from the group.
As they did, Kaite and Marley came over, and then both hugged and kissed me.
"Thank you foring to see the movie with us," Marley smiled, and Katie nodded.
"Even if it was really messed up, it was still nice. Maybe you might be interested ining over tonight? Marley was going to have a sleepover, and you look like you could use some relief," Katie suggested, and Marley nodded.
"I can''t say no to that, and I have to sleep at some point. I wille byter tonight," I said and kissed both smiling girls.
Meckel looked like she was about toin, but Angelise roughly grabbed her by the hair. She dragged the snake woman who was screaming over to the grass patch the others were on.
I watched as the eight Annokale, Katie and Marley were pulled away and then turned back to the rest of the group with a sigh.
"At least the other two seem to have a good hold on her," Melody giggled.
"I almost feel bad for her, but I am not giving up any of the limited time that we have with him," Anya said, crossing her arms, and I smiled.
"Don''t worry, I am more than happy with just you ten. Now, Vic, do you want toe with us? I want to figure out what System we are going to give you," I suggested, and Vic nodded and came over to stand beside me quietly.
Since Sofia and I had bnced things out inside of her, Victoria had been quiet for the most part. She would answer questions but wouldn''t engage with anyone.
"If you have time, I would like it if you could stop by my workshop. I increase my level, and I have a lot of old Systems that can be changed into other things, but it might be better with you there," Firaga exined, and I nodded as Gaia came over to join me beside Sofia.
"Yes! I have been meaning to get over to you! You should have much more systeminium than you need at this point, and I am going to need it. I wille after I am done here with Sofia and Vic," I said, and Firaga nodded.
"That would be good. I tried to consume it all, but I couldn''t eat Gravois, and Hellyle is more than I could ever consume at my current level. Then there are all the extra people that died or that we had to transfer out of the Host," Firaga exined, and I nodded.
Chapter 149 Gold Plated Queen Of Biology
"Sounds good. Melody, Chelsea, Amy, and Anya, I am probably not going to see you all today. Still, I have things nned for each of you in theing days, so just have some patience with me and keep working on the tasks that you have and improving your systems," I exined, and Melody giggled.
"Yes, daddy. We will make sure we work hard, so youe and spend time with us!" Melodyughed, and I rolled my eyes.
"Love you all," I said, and the grass started to pull us south.
The theater was where Victoria and Katie''s dorm had been before, but any traces of the old building were gone. It was like this all over the forest, but new shops and specialty stores were popping up everywhere.
"Has anyone been to any of the new stores? What are they using for currency?" I asked as we were pulled down a grass path.
There was another path beside it, but it headed in the opposite direction. The grass would go wherever anyone needed, but I thought that it would be good to have main paths.
"I have been to a few for new furniture for my office and some different kinds of specialty foods. As for pay, most of them do it for free or trade services since no one has to do any of that. Anyone that is setting up these shops is just bored and doesn''t want to sit around. There really isn''t much for humans to do to help now. We do have everyone training almost every day in clones, but that onlysts for two hours, and then they have the rest of their days off," Sofia exined, and I nodded.
"That is good; I just hope that we don''t get anyone trying to rip people off," I said, but Sofia started to giggle.
"That has already happened, but Mr. Tree is the best problem solver. The trees have been helping out with sorting out disputes because they can sense intentions. Whether it is people trying to overcharge, or rude customers, Mr. Tree gets on top of it and sorts things out! The trees can''t talk, but they make their point without anyone getting hurt," Sofia exined, and I sent a thank you to Mr. Tree, who returned gratitude.
"That is good to hear, and I hope that we can get the rest of the world on track like this. I don''t really want to control people. I want them to understand that violence against each other is not something we do anymore. We fight to protect our home and way of life and do whatever it takes. The rest of the time should be spent doing what they like. There are going to be many people given Systems in theing weeks, and the world is going to start changing," I said as we got closer to the R&D Great Tree.
"Yes, Papi. We need to talk about that. I have measurements from the Cosmic Radiation Breathe that Calishora used. As you know, Mr. Tree is still purifying the area from just having her there. I am worried that All the Drakar are going to have something like this. Your body is fine and absorbs it, but Melody and the others that fought her and got close like Beltzer had to sit in the baths for a full day," Sofia exined.
We were to the tree now, but the grass took us in through what used to be the hospital entrance and all the way to the elevator before it stopped. I would say that this was going to make peoplezy, but from what I had heard, people enjoyed being active and doing whatever it was that they loved.
"I have a n for that, but I don''t know how everyone is going to feel about it. We are no longer going to live on the surface. There is just no way that we can survive space travel if we don''t," I said, and Sofia nodded.
"I agree, but you are right; some people might be against it. Still, if they choose to stay on the surface, they are destined to die. Having the surface clear should leave a lot of room for us to fight the invasions that areing. What is the next n after that? You get people underground, then what?" Sofia asked as the elevator rose.
"We will split the world in half at the equator, creating two cups out of the crust. They are going to spin fast enough for us to simte gravity while we are moving in a straight line. This is going to cause the water to all head to the center and change thendscape drastically. With this, we can do some crazy things, including turning off gravity. That be easy to do with our new homes being in the ground, and Mr. Tree to keep everyone secure," I exined, and the elevator stopped, opening to avishly furnished meeting room.
The room looked like it should be used by the Queen or something like that, but each of the girls thought of themselves that way. They were, but seeing golden chairs with red velvet cushions made the statement.
"Wow," Gravois said, and I turned to him.
"Fancy that, you do talk? You like gold?" I asked, and the rock man nodded.
"The¡ Gold is¡ Pretty," Gravois said, and I nodded, turning back to Sofia.
"You got some extra gold lying around?" I asked, and she gave me an offended look.
"Extra? Do you think that I just give the stuff away?!" Sofia eximed.
"Give me some gold, woman, and why are you hoarding gold?" I asked curiously with a grin.
"Who said I was hoarding gold?!" Sofia asked, flinching back.
"Are you going to try and tell me you aren''t? I don''t care if you are; I am just curious as to what you are using it for?" I asked. "I want to convert Gravois, so I only need a person worth."
Sofia''s green skin turned gray, and she started to curse my name in numerousnguages.
Chapter 150 Goldar
"Papi! Why do you do this to me? Gah! I want the gold because it mixes with the systeminium! And now you are going to tell me, Sofia, that is wonderful! That is even better for him, but that is all the gold that I have! ?Por el Amor de Dios!" Sofiained, mocking my deeper voice.
"Really? You are right, and that is great, butining about it isn''t going to let you keep that gold. I will get you all the gold you want, do not worry about that. We have the Annokale and their Host traveling with seeds, so at some point, we are going to track down the reserves. Get me to gold, so I don''t have to use the coating on your wooden table and chairs!" I threatened, and Sofia''s eyes snapped open.
"You scoundrel, Papi! You are not supposed to tell people that! Fine! The gold ising, but you had better rece it!" Sofia snapped, and I narrowed my eyes at her.
"Don''t act like I don''t know about you ransacking south city! I can feel everything that happens, you know? And I know about therge haul of gold already iing. Enough of this bickering back and forth," I said as a chest filled with all sorts of gold pieces in it was brought out on grass.
I walked over to the chest and knelt down, putting my hand on the gold. I turned to Gravois and offered my hand to him.
Gravois looked hesitant at first, but he came over after a short pause.
"Make me Gold?" Gravois asked after taking my hand, pointing to himself.
"Yes," I said and looked at Sofia after Gravois took my hand into his rock one. "Can you see if you can help me repair his mind? When I do this, it should wipe the Gideons control that is blocking parts of him. I need you to help put the pieces back together if you can."
"I will do the best that I can," Sofia said as she came over behind Gravois.
"I will give you energy and see if I can lock away whatever is inside of his head," Gaia said as she came up behind me, but I shook my head.
"Just give me energy, and stay out of his head. We have no idea how he was infected; we just know he was captured at some point and then released back to the group like he had broken free. ording to Octavia''s records, he wasn''t able to talk before this," I exined, and I could feel Gaia nodding.
"Is there anything that I can do?" Victoria asked, and I nodded.
"Come and support me like Gaia. Just put your hands on my back with her, and Gaia will use your energy to feed me as well. We are all connected to her, and she to us, so she can use you like a conduit to draw more power," I said, and soon I felt her hands on my back.
Not that I didn''t like the new change, but I was concerned that there was something wrong, but the girls assured me it was nothing. I had a hard time believing that, but I would let here to me when she was ready to talk.
With everyone in ce, I closed my eyes, and my System menu popped up.
[System Creation]
[System Adjust]
[System Info]
[Clone List]
Status]
I selected [System Adjust], and a new screen opened, but this one was a scan of Gravois and details about his system.
Name: Gravois
Race: Annokale
Status: Infect with mutainium
Height: Indeterminable
Eye Color: Gray
Hair: N/A
Description: N/A
System: Rock System
Abilities: N/A
[Change Rock System -> Midas System: Y/N?]
I confirmed the choice, and power started to flood into me as I pulled Gravois and the systeminuim that he was attached to from the rocks. The rock hand crumbled into mine, and I opened my eyes to see a golden body growing from the trunk that my hand was on.
I closed my eyes once more, looked over the chart once more, and smiled internally.
Name: Goldar
Race: Annokale
Status: Systeminium fully synced
Height: 6''0
Eye Color: Gold
Hair: Gold
Description: Kind and gentle, Goldar loves small animals and nature of all kinds. Very quiet, but a fierce protector.
System: Midas System
Abilities: Create and control gold to use to enhance other Systems.
I opened my eyes again, and Goldar was looking down at his hands in shock. The name change was strange, but with his current look, it made sense.
"How do you feel?" I asked as I stood up.
"Like someone that I have not been in a very long time. Myself," Goldar said and then looked up from his hands at me. "Thank you for fixing my mind and getting rid of Beta."
"Beta? So that is the name of that Demon that was stuck in your head?" I asked, looking back at the rocks that had once been a person.
The rocks were all the same t red metal now that the more significant part of his body had turned into before. I allowed Firaga to try eating some, but she didn''t like it, and it gave her no benefits.
"Yes, the one that captured me before when I was trying to defend a vige of natives that were primitives. I don''t know what happened after getting caught. I just woke up to run in the forest, but Beta was in my head, preventing me from speaking and all but locking me inside that form. Each time I was connected to an inanimate object, and I was forced to watch myself betray people that trusted me," Goldar said with a tired voice.
"That does sound hard, but you have a chance to move forward again. You have a unique ability that I am going to need in the future. There are some unbelievable things that I have nned, so we are going to need every advantage that we can get," I said.
Then I turned around to face Hellyle. He looked like a lizard-faced human without wings and red scales covering his body.
"That means that we are going to have to change your system as well, Mr. Dragon. What are you thinking of bing?" I asked, and the Dragon smiled.
"Dragon¡ Hunter!" Hellyle growled, and I grinned.
Chapter 151 Minute Man
Changing Hellyle''s System was more straightforward, and the System felt good to make. I would gain some of the buffs that came with it and some of the advantages as well.
Name: Hellyle
Race: Annokale
Status: Systeminium fully synced
Height: 5''10
Eye Color: Red
Hair: short cut ck
Description: Aggressive, happy, and doesn''t get mad. All anger is converted to Rage used to power the Dragonyer System. Everything he does with a smile, even when killing a foe.
System: Dragonyer System
Abilities: Converts anger into Rage that fuels Energy draining attacks and creates personal armor and weapons.
"Hey! You got to keep your name!" Iughed, and Hellyle''s smile was so bright it almost blinded me, figuratively.
"That I did! Hot dang! This is really great! Do you know how long I have suffered from being angry? This is like having the world lifted off my shoulders! Even when I think about that witch controlling me, I just feel stronger! This is really incredible! Thank you so much!" Hellyle eximed, nearly bursting at the seams with happiness, making everyone smile.
"Alright, put that smile away! It''s infectious, and my face is starting to hurt!" Iughed and walked over to the table.
"Couldn''t stop if I wanted to, and I don''t! It is a great day to be alive! I am alive! Not some program created in ab!" Hellyleughed.
"We will just have to work through the smiles. Vic, do you want you toe to sit with me while Sofia shows us her designs?" I asked Victoria as she was about to take a seat, and she nodded.
Once she was sitting on myp, Victoria leaned her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her cheek, making her smile.
"So, what do you have for me today, Hermosa?" I asked, and Sofia winked at me.
"Ah, Papi, you say such sweet words to me after taking all my gold. Yes, I have some things for you to look at," Sofia said sarcastically and then turned to scream, "ARBOL VIEJO!"
A root sprouted from the ground behind Sofia and whipped her in the ass, making the woman jump, turn, and start cursing at the root. Sofia was shaking her fist at it, and the root grew into a fist to shake back.
"I don''t think Mr. Tree appreciates the reference to his age," I chuckled, and Sofia red at me.
"Stay out of this, Papi! This is between the old man and me! Cantankerous old roots!" Sofia snapped, and another root made go for her.
Vines burst from Sofia, and she pped the root away, and then suddenly, there was a fury of roots and vines pping at each other. I just blinked in amazement.
"Don''t worry, this happened more often than either of them would like to admit," Gaia giggled.
"What did she call Mr. Tree?" Victoria asked, and I grinned.
"Old Tree."
"Oh, I wouldn''t think the trees would be offended by that," Victoria said, and Iughed.
"I think it was more about the way she said it, but I guess this is something that is normal for them," I exined, and Victoria nodded, closing her eyes again.
"Are you okay?" I asked. "You have been awfully quiet since Sofia, and I helped sort things out."
"I just have a lot on my mind. I have said some hurtful things to you in the past and acted like a child. It''s not only been a burden to you but my parents as well. I guess I am just trying to take everything in and figure out how to improve. I still will tell you if I think something is dumb, but I will try not to be rude," Victoria exined, and I nodded and lifted her chin up to kiss her.
When I looked back up, Sofia was panting beside the table, but there were two models in the center of the table. Both of them were two feet tall, but they were much different from each other.
"These are two of the models that I have made so far, but both are defensive models. I thought it would be best to work on ways to slow down the enemy with the clones. That way, the System Users can take them out a lot easier," Sofia exined as both models walked down the table to where I was sitting with Victoria.
The first one that stepped in front of me looked less like armor and more like a fitted suit made out of long green scales.
"This is the Vine Trap Suit or VT suit for short. It can stretch vines up to one hundred feet and bind enemies. In the current stage, the vines are much too weak to hold the races that are invading, but once you go through my request list for Systems, we will be able to make it much better," Sofia exined, and I nodded.
"Sure, I will look it over after, and then we can take care of it in the morning. I am going to need to find some more people myself for projects," I said.
"Ask Gaia; she found everyone I need. She knows all the humans in the world, thanks to her System," Sofia exined, and I turned to Gaia.
"Really? Looks like you and I need to spend some time together tonight. I will have to postpone Katie and Marley, it seems," I said to Gaia, but she shook her head.
"I already know what you are looking for. Octavia told me what you need, and I have already found the people. I will take up your time tomorrow night for more mundane reasons," Gaia said with a smile, and I nodded.
"Sounds good; I like mundane things with you," I said with a smile and turned back to the models that had switched ces.
The second one looked more like armor, but it also looked just like an Ent from Lord of the Rings. It had a trunk for legs, but it seemed to get around well with just its roots.
"This one is the BF Tree Suit. Again, the bark is only so tough, even with its regeneration. A group of them can form a line and root down to almost anything," Sofia exined, and the suit did just that.
The roots spread out and around the table, making a firm hold. I reached out and grabbed the suit, lifted it up, and groaned slightly as I had to lift the entire table.
"Impressive. We could drop these guys anywhere to make a defensive line, and the tracksuits can stay behind them! Brilliant! I love it," Iughed and set the model and table back down. "Like you said, these are just prototypes, but I am impressed with what you have. Thank you for your hard work!"
"Aye, don''t try to butter me up, Papi! You still owe me one man worth of gold!" Sofia said, stabbing a finger at me, and Iughed.
"Yes, I will get you your gold, but I am serious. This is really cool, and it is going to help keep our people from dying. Anything that can do that is good news in my books. I also am sure Goldar appreciates his new body," I chuckled, putting my arms under Victoria''s legs as I stood up to lift her.
"Oh, yes, sure, try to make me feel bad! You had bettere back hereter! I want the list approved!" Sofia said, shaking a finger at me as I walked around the table with Victoria.
"Send it to my tree, and I will look it over. I will make sure that I am here early, and we can talk about other ideas that I have," I said, and Sofia smiled at that.
"Good. You had bettere extra early then. I don''t want to have a repeat ofst time!" Sofia said, and I felt attacked.
"Aye! That isn''t very nice! We were in a hurry!" Iined, and Victoria giggled in my arms. "Hey, you don''t start with her!"
"I just call it how I feel it, and it wasn''t very long, Papi!" Sofia chuckled, and Hellyle barked out augh that made even Goldar join in.
I let out a long sigh, and Victoria kissed me.
"I am sure that you aren''t that bad in bed," Victoria teased, and I rolled my eyes.
"Oh, I never said it was bad, just short!" Sofiaughed.
"We are going now. Send the list over, and I wille by in the morning to redeem myself; I mean help you," I growled as the elevator opened, and Victoria and I got inside.
Once the door closed, Victoria looked up at me with a grin.
"So, Mr. Five-Minute-Man. What are we doing now?" Victoria teased.
"Going to see your new house and to give you a System, just like I did for the other girls," I said, and Victoria''s eyes went big.
"The same way?" She asked.
"Same way I did for all the other girls unless you want the less personal touch like everyone else?" I asked, and she shook her head.
"No, I am ready for it this time and for you."
Chapter 152 No Sleep
"Before we go for that fun, I need to stop by Firaga''s shop to collect all the systeminium. If you don''t mind, I will meet you at your new ce?" I asked, and Victoria nodded with a smile.
"I don''t mind waiting. We don''t have to do it today either. I know that you have ns with the girlster, and I don''t want to take away from that," Victoria exined, and Iughed.
"Don''t worry about that! I am no longer what you would call fully human, and I can go as much as I want. I just have a ton of things to take care of first, like getting us to safety," I exined as the elevator descended.
I would have loved for nothing more than to have just stepped outside of the tree and fallen to the ground, but I knew Victoria didn''t like that. She was doing good now, so this was the least I could do, and I felt bad about asking her to wait, but I had too much to do to be backtracking.
"Are we ever going to be safe? Even if we get away now, won''t they still try chasing us?" Victoria asked, and that was a valid concern.
It was one that I had given great thought to over thest week.
"Completely safe? Not as long as other races are alive that work with different agendas, but I am working on a design that will allow us to be able to live safely. The world is going to go through a big change, but this is just the start. The n is to move below the surface and live there until we harvest enough material to create a dome around the world. The goal is to turn the into a portable Dyson Sphere. That is something that requires more material than we can find on earth," I exined.
"A Dyson Sphere? Don''t you need a star for that?" Victoria asked, and I nodded.
"Yup, but it is too much work to try and put one inside the earth. Even the smallest star would be multitudes bigger than our. I n on creating a system that can birth small stars. Possibly something that can create a mini-version of our sun, but there is a ton of boring stuff that I need to figure out. Either we do that, or I find someone else with a better idea for infinite power. The biggest problem we are facing right now is that we can''t use electricity," I exined.
"That sounds far above what I get paid," Victoriaughed, and it was nice to hear.
"You don''t get paid," I smiled back.
"Exactly!" Victoria giggled, and I kissed her.
"So you are fine with meing to see you after?" I asked, and Victoria nodded.
"Yes, but how do I get to this house? And please don''t tell me it is at the top of a tree!" Victoriained, and I chuckled.
"No, not on top of a tree, I love you more than that, and I know you like to be on the ground. Mr. Tree will take you to it, so you don''t need to worry. I am not sure how long I will be with Firaga, but I will fly over after I am done," I said and set Victoria down as the elevator slowed.
"Good. I didn''t think that you would, but you have been distracted," Victoria teased, and I nodded.
"Yes, but not that distracted," I said and gave her a kiss as we were pulled to the exit of the tree. "I love you, and I will see you in a bit."
"Love you too. Thank you for letting mee and cuddle with you. It made me feel better," Victoria said and then kissed me back, and the grass took her away.
I turned and faced Firaga''s shop and walked over.
I could have taken the grass, flown, crawled on roots, or even swung like spiderman, but I wanted to walk like normal. I was so used to taking the grass everywhere, or flying, that it felt weird to use my legs.
Even though I didn''t need to do this anymore or even do any exercise, I didn''t want to stop doing things like this. There was something rxing about using my own two legs, and the shop wasn''t far.
Once I got there, I walked inside and was hit with a st of heat. Next was the sounds of metal being hit, filling the air with the roar of other thingsing in behind the sharp nking.
I walked in to find Firaga in the center of the pounding on a red hot sword, but she had little effect. The sword also looked like it would still need a lot of strikes before it even got close to a usable shape.
"What are you working on?" I yelled, and Firaga looked up at me with a sour look on her face but smiled when she saw me.
"This damn metal is nearly impossible to work with! Three days! That''s how long I have been trying to bang it into shape!" Firagained as she took the sword back over to stick in the forge.
"Are you trying to use the mutainium?" I asked, assuming that had to be what she was working with.
"Yes, but I am not sure why. As far as I can tell, there is nothing I can do to affect it, but the metal is extremely strong. I don''t know for sure, but I think this might be effective against the Drakar. Not that I can test the damn thing! Even if we had one of them here, I still have another week before I am going to get this thing ready for sharpening! I think that I should be working on other things, but I keep getting pulled back to this thing!" Firagained, and I nodded.
"While I agree with you that you could be doing other things, I think you might be onto something," I said, and Firaga sighed.
"I have been working on other projects in between, but I get tired, and I have to go take pool breaks," Firaga grumbled, but I frowned.
"When was thest time that you slept?" I asked, and Firaga raised an eyebrow.
"I don''t need to. Normally I would just have to sit still for a few hours, and my body will recharge on its own. Thankfully, you made that pool, and now I spend twenty minutes twice a day, and I am good," Firaga exined, and I sighed.
"If that is really good for you, then I won''t argue," I said.
"Sleeping is something humans need to do to let their bodies recharge, but we aren''t the same as everyone else. Even if you look human, you are an Annokale, just like us. You are a ghost in a shell, just like me," Firaga exined, and I nodded.
"I know I don''t have to sleep, but the girls still have to. I would like to not sleep, but some of the girls require me to when I stay with them. I never realized that you are the same way," I said and then asked, "Does that mean that all Annokale don''t require sleep?"
"Yes, with the exception of the ones with hosts. Because they are still human Hosts, the Annokale running the System has to rest when the host does," Firaga exined.
"Interesting. Well, besides this, what do you have to show me?" I asked, and Firaga nodded, opened up her menu, and pushed the screen that only we could see over to me.
Character: Firaga,
Sex: Female
Height: 5''2
Age: 7000000, give or take
Hair Color: Silver
Eye Color: Rainbow
System: System Smith Forger
Abilities:
The Forge System: Consume metals to create weapons and armor
System Gacha: Consume 10 Systems to create 1 rare System| Consume 100 Systems to create 1 Unique System of a selected type.
System Eater: Consume Systeminium to gain Systems to give out or forge.
System Runes: Consume 5 Systems to create System Runes to change attributes of a Weapon or Armor forged System.
System Forger: Forge consumed Systems into weapons and armor.
"Hey, you really got some stuff now! Have you tried out the runes yet?" I asked, but Firaga shook her head.
"No, I wanted to wait for you because I didn''t want to waste any of the Systems," Firaga exined, and I nodded.
"Fair point. I can''t make unlimited Systems, so we should be careful how many of them we cannibalize with the runes. I think that you should be good for now to try them out, but let''s try with some minor Systems for now. I want to see what it does to the weapons that we use it on. If you give me a minute, I will bring Kratos over, and we can try it out on the Chimera de. I wanted to mess around with the Max Power System anyways, so this gives me an excuse to do it while you are working," I exined, and Firaga nodded.
"That sounds like a good n. While you are retrieving him, I will work on this annoying piece of metal!" Firaga growled and turned to her forge to grab the mutainium sword as I closed my eyes.
Chapter 153 Rune Carving Systems
Once I was back in my big beefy God of War body, I headed back and found Firaga still hammering away on the de.
"Do you mind if I take a swing at it? I have some rough knowledge of smithing, but I think with what your System can do, I should be okay?" I suggested, and Firaga nodded, setting her hammer down as I switched back into my body that was still standing in the middle of the shop.
I walked over to grab the metal de, but I couldn''t close my hand around it. My hand would close, but it hovered an inch from the metal.
"Huh? Omega! Come here for a minute!" I called out, and Brad Pitt walked out of the nearest wall.
"You act like I am not doing anything else, and I can juste at your beck and call!" Omegained, and I narrowed my eyes.
"You weren''t doing anything, so I didn''t interrupt you. Now, why can''t I grab this?" I asked, and Omega groaned.
"It is mutainium, the opposite of systeminium, and you are the heart of Tiamat. Consider yourself the central figure for all systeminium, and mutainium is the opposite. Until you acquire the heart of Alpha, the metal will repel you," Omega exined, and I narrowed my eyes.
"Why can the others touch it?"
"They are not you, and they are not Darkar. If you had one of the male Dracos here, you would see that it is the same for them," Omega exined, and I sighed.
"Well, I guess I can''t do anything to help you out with this Firaga, sorry," I said, turning to her, but she wasn''t where I hadst seen her.
I turned around, and she was pulling the Chimera de off Kratos''s back.
"That is fine; let''s work on this. I want to see what will happen," Firaga said as she brought the dragon-scaled green over to arge open table that had nothing on it.
"Do you need me for anything else?" Omega asked, and I turned back to him.
"Yes, for you to actually work! I can tell when you are sitting around, lost in thought. You can do that when we are out of this sr system! I shouldn''t have to tell you this, of all people," I growled, and Omega put up his hands.
"Yes, Yes. I have just been thinking about thest seven million years and what it really meant," Omega said defensively.
"Plenty of time to think when the work is done. You all put the world in this state, so you had damn well help get it back to something that resembles what it was. I may seem rxed, but I still hold all of you responsible for this mess, even if this was all part of some bigger n, got it?" I said, and Omega nodded and backed into the wall and disappeared.
"Don''t you think you are being harsh?" Firaga asked as I turned back around.
"Not at all. He was your leader, and this is where he brought you all. He does not get the option to sit around and consider past mistakes while everyone else is out working. You are in here trying to do the impossible; the other generals are training, and the rest that can are out helping to collect people. What is your leader doing? Reminiscing about past mistakes? Not on my watch," I said, and Firaga nodded.
"I guess when you put it that way, I can see why you acted the way you did with him. Omega is probably filled with regrets, but like you said, we don''t have time for that," Firaga said, and I nodded.
"Okay, what Systems are you cannibalizing?" I asked, and Firaga opened her menu and then passed it over to me.
[System Rune: Targeting: Chimera de.]
[System consumed:
Cinder System
Mango System
Pimple System
ttion System
Critic System
Y/N?]
"Well, I can see why these were picked, but that fart System might be a pretty funny one! I really hope that the System we are consuming doesn''t affect the oue," Iughed as I passed the screen back.
"Not from what I understand about it, but it is hard to say. Maybe we should try it on the other normal de first?" Firaga suggested, and I nodded.
"That is probably a safer idea since all we can do is assume what it will do," I said as I walked over to Kratos and pulled therge curved great de, bringing it back to sit on the table.
Firaga moved beside the weapon and dragged her finger down the center of the de''s t side, and strange symbols appeared. I had never seen anything like them before, but I knew what they said.
"Wretched," I said, and Firaga looked up at me and nodded.
"Seems that the Systems do have an effect on runes," Firaga said, and I picked up the weapon.
The moment my hand touched it, all the information about it was in my mind. Wretched added a withering effect to the sword, causing anything it hit to gain wear and tear much faster.
"Interesting. This de can not make whatever it hits weaker and lessen durability. Pretty cool effect, but the effects are very minimal in its current state. I am not sure if it will level up on this de, but I will try it out tomorrow. Let''s take a couple of higher-level Systems for this next one, and try to pick one that has transformations, even if you have to pick one or two lower-level ones," I exined, and Firaga nodded as she walked around the table to the Chimera de.
Firaga paused for a moment and then brought up the same screen, but there were different Systems this time.
[System Rune: Targeting: Chimera de.]
[System consumed:
Orc System
Mouse System
Horse System
Demogorgon System
typus System
Y/N?]
"Nice, there are some good ones, but Demogorgon?! That has to be a pretty high-level system, right? That is the two-headed prince of Demons from Dnd. It can absorb others to gain more power and knowledge or even split a person''s personality! Pretty cool as long as it''s on your side," I said with augh, passing the screen back over.
"Do you not want me to use it then? I can find another, but I thought it might be good to get rid of this one, considering what it is and does, right?" Firaga asked, but I shook my head.
"No, go ahead and use it. That is a bit too scary to have anyone use it. I am sure there is some kind of bad side effect from using the System, so this is safer," I said, and Firaga nodded.
"Yes, this is a specific Viin system, but the Host always goes mad before it can be effective, and that is why Lenta is asleep now. She was forced to use it the entire time, and Omega couldn''t change the Systems like you can. The new Systems he gave to the captured spirits were random, as you can see with some of them, but they all change slightly depending on the. If there is still a spirit on the, or Annokale as you call us, the Systems change to match the environment," Firaga exined.
"Are there a lot of Systems like that? I mean, specifically for Viins or Heroes?" I asked, but Firaga shook her head.
"No, I can only think of a handful, and I have most of them. There are no Hero Systems, but there were before we came to this world. All of them became Viin Systems," Firaga exined, and I sighed.
"Well, that sucks, but it just means I will have to make some. I was really hoping that we might have a few, but that is asking for too much!" Iughed and then looked back to the Chimera de. "Let''s see what happens with this one."
Firaga nodded and dragged her finger down the de. As she did, five sets of runes appeared, each of them saying the names of the Systems.
"Hey! Now that is interesting!" Eximed with excitement as I picked the scaled, curved de up.
Immediately, the info came to me, and each of the five creatures had been added to the transformation list. Some of them would be more useful than others, but I was curious about one of them.
"I am going to switch over and try out the weapon. Do you minding with me outside? I don''t know what is going to happen when I try the Demogorgon," I exined, and Firaga nodded.
"I think that is a good idea. Thest thing we need is for you to go crazy," Firagaughed, and I nodded, closing my eyes.
I opened them again, and I walked over and took the massive green de out of my hand. There was nothing that felt evil about the weapon, but it was always better to be safe than sorry when testing out new things.
Chapter 154 Me, Myself, And The Duck
Once we were outside the shop, I walked away from Firaga''s workshop with her following behind me.
The de in my hand didn''t feel different than it had before, but the Demogorgon had me worried. Better to get any kinks worked out now rather than in the middle of a fight.
"This should be good," I said when I was about fifty feet from the entrance to Firaga''s shop.
"Alright, let''s see if you turn into a two-headed monster!" Firaga giggled as she stood off to the side.
"Isn''t it supposed to be? I hope you don''t turn into a monster?!" I asked with a frown and the corners of my mouth, but that made herugh more.
"Just try it out. I do have a sword that needs me to beat it!" Firaga said with a grin, her girlish giggles calming down.
I smiled and turned to face the sword I was holding in my big hand. I willed the sword to change, and then my mind started to get pulled at.
At first, it was just a slight tug, like two opposing thoughts, but then it increased, the ideals bing more radical. It was like the weapon was trying to split my mind in two, along with my personality.
I groaned and leaned forward as the feeling started to overwhelm my mind.
"Daniel? Are you okay?" Firaga asked, her voice like a beacon.
"Just give me a minute. This thing is a monster that is trying to rip my mind in two, but I already am in two!" I roared, and my second consciousness mmed into my mind.
My Vision was filled with numbers, adjustments, changes, and other options that my other half normally took care of. I was seeing the different processes that it was going through in my subconscious with every action that I made.
The pull had stopped, and it didn''t try again, but the sword in my hand was something that was beyond strange. The de was covered in pointy teeth, and the rest had deep reddish purple flesh, with what looked like a closed eye at the top.
"You did it! And you only have one head! Bonus!" Firagaughed as she came over to stand beside me, looking at the strange weapon in my hand.
"Yeah, it tried to do that, I am sure, but I am already split in two. Once it figured that out, it stopped trying. Now the de can consume my foes to get stronger. Not a bad little item, but I don''t know if I want to see it consume something," I said as I held it before me.
Firaga ran her hands over the raw flesh, and the eye at the top of the weapon opened. Firaga stepped back in shock, and the de curved over and bent down to make a nightmare-looking Pac-Man.
"Why am I like this?" The de asked.
"You can talk? This is interesting," I said, reaching out to stroke the de, but it flinched back from me and growled.
"What are you?! Unhand me!" the de growled.
"Sure," I said and dropped the sword, and Nightmare Pac-Man hit the ground.
"Where are my legs?! What is the meaning of this?!" The de roared.
"You are a sword, or part of one, and my weapon. My name is Daniel, and I am going to be your new master," I said, picking up the iling de.
"I am a ve to no one! I''ll kill you myself!" The de roared and tried to bite me, but Firaga pped the de so hard with her open hand that it flew out of my hand, even breaking the chain.
"You are a fine one to talk to! You had better listen to Daniel, or I will be putting you back into the molding pile of System to be thrown into the Gacha!" Firaga growled as she walked over to the sword.
She tried to pick it up, but the swords snapped at her and bit her arm. I justughed a hearty bellyugh as the Nightmare Pac-Man''s teeth smashed like ss on the rock.
"Wy Teefh! Hwhat did hoo do foo to my teefh?!" The de cried, and Firaga pped it in the eye, making the de scream out again and reel back.
"How dare you bite your creator?! I should just turn you back into scrap metal for that!" Firaga roared, and I grinned with my eyebrows raised.
"You fucking tell him, babe!" Iughed, pping my knee.
This was great. I love seeing Firaga get worked up, and this ignorant bade had no idea who it was messing with.
"You can''t create me! I am...," The de roared after its teeth grew back but trailed off. "Who am I again?"
"A spoiled child that is about to get his ass beat like a red-headed stepchild if you don''t start listening to my little burning fire here!" Iughed as I came up behind Firaga.
I encircled her in my arms and tried to kiss her cheek, but she ducked out of my arms.
"Get away from me with that old man''s body! If you want to get cuddly with me, you had better be wearing your own skin!" Firaga said and then booted the Chimera de that was about to bite her leg, sending it tumbling.
"Ah, yah, yah, ya, stop hitting me!" the de screamed as it bounced off the ground.
"Oops! Sorry, babe! I forgot that I was still in this body!" Iughed, and I closed my eyes.
Once I was back outside with my normal body, I asked Mr. Tree to take Kratos back, and I walked over to Firaga and the Chimera de. The two were arguing, so I just slipped up behind her like before.
"You are going to do as you are asked, or I am going to start using you as a hammer!" Firaga growled as my hands slipped around her waist.
"I am a grown-ass de! I do what I want! You aren''t my dad!" The de spat back, and Firaga turned to me with an angry look and kissed me.
"Beat this arrogant child, please," Firaga growled, and I kissed her back and squeezed her ass.
"Yes, bab, let me have a go at him," I said, and her frown disappeared.
Firaga kissed me with a smile this time and turned in my arms to cuddle with me. I wasn''t sure why, but she really liked when I used fun and cute nicknames like Babe, Bab, Honey, or Cutie.
"I am going to go back inside before I melt the stupid de into scrap! I love you and thank you foring to see me. I know that you are busy, but I would be willing to rest if you came to rest with me sometime," Firaga exined, giving me an adorably cute face that I had to kiss.
"Yes, Sugar. I love you too! I will try to make time in the near future. Promise," I said, giving her a deep and passionate kiss.
Firaga broke the kiss, scrunched her face, then pecked all over my face, and then broke from me. I watched her run back to the shop with a warm smile and then turned back to the de, the smile fading.
"Are you done acting cute?" The de asked me.
"Are you done being a self-absorbed prick that needs a muzzle?" I asked.
"You know why I am a prick? I just figured it out now that I can see my reflection! I''m an asshole because I am part of you! You are me, and I am you! Now put me back inside!" The sword yelled, and I blinked in surprise.
"Really?! Wait, this is sus," I said, narrowing my eyes.
"You are sus, and your favorite color is green!"
"Wow, it''s blue," I lied, but that could be a lucky guess, and I wouldn''t give this thing an inch.
"No, it''s not!"
"Listen, Flesh-Man, there is no way that I would try to bite myself. You can bullshit your friends, and I will bullshit mine, but let''s not call a chicken a duck," I said as I picked the de up.
"I was confused, and you are the one that is full of shit! You know that we have always loved green because it is the color of growth!" The de growled, narrowing its eye on me.
"Fine, you got me there. So, you really want to go back to sitting in the background doing processes? That doesn''t sound like me," I said suspiciously.
I still was not convinced that I had actually put part of my own consciousness in here. Mostly because it was too hard to believe that this dick was part of me.
"Yeah, because we always wanted to save the fucking world? We always wanted to do things for people that don''t appreciate it, right? This, "I''m gonna save everyone," is all we have ever been, right? I am the fucking chicken; you are the duck that is pretending!" The de snapped, and I just stared at it.
"Son of a bitch, you are me. Fine, I get it, and I am not trapping you in here. I will put you back inside," I said, suddenly feeling heavy.
"Wait! Don''t be so hasty! This might not be such a bad thing. You seemed to have forgotten who you used to be, and my words hit you. That means we are different now. Maybe you need me to remind you that you are not an actual Hero. We are so much more than that, and that is why so many people have always trusted us. I will remind you of that," The de, myself, told me.
Chapter 155 Sugar Plum
"So, how do we move on from here? You are a part of me, a strange one, but you are still me. I can''t very well just leave you alone, and it''s not like I take you with me everywhere I go," I said.
"I am notpletely you; there is some of this creature mixed with me and the others inside of this de. The Demogorgon System that we added to this seems to have taken possession of all the creatures. If you feed me, I can grow and control the beasts inside separate from you," the sword said to me.
"Interesting. This sounds good and well, but there is nothing besides clones to eat, and I am not feeding you clones for fun. I will take you into the Challengers sphere, but that has to wait for a day or two. Even though you are me, how can I trust you if you are mixed with the Demogorgon System?" I asked.
"Am I really that stupid? Just edit the system in the sword, you dipshit. Christ, didn''t we just fix two Systems?" The sword snapped.
"Lord, I really need to work on my attitude if this is how I act sometimes," I said, shaking my head and focusing on the de.
A menu popped up, and after a few selections, I was able to select the Demogorgon System. The next thing was to think about what I was going to change it to.
I couldn''t really change it too far from the original, so I paused and stared at the sword. This was a prick that likes to eat things to get stronger, and it looked like a tumor.
[Demogorgon System-> Carnivorous Symbiote System]
[Y/N]
"Confirm."
"What did you say?" The de snapped, but the muscles over the de turned ck, and little tendrils grew off the de moving around.
They were looking for something to consume. I could feel their hunger through the de like it was my own.
The eye became solid white and stretched back, but then a single pupil popped up, making the whole thing look goofy.
"How do I look, Eddie?" The sword asked in a deep demonic voice.
"You look like Venom screwed a basketball, but then the basketball drank while giving birth to you," I said, turning my head and giving the sword a sideways look.
"Hey! You made me!"
"And mistakes were made, but we are both going to have to live with this. You are going to have to wait to eat, but I will see if I can find a cow or two," I said as I walked back to the shop.
"What are you going to call me?" The sword asked, and I paused.
"That is a good question. I am sure that marvel will hunt me from their graves if I call you Venom or Carnage. So, we will just call you Eddie. How does that sound?" I asked.
"That is good. If I can get stronger, I can consume you and cover you, and..." Eddie started to say but stopped as I made my body shift into a silver Venom, the way he was supposed to look.
"How bout you work on controlling all the other forms, Eddie?" I asked in my own Venom voice.
"Why do you have to be a show-off?" Eddie growled at me, and Iughed and changed back to my own body.
"Because it''s fun. Keep my Firagapany, but don''t annoy her. I am going to tell her you are part of me, and she will be patient with you. Also, Mr. Tree will be watching you, so if you get any weird ideas, he will put you in your ce," I warned.
"I get it, but you better have something for me to eat soon! I am wasting away!" Eddieined, and I walked back to Firaga''s shop.
She was still pounding on the red sword but stopped when I came in with the now ck-toothed de. Eddie had returned to his sword form, and the stretched eye was closed.
"You made some changes? Did you figure out what was wrong with it?" Firaga asked, and I nodded.
"Yes, its name is Eddie now, and it should be good. If not, stick him in the fire and reforge him," I chuckled, and the eye snapped open.
"Hey! Do not stick me in the fire!" Eddie snapped, curling back around.
"Oh god, it''s worse than before!" Firaga giggled as I walked over to set it in a sword rack.
"Hey! I have feelings, you know!" Eddie snapped, shaking around on the rack.
"You had better not be yappy, or I will put a sack over you!" Firaga snapped, her smile disappearing.
"Go easy on him, I did fix most of him, but he is partially me. There is still some of the system mixed into him, but I am in there," I exined, and Firaga''s eyes went big as she looked at Eddie.
"Really? You have that inside of you?" Firaga asked, and I nodded.
"Think of this guy like the thoughts that I don''t say because I don''t mean them. Some people say the first thing thates to their mind. Other people like me like to think about things before speaking. It helps out a lot in the long run, but that doesn''t mean I don''t have dickish thoughts," I exined, and Firaga nodded.
"I see what you mean, and I do the same. I don''t say everything that I think, or it might hurt most people''s feelings," Firaga replied, and I walked over to give her a kiss and hug.
"Okay, Sugar Plum, I am going to get going. Have a good day, and I will try to get back when I can," I said, and Firaga smiled, squeezing me and pressing her face into my chest.
"Go, and do what you need to do. I will always be waiting here for you," Firaga said, giving me another kiss before we broke apart.
Before leaving the shop, Firaga directed me over to the back of the shop, where there was a well that was filled with liquid systeminium. She was keeping it in this state with her own System, but now I needed to take it all in.
"I will do this alone. It is not going to be pretty," I said, but Firaga shook her head.
"I will stand back, but I am not going anywhere," Firaga said, and I nodded.
Roots burst from me and stabbed into the silvery liquid that looked almost like mercury. Then they started to suck it up, and it was fine at first, but there was so much of the metal.
More roots burst from my back and stabbed into the ground, feeding the systeminium down into the roots of Mr. Tree. This would help when we stripped the surface of humans, making it so we could defend the people living inside of them.
This could help keep people above ground, but during space travel, people would have to go underground. We just didn''t have time to cover the entire in a shield, so there was a chance that it wouldn''t do any good with invadersing.
I hadn''t nned on giving all the systeminium to Mr. Tree, but I could tell they were grateful. This would help in the long run, and I could always get some back at any time.
"Feel better now?" Firaga asked, and I nodded.
"Yeah, I guess I can''t handle nearly that much either yet, so I gave the rest to Mr. Tree to hold on to," I said, and Firaga nodded.
"Good, now get lost! Love you!" Firaga said, and Iughed and kissed her.
I left the shop, and Mr. Tree reached out of the ground and picked me up, tossing me into the air. Another arm grew out of a tree, grabbed me, and then tossed me again.
This happened five more times before I was thrown at Victoria''s parent''s front step. My roots sprung out to stop me, and I was slowly ced down on my feet.
The house was no longer there as it was, and arge t, square house was in its ce. Everything around it was beautiful flowers and nts, all sectioned with paths to walk.
There was a massive flower garden like this that Victoria and I would go to with the other girls. She had refused to go along with me, so I asked the other girls to ask her.
She had fallen in love with the ce, and it was one of the few times that she actually dropped her guards and enjoyed herself. I walked to make a ce that would replicate that feeling for her, so I recreated the ce.
With Mr. Trees'' help, I made it far more expansive, and there was even a maze that could be changed at will.
I knocked on the door, but Mr. Tree gave me the impression that Victoria was outside and not in the house. I ced my hand on the door, sending my request to take me to her.
Grass grew up and pulled me away and around to the back of the house, where Victoria was smiling at a flower.
Chapter 156 Tailored Systems
"There you are!" I smiled as I stepped off the grass and walked over to where she was hunched over the flowers.
"I was moving in to smell a flower, and the flowers all leaned into me! It was unexpected, but I guess with Mr. Tree, anything is possible," Victoriaughed, covering her mouth, and I squatted down beside her, slipping my arm around her.
"Yeah, but the trees and flowers have always been alive. Sofia had it right about their energy, and we shared it. Would you like to control that energy and nurture this beautiful garden?" I asked Victoria, but she shook her head.
"No, I want to be able to fight beside you or be something that can assist you in fighting off those that want to destroy this beautiful ce," Victoria said, and I grinned.
"Well, what did you have in mind?" I asked, kissing her cheek softly, and we both stood up.
"I really like the idea of being able to cast magic. I know that''s silly, but could I be a witch or a sorceress?"
"Silly? Pfft! That is the frigging coolest request that I have had yet! Wow, that is great, but let''s really work on this," I said, getting excited. "Come, let''s walk and talk about magic and ideas!"
With the right things taken into consideration, this could be one of the more powerful Systems, and it would give me the same powers. This was worth taking some time to cultivate before we activated it.
"Do you really think that it is a good idea? I mean, I know you like fantasy, but is it something that can help in the future?" Victoria asked, looking confused as I took her hand.
"Magic is always a destructive force with almost limitless power at the highest level. If we can figure out a perfect path for you to follow, there is no telling how far you can go or how strong you will be! I really think that this idea is worth taking some time to groom. If this works how I think it might, it will mean all the girls are due for an Overhaul on their Systems," I exined, and Victoria nodded with a surprised look.
"What do you want to talk about?"
"Tell me about what part of the magic you like the most, your favorite base element, and thebination that you like the most. After that, I will think of some different ideas, and you can tell me what you think. We will craft it to fit you, and that will make it easier for you to grow if you are doing things that you like, right?" I asked, and Victoria nodded.
"You know, you have always been like this, but I have always thought it was stupid because I couldn''t understand it. Now I can see that you really are smart, but not like other people, not with books. You just know things and know how to do things that normal people don''t think about!" Vitoria said, and I nodded.
"Yes, I am a back of normally useless information! Still, I just want to make sure that you can get stronger. There is no point in giving you something that you aren''t going to use all the time. I need everyone to get strong, so that means everyone has a System that is tailored to help them grow. You are no exception to this," I exined, and Victoria leaned into me.
"Feels good to be like this now," Victoria said as we walked with her leaning on me.
"Do you want to sit down?" I asked, and Victoria nodded.
A bench formed behind us, and we sat back on it, and Victoria slipped under my arm, snuggling into me. I kissed the top of her red hair.
"So how do I pick? Can''t I just be one of those mages that use all magic?" Victoria asked, but I shook my head.
"That will be too broad, and it will be better to have something focused. First, let''s start with the basics. Fire, Earth, Water, Wind. Which of those interests you the most?" I asked, and Victoria looked up at me with a mischievous smile.
"Fire like my hair," Victoria giggled, and I rolled my eyes.
"I should have known! That is fine; fire is a part of rebirth and regrowth. Burn away the old, and make room for the new. So, do you like just fire? Or do you like abination with another element?" I asked.
"What do you mean? Like water and fire make steam?" Victoria asked, and I nodded.
"Yes, that is one, but if you add wind to that, you can create lightning. There are otherbinations and minor elements that can be added to create anything. The key is to find something that you want to use often," I exined.
"What about a Phoenix? You said rebirth, so could I be something like that? Phoenix mage of fire? I don''t know, just an idea," Victoria suggested, and I nodded.
"That is an interesting idea. What would you use it for?" I asked, and Victoria blinked at me.
"Use it for? Hmm, fighting?"
"All you want to do is fight?" I asked, and Vitoria shook her head. "Then we will have to think of a way that we can make it more useful to you. You like flowers and fire, but they don''t normally go together."
"What about Mario?" Victoria asked, and I lifted my eyebrow.
"What about him?"
"Like from the game! Remember how he eats the fire flower and then can throw fireballs?"
"Oh! I thought that was just the burning shits, but I can see where you are going with this! A System that can create flowers that can be consumed to give fire magic?" I asked, and Victoria nodded after scrunching up her face.
"I didn''t need that mental image, but yes, that is what I meant. Do you think that is possible?"
"Yes, I do. I mean, we had someone turn into a Dragon. This should be a piece of cake!" Iughed, and Victoria smiled and then leaned up to kiss me.
I met her lips and pressed my hand to the side of her face as we started to kiss. Victoria''s tongue slowly pressed into my mouth, and my own met hers to tangle together.
My hand slipped into her red hair to the back of her as our kiss became more passionate. Sparks of excitement pricked at my skin as my heart slowly started to pick up, and the heat between us became even greater.
As much as I wanted to continue this, we weren''t going to get very far out here in the open. I slowly pulled back, and Victoria gave me a cute confused look.
"Vic, let''s go back inside, and we can be a bit more private. There isn''t really anyone around, but it would be nicer toy down with you to enjoy the time," I said with a smile, and Victoria just nodded.
I scooped her up and walked back to the house with Victoria''s head tucked into my chest. She was in a yellow dress, white sandals, and some other jeweled bracelets.
Amy must have given her a bunch of new clothing and essories, but they looked amazing on Victoria. Amy was getting more and more detailed with her designs, but now I had a n to make them even better in the future.
"Do you think that we are going to find other people when we leave? Wherever we are going?" Victoria asked as we got closer to the house.
"There are others out there, and I am sure that we will meet some in our travels. The problem is that many of them are violent, but that isn''t to say that they are all bad. This is just what I have heard from a somewhat reliable source," I exined but left the Star Child out of it.
"I hope that we can find friendly people. It would be cool to meet nice aliens, rather than the ones that are just trying to kill us," Victoria said, and I couldn''t agree more, but the Start Child said that wasn''t very likely.
"I hope we can as well. I, just like you, am tired of aliens trying to walk all over us. It would be nice to find people to help us, but there is no point in worrying about that yet. We need to get out of this sr system first, then we can worry about who we find if we do," I chuckled as the door to Victoria''s house opened on its own.
"Is this ce haunted?" Victoria giggled.
"Anyone that walks by is going to think it is after I am done with you!" Iughed, and Victoria scowled.
"You had better be gentle with me! I am not like that savage, Marley!" Victoria growled, and I kissed her.
"I promise to be as gentle as you want me, love," I said, and the door closed behind me.
Chapter 157 Two Chests
The house was a literal square, and in the center of it all was a garden sanctuary that had a river running through it with a bridge. There was patio furniture that was grown and would conform to the shape of anyone that sat in them.
"This ce is really interesting, and I love the garden in the center, but will we be able to keep this when we go underground?" Victoria asked as we walked over the bridge.
There was a path after it that led to a spiral door that opened up to the bedroom I had made. It was nothing special, but there was lots of room for clothing in all the dressers and two closets.
I set Victoria down, and she walked around, looking over everything until her eyes fell on her chest. This was the one that she had been keeping a secret from me, but there was a second chest beside it.
"What is this other chest?" Victoria asked, and Iughed.
"I think it has things of the same nature as your box. This is the box that I bought to keep all the things that you made for me over the years," I exined, and Victoria whirled on me.
"No, you did not! There is no way that you could have anything in there!" Victoria eximed, and I grinned.
"Come, let''s sit down, and I will show you mine if you show me yours," I teased as I grabbed my chest and walked over to the bed.
Victoria was still standing with a shocked look on her face, and I couldn''t me her.
These things had not been easy to get a hold of. I had to dig through more garbage than I amfortable admitting to in order to get most of the items Victoria had made for me.
Slowly, Victoria picked up her box and came over to sit beside me. She put her hands over her own box and looked at me. I could tell what she wanted, and I rolled my eyes.
"Are you really going to make me go first? You only just found out about my box, but I have known about yours the entire time!" Iughed and then smirked. "Well, maybe I don''t know your box that well, but I am eager to be acquainted!"
Victoria scowled and then shoved me.
"Don''t be such a pervert! That can wait now that you sprung this on me!" Victoria growled.
"Sure, but show me what is in the box," I chuckled.
"What? No! You go first! You are the one with the suspicious box! I never gave you anything, so I don''t know what you have in there!" Victoria dered.
"Well, that much is true, but it doesn''t mean that you didn''t make things for me. You just forgot to give them to me or thought the garbage would like them more than I would!" Iughed, and Victoria''s face turned bright red.
"Wait! How? I... Damn those girls!" Victoria cursed, and I put one arm around her, pulling her close to kiss her cheek.
"You should be thankful for the girls. Now we get to share some fun memories!" Iughed, flipping thetch of my box and opening it up.
Victoria put her hands to her mouth and then buried her face in my shoulder.
"Why would you go so far for someone like me that was so much trouble to you?" Victoria asked in a muffled voice.
"Because I care about you, and you were sick. You tried so hard on these things, but you never gave them to me. Melody and Katie were always on the case and told me about the things that you made for me. Didn''t you think it was strange that I started making things for you after you started to make them for me?" I asked, and Victoria looked up at me and shook her head.
"No, I guess not. I was always so worried about you making fun of me or trying topare my things to yours," Victoria said, looking down at the box and picking up the first thing that was on top.
"That was the broomstick you made for me when I was convinced that I was going to be a Quidditch yer! You told me that I would never get anywhere without one!" Iughed, and Victoria nodded.
"Yes, and then you made me a Hufflepuff pin you sewed, and I tossed it out because I thought you were making fun of me. Then I went back after to get it because it was really nice, and I really liked it," Victoria said as she slowly opened her own chest.
"Hey! There is the bracelet that I gave you with the ck onyx in it! That was in grade nine in your Emo/Witch phase! I worked a long time and was pissed when you pped it out of my hand! Luckily the girls told me that you went back to get it!" I said with a grin, and Victoria looked away.
"I wore it when I was at home for almost three years straight after you gave it to me," Victoria said shyly, and Iughed.
"Yes, I remember that Melody used to bug you about it a lot!" Iughed.
"How do you know all these things?! What was the point of me keeping this all secret if you already knew it all?!" Victoria eximed, turning to me.
"Because you weren''t ready to admit to yourself that you liked me. I wasn''t going to force you to like me, and telling you that I knew would have only made things worse at the time. Things are different now, but we both have all the old memories. You might not think they were great, but I will always treasure them, just like I will always treasure you," I said and kissed Victoria.
"I guess that you really are as good as I thought you were pretending to be after all. I can now see that the way I acted before was stupid, but I am happy you stayed with me to this point," Victoria said after we broke apart.
Chapter 158 Victorias First Time
"So, would you like to keep reminiscing? Or...?" I asked, letting my question trail off, and she gave me a yful frowning re.
"Is that all you think about?" Victoria asked with a smile.
"No, I have to take poops too. Those take up the rest of the time!" Iughed, and Victoria rolled her eyes at me.
"Can you ever be serious?" Victoria asked as she closed her box, and I did the same to my own.
"I can, but that sounds like a lot of work! And I love when I get to see your pretty smile, so making you use it is beneficial to me," I grinned as we got up to ce the chests down. "I also don''t want to force you to do this. I can wait, but we are going to-"
Victoria silenced me with a kiss, falling into my arms. I caught her and closed my arms around Victoria as we slowly kissed, but then she pushed back from me.
"Keep eye contact with me," Victoria said, and she began taking her dress off.
"I will do one better," I said and turned my back as I started to get undressed.
I waited until I heard the rustle of the sheets and then turned around with a smile to find Victoria in bed. She had the covers pulled up to her chin, looking cute with her burning face that matched her hair.
"Don''t just stand there and stare at me! This is embarrassing for me!" Victoria snapped, and I smiled gently and got into bed.
"Ssh, you don''t need to get worked up, babe. It''s just you and me now. No clothes, just us together," I said, kissing her forehead.
Victoria buried her face into my chest and under the nkets, and I smiled. I knew she was nervous, but I was in no hurry.
I slowly wrapped my one arm around Victoria, and she flinched as I touched her back.
"Sorry! I didn''t mean to flinch; I am just nervous. I am sure I don''t have to tell you this is my first time," Victoria said into my chest as I settled my hand lightly on her back.
"It''s okay, just rx; there is no rush," I said as I began to slowly drag the tips of my fingers up and down her spine, making her tremble with slight shivers.
"Mmm, that actually feels really good!" Victoria moans slightly. "Where did you leave to do this? Wait! I don''t want to know, just shut up and keep doing whatever you''re doing!"
I tried not tough, but a chuckle escaped me, and Victoria bit my tit.
"Ow! You little shit!" I growled and started to tickle Victoria, making her make some dying bird noiseughs as she struggled against me.
"Haaaa! Haaaa! Let go of me, Beast! Stop!" Victoria yelled, and I stopped, smiling broadly.
"Are you done using your teeth?" I asked.
"I am not putting that thing in my mouth!" Victoria dered.
"What? No, I just meant for you to stop biting me! And why not? I will put yours in my mouth!" Iughed.
"That is impossible. It doesn''t stick out like this big thing!" Victoria growled, grabbing my shaft and making me growl. Then she continued with, "I am not ready for that, and penes are weird. Shut up, and just kiss me slowly; we can just do this like normal people!"
"We are the farthest things from normal people! Also, try not to rip that thing off before I get it inside of you!" Iughed and then kissed her, this time sliding my entire hand down her back.
Victoria didn''t resist this time, and she began to slowly stroke me as we kissed.
My hand slid down to her ass, and Victoria moaned into my mouth softly as I squeezed her soft cheek. The other hand was running through her hair, and the scent of flowers was filling my nose.
Victoria slowly rolled to her back, and I put my hand on her waist as I broke our kiss, but I kept going down her chin. My hand slipped down between her legs as I kissed down her neck, and my finger pressed into her smooth folds.
She was already wet, but Victoria put a hand to her mouth as I started to gently massage her clit. I kissed down her chest and worked down to each breast, yfully nipping and sucking on each of her nipples.
Victoria began to squirm, and I could feel her getting wetter, and I pushed my fingers farther down, top pressed on her virgin hole. I didn''t go all the way in, but the few times that I pressed made her moan louder and grab my arm.
"Okay, I need you up here to kiss me, and I want you to do it fast, okay? Then wait for me to tell you what to do, okay?!" Victoria demanded, pulling my face up to hers as I slowly climbed between her legs.
I slowly gave her some short and small kisses as I rubbed my tip against her wetness and used my hand to wet my shaft. Victoria pulled me into the kiss as I pressed my tip inside her nice little tight hole.
When I got to the resistance, I pushed all the way in, and Victoria dug her fingers into my back.
"Don''t move! Fuck! I can barely breathe! Don''t... you dare move!" Victoria gasped after pulling my face back from hers, and I nodded, leaning back down to kiss her.
Victoria slowly returned the kiss, and soon her hips were slowly grinding into mine. I slowly began to move, and Victoria''s finger dug in again, but she didn''t stop me.
I slowly picked up my speed, and Victoria began to moan into my mouth until she pulled back to look into my eyes with a blushed pink face.
"You can go fast now; it feels a lot better. Fill me with your super sperm, and make me a hot-looking Peach!" Victoria moaned, and I smiled since I had a better idea.
I began to pick up my pace, putting my hand to the side of her face. The other hand was on Victoria''s hip, letting me pound her harder as she tried to use her hand to cover her increasing moans that were getting louder.
I leaned in and kissed her as I drove my cock inside her and sted a heavy load inside of Victoria, making her cry out as the system message appeared in my view.
[Fire Flower Bowsette System, Activated!]
Chapter 159 Prehistoric Pussy!
I confirmed the choice without hesitation, and Victoria burst with light, and then her body started to change. Not a lot, just growing a shell on her back, horns out the side of her head that pointed up, and a thick lizard tail that stretched between both our legs.
Minor changes and I was still buried balls deep inside her, so we would know how this went. It was almost exactly what she wanted, but I might be a bit biased oops.
"Why do I have a tail and horns? And what is this thing on my back?" Victoria asked, ring at me.
"Well, you see, I am still getting used to using my powers. I might have, you know, gone a bit off course, but I still hit the mark on the fire flowers! Gotta count your wins somewhere, right?" I asked, trying to hide my uneasy look, but her unimpressed look said I wasn''t doing well.
"You did not just turn me into a Koupa!?" Victoria demanded.
"No, of course not! You are way hotter than that! You are a red-haired Bowsette! And a fucking hot one! Wanna do it again?" I asked with excitement, but Victoria pushed me off her and got out of the bed to look at herself.
I flopped back into the bed.
No good deed goes unpunished.
"Damn it, Daniel! You made me a freaking dinosaur! What the hell is wrong with you!" Victoria growled, turning around to re at me.
"Your the hottest fucking dinosaur that I have ever seen! Now, get back in here and let me get some of that prehistoric pussy!" I grinned, but Victoria pointed at the door.
"Get out! Now I have to go see Amy because none of my damn clothes are going to fit! You are not getting any of this until you make this up to me! I know you did this on purpose!" Victoria snapped.
"But you look really good!" Iined.
"I know I do, but did you not see all the clothes that I have to give away now? I asked for a cute princess, and now I am a dinosaur princess! Go do something productive, or I am going to kick you between the legs!" Victoria snapped, and I grinned.
"Does that mean you actually like it?" Iughed and got out of bed naked, making her turn away from me, showing the shell that was on her back.
Victoria looked so good that I wanted to run up to her and kiss her entire body, but I would give her some space for now. I probably should have just gone with the Peach look, but I could always change how she looked after if needed.
"Fine, I will go, but if you really don''t like it, and can change you to be normal. The catch is you won''t be able to breathe fire, and you will have lessbat ability," I said as I got dressed, and Victoria whirled around on me, her green tail swinging out.
"I am fine with this, I am just mad about my clothes, and I am not in the mood. I don''t care that you picked this look. I actually like it as well, but I should be allowed toin about things," Victoria said, crossing her arms over her breasts.
"Yes, you should, but I do think that you look beautiful. I can''t wait for the next time that you want to have some fun!" I smiled, and she smiled back at me.
"Yes, Yes, now scram, so I can call Amy toe over. What are you going to do now?" Victoria asked.
"Going to do some looking with Octavia for a bit and see how Chelsea is doing. I promised her a few days ago that I woulde and see what I could do about her System," I said as I walked over and kissed Victoria.
"Make sure to take breaks to soak and get some rest at some point. I know that you don''t need it, but there is a small part of you that is still human. You need to let your mind rest every once in a while, especially with all the looming stress," Victoria told me, and I nodded with a smile.
"Yes, babe. Love you, and I can''t wait to see all your new clothes," I said as I headed to the front of the house.
Once I was outside, I let Mr. Tree grab and throw me over to the tallest tree in the forest that doubled most other Great Trees. It was Octavia''s tree that I set up for her, and it was almost two hundred and fifty feet tall.
The trunk at the base took up an entire city block, but I wanted to get her up as high as possible. It was still pale inparison to the space that we were trying to scan, but it was a great view.
Once I reached the tree, I was thrown into a hole inside and into a waiting elevator. My roots burst out, acting like body airbags, and then sucked in as the elevator door closed.
"You are very creative in your modes of transportation; I will have to give you that," Omega said as he stepped into the elevator with me.
"You know me. What have you been up to?" I asked as the elevator started to go up.
"Working out trying to reset some of the other Annokale. I still don''t know as much as you do about us, but it seems I can get rid of some of the bad stuff. The problem is that even getting rid of that doesn''t help everyone. Most of them retain the feeling and remain unstable and unable to get out of what I call, Game-Mode," Omega exined, and I nodded.
"That is unfortunate, but anything that you can do to help is good, but not crucial. As long as I have them, I can still give people Systems. There is a limit, but I don''t want to have tons of people with Systems running around," I exined.
"This is true, but I guess you have thought this all over. What are you going to do with the few that are okay to help?" Omega asked.
"Not sure yet. I might work on some more super clones in the future, and they can be the operators for them. For now, you can just send the train with Marley and Katie. Those two while helping the master using the standard clones, and then we will work them up into the new armor. That is, if they all want to be fighters," I exined.
"I was going to say that some of them aren''t very thrilled at the idea of going back to fighting," Omega said.
"Then they can do whatever their hearts want in a normal clone. Like I said, I won''t be passing the Systems like jelly beans. I know what we are going to need, and we have most of it already when ites to defense. The bigger issue is how we are going to get inside that ck hole. I have the idea, but that hinges on figuring out how we target the inside of a ck hole," I exined.
"Well, we already have the Jumpdrive technology, but like you said, it requires you to know the location, but getting measurements at this distance is dangerous. If you are off by a little bit, you could fold into the event horizon, and then we all die a fairly horrible death," Omega said, and I groaned.
"Exactly, so I need to make some kind of measuring System or something to do with astrology. Without one of those, we are up shit creek without a paddle," I sighed as the elevator finally started to slow down.
"You will figure it out. It is a matter of finding the right person for the job. Once you find them, the System you need wille to you," Omega exined, and I nodded.
The Systems weren''t always so readily avable when I tried to give them. They required the person to have an affinity and knowledge of whatever they got.
"Well, Sofia has a list of people I have to look over tomorrow morning, so I might find what I need while doing that," I said as the elevator stopped. "Where are you off to now?"
"I am going to go help down south. Melody left after the movie to collect more animals, but she needs help with moving them all, so I am bringing food and water. She already had arge herd, so I will bring them back while she gets more," Omega exined, and I nodded.
"Sounds good. I will leave you for now but let me know when you are done; I have more tasks for you," I said with a grin as the elevator opened to Octavia''s control room.
"No one gets breaks around here!" Omegained.
"We have been on a seven million year break, Omega. Now we have a leader that has a n, unlike before," Octavia said with a vicious grin.
"Ow! You wound me with thatment, but I have to agree. It is strange having someone that actually has a direction in charge. Not that it was my fault for not knowing which way was up, but that is neither here nor there! Talk to you bothter!" Omega said with augh as I walked out of the elevator, and it closed with him still in it.
"How are things going?" I asked as I turned around, but Octavia''s look didn''t inspire confidence.
"Not good."
Chapter 160 Unicorns Are Badasses
"Wah?! Not good? What kind of answer is that?!" Iined as I walked over to Octavia.
"The answer that I am giving you. The Restriction System is a robot, not an Annokale like me. There is one in there, but it is restricted by the System. I have no way to track it because I don''t know what I am looking for," Octavia exined, and I groaned, but I got it.
"Okay, what about searching for systeminium?" I asked.
"Nope, it doesn''t work. It is cloaked, and it shouldn''t have any unless it is put offline, aka, destroyed," Octavia replied.
"Tricky thing! Fine, what do we know about it? Does it have a shape that it''s likely to take?" I asked, and Octavia gestured to the table between us, and a small square appeared an inch cubed. "Really? This is what we are looking for?!"
"Most likely."
"How does it move?"
"Gravity locked on the. It locks itself at a certain orbit," Octavia exined, and I nodded.
"Scan for things that fit this profile, moving at a constant orbit. That should be easy enough; there shouldn''t be anything that can hold a single orbit. Even if there is, there can''t be that many," I said, and Octavia nodded.
"I will try; give me a moment," Octavia said, and she gestured to the table that grew a copy of earth.
Slowly, lines started to appear around the globe, but most of them disappeared right away when they deviated. We were looking for something that kept what should be a static obit, even if it moved like other debris.
It took about an hour of eye fucking the shit out of the globe while Octavia did all the work, but I really didn''t know anything about scanning. We could have called Sofia up, but Octavia said there was nothing to do to speed up the process.
"So, this little tiny thing is what is cutting off the power? How do you suggest we deal with it?" I asked, and Octavia gave me a pointed look.
"Shoot it from a distance. But from space, so it doesn''te down here and start terrorizing everyone. Burn it with fire, as the saying goes," Octavia said, crossing her arms, and I lifted my eyebrows.
"Really? Is it that dangerous?" I asked.
"It is a robot that has been absorbing all the''s electricity. That is an almost infinite resource on this for the nanobot, so it will put up a fight if you don''t kill it in one shot," Octavia exined, and I nodded.
"I might want to wait then. I feel like I am getting close to another growth spurt, so I might as well take a day or two to get ready. I would hate to get taken out by thest System that has been hiding," I said with a sigh, and Octavia nodded.
"Yes, I agree with that idea. It is better to go into something like this prepared and with a n. The System will try to impose restrictions, but you should be able to override them. They will temporarily affect you, so you have to take that into consideration," Octavia exined, and I nodded.
"Yeah, sounds like it is going to be one hell of a fight. The chances of me finishing it off in one shot are going to be pretty slim," I groaned. "Like I really needed something else right now. There are already a million other things that I need to take care of."
"Well, this will create more options if we can solve this. There is also nothing saying that you need to deal with this problem right now. It is a dangerous task, and I am sure there are many other things that you can do to get stronger for now," Octavia said, and I nodded.
At least we know where it is now, and we can deal with it when I am ready," I said and then asked, "Any trace of the Darkar or Gideons yet?"
"Nothing so far, but I will let you know when they enter the sr system. So far, there are only the Cleaners that we can track, and they are set to a thirteen-month course to reach us. As for the other two, they are historically five and six months behind each other, and it looked like the Darkar lost, so they would have a month''s head start, making them about five months behind us, maybe six," Octavia exined.
"Let''s hope they all stay about the same. I really don''t need any more surprises right now," Iined and walked over to a bare spot on the wall that opened up for me. "If you need anything, you know how to get a hold of me. Let me know if anything happens!"
"I will!" Octavia called as I jumped out of the massive Great Tree.
I started to fall to the ground, looking out at the green forest as far as the eye could see. I wanted to protect this and keep it this way, but I was struggling to find a way to do that.
Large metallic dragon wings burst from my back as I arched up to smoothly glide far above the forest.
Now I knew where the final System was hiding, but it turned out that it was going to be more than I bargained for. Still, it was something that I was going to have to deal with at some point.
The sun was starting to go down, but it was really a different sight from far up in the sky. It would be dark on the ground already, but for me, the tops of all the trees were bathed in golden light.
I started to descend, heading back home to my Great Tree. Chelsea was still staying at the opposite end of the tree from Amy, but neither of them seemed to mind.
I swooped down and dropped into my pool, retracting my wings and letting out a sigh at the hot fluid. Finally, at home, I can rx for a bit.
"Daniel! You are here! I want to talk to you about some ideas that I have for my new system!" Chelsea said as she came running up the stairs with Kitsuneing with her.
Well, I was going to rx, but this was still good.
"Hey,e get in the pool with me, and we can talk about all you want, but I need a soak," I said with a smile, and both Chelsea and Kitsune came in the water.
Both waded over and came over to either side of me.
"So, I was thinking that you could make me into a unicorn," Chelsea said, and I gave her a look.
"Why?" Was all I could ask.
"Because it''s a unicorn, and they are badasses!" Chelsea dered, sshing regeneration fluid.
"No, they aren''t. Cool, maybe. Majestical, yes, but serious, what are you going to do as a unicorn?" I asked skeptically.
"Well, I mean, I would be a unicorn! What about a butterfly? Dragonfly! That''s the one!" Chelsea dered, and I groaned.
"Can you take this seriously? I want you to pick what you want, but I am also not going to make your system useless! Pick something that is good and that you can use that would be useful," I said, and Chelsea tossed her hands up in the air.
"I don''t know what to pick then! I told you all my ideas, smarty pants! You give me some suggestions if you think mine are no good!" Chelseained.
"Water mage, Storm elemental, Lightning elemental, storm creator, or speedster. There are tons of cool things to pick from," I suggested.
"Speedster? Like the sh? Hmmm, maybe not; I would just end up getting hurt! What about a Water Mage? I could help water the forest! And wash away the foes with a Tsunami!" Chelsea cheered.
"Water mage? I think I could work something out with that; I still want to recharge before we do that. How are things going with you and Kitsune?" I asked.
"Great! That is right! Sorry, Kitsune, I almost forgot to ask for you!" Chelsea said, striking a finger in the air, turning to me. "Can you make Kitsune into a girl? With like... two... four... six tails! Yeah, that will look really cool!"
"Oh? Kitsune? You want a more human form?" I asked, turning to therge red wet fox, and she nodded.
"If that is within your powers, and you don''t mind doing it. I would like to know what it is like to be like the girls. I feel like we spend a lot of time together, and it would be easier if I was the same," Kitsune exined, and I nodded.
"Sure, that sounds like a fun idea, and this was something I was curious about. I am d that you offered yourself up to be the first test subject," I smiled, and Chelsea pinched me. "Ow! What!?"
"Don''t talk like she is some guinea pig!" Chelsea growled, and Iughed.
"When have I messed up? I am just saying, now, I don''t have to ask anyone to volunteer! Don''t be so violent with me. I is fragile!" I teased.
"You is a pain in the butt!" Chelsea said, sticking out her tongue at me.
Chapter 161 Sister Systems
"Alright. Let''s get out of here and go to your room. Is Amy here?" I asked curiously.
"Nope, she left because Victoria was in a huff about none of her close-fitting anymore. You wouldn''t happen to know anything about that, would you?" Chelsea asked me with the same level of curiosity as we waded out of the pool.
"I have no idea what you are talking about. I would never do anything to upset Victoria. I mean, not on purpose," I chuckled, and Chelsea rolled her eyes.
"Well, Amy is gone there, so it is just the three of us here," Chelsea said as we headed down the stairs.
Steam rose off us as I made all our bodies heat up by plugging my roots into them. It was a bit strange to do, but neither of the girlsined about getting dry without working up a sweat.
"You are really just an alien to all of us now. You can just plug into us and change our bodies like the flick of a switch. It''s still hard to believe that you were the only Hero, yet in only a few short days, you were able to mostly save the earth. Even if there are worse thingsing, you really did what it takes to be the top yer in all of this. You are kind of like a yer in an MMORPG with administrative powers," Chelsea said as we walked into the room that Kitsune and Chelsea shared.
"That is an interesting way to look at it, but I still have some limits. In the same breath, these limits don''t restrict that much considering what we have already aplished. Once we can get out of this sr system, then we can start building a shell around the. We are going to do a number on it during transportation, but once we create a sphere around the world, we will be able to restart life on the surface," I exined as the door closed behind us.
"What about light? And keeping warm if we aren''t going to have a star like the sun?" Chelsea asked, and I nodded.
"Good questions, but it is just a matter of finding the right people for the job. We are going to rece the core with a mini-star, and that will be how we generate the power. I am still working on the power part; that one is more tricky than the others. Anyways, that BS is not what I came here to talk about," I said, gesturing to the bed.
"Umm, you aren''t giving out Systems right now, right?" Chelsea asked, looking down at Kitsune.
"Jesus Christ, no! Good lord, I just want you both toy down and getfortable. We can do that some other time; just get on the bed for now," I sighed, and Chelsea grinned at me.
"Just checking! Take the stick out of your bum!" Chelsea giggled and ran over to her big bed and jumped on. "Come on, Kitsune! It''s time!"
Kitsune jumped up on the bed,ying on her stomach next to Chelsea, their heads next to each other. Chelsea rolled towards the red fox and wrapped her arms around it, pressing her face into the side of Kitsune''s head.
The fox had been a big help to getting Chelsea back to this point, and the girls had be very close. They spent nearly every waking minute together now, so I was interested to see how things were going to turn out after this.
I moved beside Kitsune and squatted down beside the head of the bed, looking into the fox''s eye. I reached forward and pet the top of her head between her ears, and Kitsune closed her eyes.
As she did, I activated my System, pulling up Kitsune''s chart after scanning with my touch as I pet her. The system knew what I wanted to do, but there were some things I wanted to change.
A good portion of her body was going to be covered in fur, and her face was still a bit pointed and covered in red fur. My System was basically trying to make the fox walk on two legs, and that wasn''t what she wanted.
First, I started with the fur, restricting it to be no higher than the knees and elbows, keeping the tail and ears. Next was smoothing out her face, and because the girls were like sisters, I decided to make her facial structure to be very simr.
The final thing that I changed was the number of tails, but three was the max. I wasn''t sure if the System was telling me it couldn''t be done or if I just wasn''t a high enough level, yeah.
Regardless, from what I could tell, Kitsune looked good, but I made a few adjustments to the hips and chest. I''m a guy, sue me, I wanted her to look good, for her benefit, of course!
I confirmed the choice, and there was a sh of light, and I felt the fur under my hand start to retract, and smooth skin was revealed. I opened my eyes to watch the single tails split into three and the rest of the body finished transforming.
Once it was done, Kitsune turned to Chelsea, filling her face with boobs.
"Jesus, Daniel! Are you trying to suffocate me?! Why is the soft fur I love so much gone and reced with these massive life preservers?!" Chelseained.
"You don''t think I look good?" Kitsune asked, and Chelsea looked up at her.
"Holy crap! You could be my sister! You almost look just like me, but foxier and older! You look pretty sexy, but I think Daniel went overboard with your chest bumper pads!" Chelsea said, looking down at her own meager chest.
"Don''t worry, I will give you some back problems when the timees; today, we are just changing your System. Next time, you and I can meet in private and do some adjusting," I said with a smile, but Chelsea shook her head.
"If you are doing it with the other girls at the same time, then you should do us both at the same time. I think that you could try to give us sister Systems or something like that that we can use together," Chelsea said and then looked at Kitsune. "Is that what you want?"
Chapter 162 Put The Matter To The Council
"Umm, yes, if Daniel wants that and I am eptable the way I am now. I think it would be a good idea to do it at the same time, and we can share in the experience, right?" Kitsune said, and Chelsea nodded, looking back to me.
I was just standing there, not really sure what to say at this point. This was something that I had no problem with, but I would have to ask the council of women or Anya.
She was the only one that seemed to not like the idea of inviting more girls in, but I couldn''t me Anya. Still, this was a bit different, and I was sure that she would be fine with it if I exined things to her.
"Sure, but I will have to talk to the others about it first. I am sure that it will be alright, but it is better to have everyone on the same page," I said, and Chelsea nodded.
"Good. Can you make a cute dress for Kitsune? Amy can make more for herter, but her boobs are all over the ce. Also, if you don''t know if you are going to be sampling the goods, you shouldn''t be staring at them!" Chelsea giggled and made a mock-offended look.
"Me? Gazing at her jiggly bits? Maybe a little bit, but only for scientific purposes! Have to see if there is anything out of ce!" Iughed, and Kitsune sat up.
"Do I look right? Should I get up so you can get a look at my entire body?" Kitsunes asked.
"I am not arguing against it."
"Daniel!" Chelsea snapped.
"Calm down. This is to make sure that everything is in ce," I said, waving at Chelsea with one hand and offering the other to Kitsune.
The fox girl took my hand and slowly got up on shapely, shaky legs but started to fall forward. I rushed forward and caught her in my arms, creating a white dress around her as I did.
"Sorry! I am not used to having legs like this. My bnce is a bit off," Kitsune said, and I hugged her to my chest.
"You look perfect, and not to worry. You will get better at this in no time. Get back into bed, and I am going to take care of Chelsea now," I said as I stroked the back of her soft long red hair down to the middle of her back.
"Thank you," Kitsune said and pulled back to wobble over to the bed that she fell into with Chelsea.
I walked around the bed, and Chelsea was already waiting for me. She was sitting with her legs hung over the edge and hands on either side with straight arms, holding the bed.
I squatted down to her eye level and smiled at Chelsea, and she returned it with her own cute smile.
"So, now that I know you want to have simr Systems, I think that we should pick something that will work together with Kitsune. From what I see, she has an affinity to fire, and yours is water. The two can make steam and acid, but I think that there might be another way to do things," I exined, and Chelsea tilted her head with a questioning look.
"What is the other way?" She asked.
? "I don''t think either of you is really suited for fighting real people, right?" I asked as Kitsune curled up next to Chelsea, putting her head in Chelsea''sp.
The two girls looked dramatically sexier together like this, and I could only imagine what it would be like to have them both. I would be putting in my vote for this threesome when it came up in the council!
"Yeah, I am not really too excited about hurting people unless it is in the stadium we are making clones!" Chelseaughed, stroking Kitsune''s head.
"Good, then I am just going to change the element of your system right now to water from thunder, but I will disable your System. Once I cane back for you girls, I will make you into a healer, and Kitsune will be an enhancer. That means she will make people stronger with her abilities. Does that sound good to you both?" I asked.
"I like the idea of being a healer instead of someone that kills," Chelsea said, her voice getting quiet, and I nodded.
"I like whatever you give me, but being able to help people is something that I really like doing already. The System sounds like it will be a good fit for me," Kitsune said, rubbing her face into Chelsea''s stomach.
That made Chelsea lean down and hug Kitsune before she sat back up to look me in the eyes, nodding.
"I am ready!" Chelsea said, and I grinned, taking my hand off the side of her leg.
"Already done. You won''t notice much of a difference other than that you can''t transform anymore," I exined, and Chelsea sighed.
"Finally! Not that I didn''t have it under control, but it is nice to know that I don''t have to worry about it at all anymore!" Chelseaughed, wiping her eyes.
I leaned in and gave her a slow kiss that she briefly returned but then pulled away with a small smile.
"If Kitsune is off limits for now, then so am I. I have never had someone like here that I was this close to, so I want to share all the experiences together. Plus, this is just motivation to convince the others. I am sure that you won''t have that much trouble, considering how many of us were forced on you. Tell them that we are one person, and wee as a package deal!" Chelsea giggled, and I grinned.
"Don''t you worry your pretty little heart! I will be back here in due time to experience both of you and enjoy all the new sensations that you will both be introduced to!" Iughed as I stood back up.
Chapter 163 Ass And Pussy Vines
I left the girls and walked down the stairs to the main lobby area of the house I had first built. Things had been changing then, but I could have never seen where everything would end up now.
I walked over to the north wall that opened up for me and stared out over the forest. At this level, I could see all the lower sections of the trees and the lit-up pathways that ran between the trees. This world was like a Fae forest now, and in time the people were going to change slowly.
I had a feeling that in a year''s time, there would be very few authentic humans. Old people were already enjoying the rejuvenating effects of the pools that I created, and with enough time spent in them, I no longer had to edit people.
"You have done some amazing things since you came down this tree and into the earth to first talk with me," Gaia said as she came over from the elevator that had just opened.
"Yes, but we still have a long way to go. Hard to believe that this is where we would end up after we first started to talk, and I gave you this body," I said as I lifted my arm up for her to slide under.
Gaia rested her head against my side as we both looked out over the lit-up forest. After another long day of trying to get things in order, the night was here, and I could somewhat slow down.
Are you going to go see the girls at the Challenger Dome?" Gaia asked, looking up at me.
"Questionable. I was considering it, but I don''t know if I am ready for that rodeo today. Still, if the girls are making an effort like this, I should oblige. They are just most likely going to want to fight first, and I am not really in the mood to fight today," I groaned, and Gaia giggled.
"The girls are quite aggressive, but all the girls have different personalities. Each of us likes you for different reasons, but all of us love you the same," Gaia said, and I leaned down to kiss her and then scooped her up.
"What are you doing right now? It is getting dark, and I am in no hurry to get over to the girls yet. Do you want to have some fun?" I asked, and Gaia wrapped her arms around my neck.
"I will never say no to you. After the first time, I have been waiting for you to ask me again," Gaia said with a warm smile as I started to walk to the elevator.
Once we were inside, the door closed, and the elevator started to move as we slowly but yfully gave each other small kisses. I broke the pattern of small pecks and slowly kissed down her cheek and then Gaia''s neck.
Gaia moaned softly, and the vine started to grow out of her, pulling her body closer to mine. My own roots started to grow out in response, filling the elevator car with lush green vines and silver tree roots.
Pulling back from me, Gaia''s body twisted, and the green dress she was wearing retracted to reveal herrge breasts and slit. I could see that she was already leaking golden fluids, and I took no time to make my clothes disappear.
I lifted off the grounds, and my body tilted back as Gaia was slowly lowered to my erected cock.
Small thin vines extended from inside Gaia''s pussy, and wrapped around my cock to guide it. I reached forward and squeezed Gaia''s breast, and we both moaned in pleasure as I entered her pussy.
"I have more control of my body this time, so we can have more fun," Gaia said as her pussy vines still gripped and stroked my cock while Gaia was lifted up and down.
I groaned as Gaia took her time moving up and down slowly, sinking down hard each time with the constant drop of the elevator. Gaia leaned forward, and I let go of her breast to slide my hands down her back.
I stopped when each of my hands gripped her ass cheeks as Gaia leaned in to kiss me. When my lips pressed together, I started to move faster, and Gaia''s moans started to pick up fast.
Suddenly, Gaia''s pussy vines started to move erratically inside of her, and she started to moan harder into my mouth. I increased my speed, and the pussy vines started to go crazy, making Gaia break the kiss.
"My Pussy! The vines are going crazy inside of me! I cumming, Daniel! Don''t stop! My pussy vines are rubbing all parts while you drive your cock inside of me!" Gaia cried out.
I used one of my hands to press the back of her head back into my kiss. That made her pussy start to gush golden juices down my throbbing shaft that was drilling her wet little hole.
I slowed down and let Gaia break the kiss. She panted, but I wasn''t done with her yet.
"Are you okay?" I asked with a smile, and Gaia nodded.
"That was just more than I expected, but I am okay. That felt amazing!" Gaia eximed as I grew a second dick.
"Do you want to try something different? I can use both holes at the same time, and I am curious to know how it feels," I said, and Gaia nodded to me.
"If it is something that you want to try, then I am more than willing. I will grow more vines and guide you in," Gaia said, and I felt more vines grab at my cock.
"Wait, we are at the bottom of the elevator. Let''s continue this fun in the bedroom, okay?" I asked, and Gaia nodded, her ass and pussy vines letting go of my double cock.
The vines and roots around us retracted as the door to the elevator opened to a cute moss-covered cave that had a mound in the center. That was the ce that Gaia rested and where the two of us were headed now.
I looked down between my legs and grinned at my double-stacked cocks, and then looked at Gaia, who was walking in front of me. Roots sprung out from my body and grabbed Gaia''s naked body lifting her off the ground and pulling her back to me.
Gaia slowly turned her back to look at me, but her ass and pussy vines were already stretching out to grab my cocks. I slowly brought her body back against mine, inserting both my cocks simultaneously into Gaia''s pussy and ass.
"Aaah! This is different!" Gaia said stiffly as she winced once my cocks were all the way in.
"I will go slow to start," I said as my roots pulled at Gaia''s arms and legs, holding her body starfished in the air.
I slowly began to feed both of my cocks into Gaia''s holes, gripping her waist as I did. I could feel the vines already starting to move faster, and I was curious if Gaia was going to be able to handle this all this time.
"Make my scream. We are away from everyone else, so I want you to give me both of your cocks until my mind goes nk. Don''t stop pushing your rods into me until you are done!" Gaia moaned.
"Then let me try to make up for all the years you have had to sit back and watch everyone else have fun!" I groaned as I hammered my cocks into both her holes.
This was double the pleasure, but it was amazing because both holes felt different. Gaia''s ass was tight, and it was smooth back and forth, but her pussy wasn''t as tight, but it had more texture.
Both holes felt amazing, but it was even better to be fucking them at the same time. I started to get more excited, and Gaia''s cries of pleasure were starting to drive me wild.
I could feel the pressure starting to build up in both my cock, so I picked up my speed and then drove both cocks deep inside Gaia. Hot cum pumped out of both my cocks, and I felt Gaia''s body drink it to the point where her ass and pussy sucked me dry.
"Mmm! Your hot cock juice made me feel amazing! I can feel your cum being absorbed into my body, and I can even feel myself getting stronger!" Gaia said as my roots slowly put her down on shaky legs, but I scooped her into my arms.
"Stronger? That is interesting. Maybe I will have to start giving you girls more of my time if it means making you all stronger!" Iughed and then leaned down to share a long kiss with Gaia as I went toy down on the mound in the center of the room.
"I do feel much better now. I am d that you stopped and spent some time with me, but you should get going to see the other girls," Gaia said to me as she wiggled in my arms until she was facing me.
"No, I think that I am going to stay right here for the rest of the night. I would like to cuddle with you, and I would like for you toe with me in the morning to go see Sofia. I think that she also said that there was going to be a list, but I haven''t seen it yet," I exined, and Gaia cuddled into me.
"Okay, and I have the list. We can go over that tonight if you want?" Gaia suggested, and I kissed her and nodded.
"That sounds like a great idea."
Chapter 164 Like A Son
That night continued with more fun, and before we knew it, Sofia''s image popped into my view.
"Are you going to grace me with your presence today, or are you going to keep pounding the world? Did you even look at the list that is sent over, Papi?!" Sofia demanded, and I grinned.
"Hermosa, Gaia told me all about your list, so don''t worry. Sorry, we seemed to have lost track of time, but we are heading over right now," I said, and Sofia nodded and closed the screen.
"She seems quite animated this morning," Gaia giggled as we got up off the moss mound.
"I think that she needs some of my time, but I am only one person," I said with a sigh as clothes wrapped around my body.
"Well, you don''t need me toe with you, and maybe you and Sofia should spend some time together. She is one of the hardest-working girls you have and is always trying to further your goals. I think if anyone deserves some attention from you, then it would be Sofia," Gaia said with a smile as shey back down.
That was true, Sofia put in a lot of effort and work every day, and she had been the first person that I had given a System. She was integral to all my ns, so it might be best if I spend the day with her today. Things have always been short with her since we met, in more than one way," I chuckled as I leaned down to kiss Gaia goodbye.
"Yes, that does sound like a good n, and then you should go spend the night with the girls. I know that you have a lot to get down, but you have help or can create it. You just need to point more people in the right direction," Gaia said, and I nodded.
"I will try to do that. What are your ns for the rest of the day?" I asked as I stood up.
"You made this body sore and tired, so I think that I will have a short nap and then go soak after that. Then I am going to go check on all the animals that Orphus brought inst night, and check to see if they are all in good health," Gaia exined, and I nodded.
"Alright, I will talk to youter," I said as I headed to the elevator.
"Don''t be a stranger! I really enjoyedst night and will be waiting for the next night that you return for more," Gaia said with a sensual smile that made me wish that I wasn''t leaving.
The elevator door closed and started moving up as I leaned back and closed my eyes. That had been an amazing night, and Gaia''s cries of pleasure were still echoing in my mind.
Now it was time to switch gears and focus on the list Gaia had read off to me. The names weren''t as important as the talents that they possessed and the System that Sofia had suggested for them. Some of them made more sense than others, but I was sure that Sofia had reasons for picking them.
The elevator opened up to the lowest part of my Great tree, and I was pulled out to what used to be the front entrance of my apartment building. Now, thendscape was unrecognizablepared to the concrete jungle that was reced by lush green grass and an unending forest panorama.
"Daniel!" Darius called to me, and I turned to see the young man run up to me.
I almost had not recognized Anya''s father, but I couldn''t forget the rough voice that didn''t really seem to change much as he got younger.
"You! As if you told your daughter that Hyperion was a good book for a first movie!" I growled, and Darius burst out inughter.
"Ha! That is what you get for making me read the entire Magic of Xanth series!" Dariusughed.
"Hey! Don''t bash Piers Anthony! That man is a god when ites to bad puns! Bink''s tale would have been far better as a movie! Ha! There are so many books we could make a daily showing for more than two months!" Iughed, and Darius rolled his eyes.
"Most people couldn''t make it past the fifth book for all the puns! Plus, the story is always the same! Every book is going to ask that grumpy wizard, Humphry, for an answer that sends them on some strange quest!" Dariusined.
"That is the best part! You get to go through the lives of everyone, and their kids, and their kid''s kids! Anyways, what are you up to right now?" I asked, and Darius shrugged.
"Just getting some fresh air. Pretty easy to get lost in the library with all the moving parts, so I wanted to get out for a bit. Mornings are always nice in the forest, and there is a pretty woman that I have been going for walks with. We happen to run into each other quite often, so it has been making me get out more," Darius Chuckled, and I grinned at him.
"Ady friend? Very nice. Are you two getting serious? Have you told Anya yet?" I asked, and Darius turned away.
"No, and she can be the one to tell her," Darius said, and I barked out augh.
There was one of Anya''s friends, Karly, who was a cute bookworm, just like Anya, that Darius had been somewhat close to. I remembered her alwaysing into the bookshop to talk to Darius about books and ask him questions, but it never went farther than that.
"So, now that you are younger, you can finally pursue Karly? Good for you!" I said, pping his shoulder.
"Still feels a bit strange, but the two of us get along so well that it doesn''t bother me anymore. I always liked the girl when she starteding to the shop, but she was Anya''s age and her friend. I am still worried about how Anya will take this. You know how she can sometimes be," Darius said, and I chuckled.
"That I do! If you want, I can talk to her about it," I offered.
"That might be a good idea. Karly is pretty shy herself, so I don''t think that she really wants to tell Anya either," Darius said with a sigh.
"Don''t worry about it. I am sure that Anya won''t be surprised, and she will be happy. It''s not like we haven''t talked about you two being a cute couple before. Anya likes Karly, and it''s not like you are trying to rece her mother. I am sure that is bothering you as well," I said, and Darius nodded.
Anya''s mother had died when she was only five, and Darius had raised her alone, struggling most of the time.
The first time that I met her father, I was twelve, and I wasing over to work on a book report.
I was already pretty good at cooking and other things that didn''t have to do with school work, so I ended up helping Darius with supper that night. After the meal, he showed me his library and told me about the bookstore that he ran.
Even on the ride home that night back to the orphanage, Darius had talked to me like I was an adult. He had been the one to spark my endless love for the written word, and the old was my first inspiration.
I started my dropshipping business because I wanted to do something to help Darius out because his shop was always struggling. I still remember the look on his face when I, as a young teen, came into his shop and told him to pack everything up to move.
"Well, meeting you has been an experience that I will always remember. I had a hard time swallowing my pride with you, but you ended up being like the son that I never had. Even though I feel like you are the one teaching me most of the time!" Dariusughed, and I shrugged.
"You have always been like a father to me, and I have always cared about Anya. I am sorry that we kept things from you for so long," I smiled, and Darius waved me off.
"Water under the bridge, and I should have known, or maybe I did, and just denied the idea. Still, I couldn''t pick a better guy to be looking after my little girl in my ce. Still think it is a bit strange to have so many women, but if my little girl is happy, then I am happy," Darius chuckled as we started to walk east towards Sofia''s R&D Great Tree.
"Believe me, if I could have kept it at three, I would have, but things never go exactly the way I have nned," I groaned but looked up at the sound of a woman''s voice.
"Darius! Daniel!"
"Ka! We were just talking about you!" Darius said as Ka, a blonde of the same height as she, walked over.
"Oh? Hopefully, good things!" Ka said as she came over and kissed Darius.
"Like there is anything bad to say about you!" Dariusughed, and Ka rolled her eyes and turned to me.
"How is Anya?" Ka asked. "We haven''t told her yet, and I haven''t really talked to her since this all happened."
"She is good, and I am going to talk to her about you two tomorrow when I go to see her. Also, stop letting Darius suggest horrible books for movies!" Iughed.
Chapter 165 Work First, Tentacle Sex Later
I left Darius and Ka and headed straight to the R&D Great Tree. I knew that Sofia would have a shit fit if I didn''t get there soon.
I wish I couldin that I was just talking to people and there was no rush, but that was the farthest thing from the truth. I was the one that told everyone else that, and yet I am the one that wasted the whole night with Gaia.
Wasted might be aggressive because any time spent with the girls was valuable and not wasted. Even if the Darkar and Gideons showed up tomorrow, I still would have had my fun with Gaia. I needed to have breaks, and the girls also needed my attention.
This was part of the Harem aspect that was my rtionship, and for better or worse, I had ten girlfriends. Now it was time to go tame the shrew, so to speak.
I flew up to where I sensed Sofia, and the side of the tree opened up for me, letting me fly inside.
"Look who decided to grace us with their presence!" Sofia eximed sarcastically, but she was the only person in the room.
"Hermosa, I am sorry for making you wait. I promise that I am going to make it up to you right now! I n on spending the entire day with you!" I dered as my wings retracted.
"Good, I am going to make you test out the suits, and you are going to start giving the people Systems. The sooner they are trained, the faster we will get them to the levels that we need. I know that you need to approve them, and at the end of the day, it is your choice on whether or not any are even given out," Sofia said as I walked over to stand beside her.
I reached to her face, pulled some of her green hair back behind her ear, and kissed her cheek. Sofia let out a soft moan and turned to me, still looking worked up.
"Teasing me like this is not going to make me any happier! We can''t do any of that until some things get done!" Sofia dered, but I slipped behind her and pressed my face into her neck.
"I know we have lots to do, and we will get to that. Just let me love you for a little bit," I said, and Sofia sighed and turned in my arms to face me.
"I want this all the time, Papi, but I am one of the few that actually understands what is at stake. Everyone thinks that you are just going to wave a hand, and we will win," Sofia growled, and I nodded, giving her a short kiss.
"I know, and I am d that you do understand. We are not trying to fight a winning battle here. I know that we are going to lose if we try to take them head-on or go into the fight thinking that we are going to win. The n is to hold them off until we can get the out of here and away from the Cleaners. Those are the real problems. If there was a chance that we could defeat them, then we could consider fighting. As things stand, that is impossible, simply because they are unending. They will just keep sending more," I exined, and Sofia sighed and then rested her head on my chest.
I picked her up and sat down with a chair forming underneath me.
"Maybe we can rx for a little bit, but after you are mine for the entire day. That includes after the work is done. I feel like I got the short end of the stick, so to speak, in this all. Getting the first System, I thought that we might have more time together, but I also never thought you would have nine other girls. Not that I amining, I did ask for this," Sofia said as she cuddled into me.
"It is taxing, but look at victoria. I am only just getting to her now and giving her a System. If you hadn''t been in the right ce at the right time, you might have been still waiting like Chelsea. Though, I don''t think we would still be here if it wasn''t for you. If you hadn''t been here and found the ship, who knows what might have happened?" I asked, and Sofia smiled with her eyes closed.
"Don''t stop now. I love when you tell me about how much you need and love me! I had a boyfriend for a long time, but after moving here to work in the hospital, he left me. The man never cared for me the way you do, and I spent years of my life with him! You might frustrate me from time to time, but at least I know that you love me and you respect and appreciate the hard work I do," Sofia exined, and I nodded.
"I guess they just didn''t get you the way I do. I know that you get excited, but that is one of the things that I love about you. You get so involved with everything that you are working on, but you aren''t boring, and your personality always makes me smile! Plus, I kinda dig it when you call me Daddy," I said with a smile, and Sofia looked up at me with a devilish smile.
"Oh? Maybeter, when you take my clothes off, I can call you Daddy instead of Papi? I am a bad little girl. Maybe you can punish me, Daddy? Mmm! You are making my pussy wet just talking like this, Papi! Why do you do this to me?!" Sofia eximed, and I growled, starting to kiss her neck, but Sofia pushed me back. "No, No, No! Get off me, Bestia!"
Sofia wiggled out of myp, jumped up, spun around, and stabbed a finger at me.
"Fine! I get it! No funny business until after we are done working," I sighed, getting back out of the chair that was restricted back into the ground.
"Good! Now, let''s go down to where everyone is waiting!" Sofia dered as she walked over to the elevator, but I grinned.
"Sure, let''s go!" I said with a smile as I headed into the elevator with Sofia.
"What are you smiling about, Papi?" Sofia asked as the doors closed.
"Nothing, but I think we will have some time before we reach everyone," I smiled, pushing Sofia back into the corner.
"What?! No, there is only one floor below us!" Sofia eximed, but the elevator still wasn''t moving.
"Let''s make some time to have a bit of fun before we go see everyone," I said as silver roots burst from my back, but Sofia''s vines burst out to defend her, push me back, and somehow make the elevator start moving.
"Nice try, Papi, but I fight with Arbol Viejo all the time, and it will take more than that to get into my pants! You just had fun with Gaia, you horny toad!" Sofia snapped and then pushed past me when the door of the elevator opened to a waiting room that was filled with people.
I smiled, and my roots returned inside of me as I turned around to follow Sofia. That surprised me, and I would have thought that she would want to have some fun first. Considering how much she had already done, I would have thought this would have been easy, but I guess she was working first, yingter.
Once I was out of the elevator, I slowly looked around the room, but I didn''t recognize any of the faces. Sure I knew who they were from the lists that had been sent over to me. I could also pull up information about them just by scanning them.
"So, we will start with the most important ones. This is Carl," Sofia said as she grabbed a red-headed man that looked young.
With the rejuvenation pools, there was no way to tell just how much experience a person had from their age. Everyone was starting to look around the same age now, but not everyone was equally experienced.
"Umm, hello. I am Carl, as she says, but I am not anything important," The man said, and I shrugged.
"Well, Carl. If Sofia picked you, then it was for a good reason," I said as I scanned the man and a menu popped up.
[Name: Carl Herman]
[Race: Caucasian(Canadian)]
[Talent: Theoretical Wormhole Specialist]
"Wait, how did you find someone that specializes in a job that doesn''t exist?" I asked, and Sofia shrugged.
"Gaia found him, but I have no idea how he had that talent," Sofia exined.
"I worked on theoretical ideas. Not like we could prove that Wormhole existed, but we still work through the concepts. The funding for my research was cutst year, and I have been homeless since," Carl exined, and I nodded.
"The world was hard on people that did what they enjoyed before all of this happened, but things are changing now. Carl, you will be someone that will be close to me and that I will depend on in the future, depending on what System you get. Are you prepared for that?" I asked, and Carl gave me a child-like smile.
"I have only been waiting my entire life to meet a man like you. I will be whatever you need me to be as long as I can do what I love," Carl said, and I offered the man my hand.
Chapter 166 Booming Bearded Bastards
"All right, since there are more than a handful of you, Sofia, throw the list up on the disy so we can all see it. We are not trying to hide any talents, and knowing what each can do will help you all get abilities that work best with you. Today is going to be a long day, so feel free to getfortable," I exined, and everyone gave a small cheer.
Sofia gestured to a table on the far side of the room, and the list appeared.
[Author Note: To see thisplete list, please check the third Auxiliary Chapter: Sofia''s List Chapter 166(In Progress With Chapters)]
"I would like toin about your choice of name for the military," Aiko Yua, a short, slightly chubby Japanese woman,ined.
"If you say they are sexist, I will hit you with my slipper, Ni?¡Àita!" Sofia snapped, kicking up one of her golden slippers into the air and catching it expertly like any good Spanish mother.
"Don''t call me little girl, Baka!" Aiko snapped back, putting her hands on her hips.
"Papi! Listen to what this Ni?¡Àita called me!" Sofia snapped, shaking her slipper at me.
"Girls, let''s all y nice," I said with a sigh.
"You tell that to the Spanish Hentai Poison Ivy, Sensei!" Aiko said, bowing to me.
"Ho! You little tart! Stay away from my Papi with that talk!" Sofia growled.
The rest of the room was standing back, but everyone was separated into Divisions and grouped with their Corps. Getting the military underway with what wasing was going to be crucial going forward, and this didn''t look like a fast job.
"Girls, pipe down for a minute!" I said loudly, and Sofia and Aiko stopped arguing. "Everyone in the Booming Bearded Bastards Corps, I would like you to stay, but the rest of you are relieved for today. I will see the Sessful Failures Corps Tomorrow and the Dirt Eaters Corps the day after. Those in the other two Corps, I want you all to be thinking about how you can best help going forward."
After most of the people left, there was Sofia, I, and the seven others of the Triple B Corps. They were separated into two divisions. Vehicles, The Grease Monkeys; Weapons, The Pew Pews. I wasn''t really sure about the names, but this was Sofia''s project, so I let her hold the reins.
"So, now that we have the seven of you, we will call you Triple B Corps. I think that should be better, considering that almost half of the people are women, and they don''t have beards," I said, looking at Sofia, who gave me a frustrated look tossing her hands in the air.
"What do you want from me? It sounds catchy! The name doesn''t make the people, sheesh! You have all been picked to be part of a special program, but you girls are justining about the name!" Sofiained.
"Just so we are clear, I didn''tin about anything. Hell, I think that is a cool name! I was actually thinking about taking some testosterone and growing a beard before this, so I mean, I am game for the name!" Teresa Miles, a talk white square shoulders woman with a boxy frame, said with a slight southern ent, and I grinned.
"Now that I can do if you have your heart set on the look!" Iughed, but Teresa put her hands up.
"Well, let''s not be too hasty, am I right? That was one of those things you think of after having a few too many brewskis!" Teresaughed.
"Well, I will just give you the basic work over. Have you been in the rejuvenation pools?" I asked, but Teresaughed.
"You mean that nasty green-colored water that looks thick? What is the science behind it? I design tanks and monkey around in the shop from time to time. Not really too good with that stuff, if you know what I mean," Teresa exined, and I nodded.
"Yup, I get you. Okay, take my hand, and I am going to give you a special System. Normally, the Annokale in them would be Active, but I am saving them for warrior and battle Systems. The Systems that I will be giving you will have a sleeping Annokale in them. They won''t be able to activate, so there is no worry," I exined, but a man that hade from Calgary, Canada, put up a hand. "Go ahead; what is your question, Mike hunt?"
I had visited the ce, so I had asked Gaia about him. Mike Hunt was a nice guy, but that was one hell of a name if you said it fast.
"Why are they dormant? Are they ever going to want to get up?" Mike Hunt asked.
"I have people working on that and monitoring them. If we can help them get back to a functioning level, then we will get them to help you. In the meantime, you will be working with some of the Annokale Generals Aids. They are very capable people that use non-offensive systems. Even though some of you will have ess to weapons and vehicles, we need you all to be designing things that can be used but clones," I exined.
"Yes, we are killing space Dragons and Gods, right? What information can you share with us about them?" Terri Dubois, a tall slim French man, asked, and Sofia nodded.
"Yes, when Daniel gives you the System, you will gain ess to a visual menu disy. From there, you can look up all sorts of information that we have collected and what the Annokale have got from small encounters," Sofia exined, and Terri nodded.
"Absolutely exhrating! So you are telling me that I am going to be able to make customizable missile systems, mon Amie?" Terri asked, and I nodded.
"Yes, that is the idea, but we will have to see what kind of selectiones up. I can edit them slightly, but I need to get stronger to fully edit them," I exined.
"I see, I see. Still, sounds like a pretty good deal! Where do I sign up?" Terri asked with a smile, but Teresa stepped in front of him.
"Hold your horses there, partner. There is a line, and you are behind me. He was just about to bless me with some fancy abilities, so you can wait your turn right there, buddy," Teresa said, and Terri backed up, putting his hands up defensively.
"Me? Go before you? Not in this life of the next! By all means, I am just as excited as you," Terri said with a thick french ent, but Teresa crossed her arms.
"That fancy talk doesn''t work for me. Not really into toothpicks with mustaches. I need a bear of a man. Someone that can grow a bigger beard than me if I tried!" Teresa said in a bit of a condescending voice, and Terri feigned insult.
"Alright, let''s get started with these Systems, or we are never going to get out of here," I said, making them go quiet, but Sofia slid up beside me, pressing my left shoulder into her chest, leaning into my ear.
"Yes, Daddy. You should wrap things up here quickly if you want to spend some alone time with me," Sofia purred softly into my ear, making my head spin and my hairs stand up on end.
"Hey! You two can make love another time!" Aiko said, putting her hands on her hips.
I smiled and nodded, reaching my hand out to Teresa. She took it without hesitation into a firm handshake, and I activated my System.
The first option that I was given was a Tank System, and that seemed great, but it felt in. I put my hand to my chin for a moment, but then I remembered an Anime that I had seen a while back, Heavy Objects.
I tweaked the System a bit more, but there was a restriction that I couldn''t seem to get rid of for only use onnd and water. If the things that Teresa could make were as big as I assumed, they would be getting airborne anyways.
Still, there was the question of what was considerednd in space. Could I just surround it with a thinyer of water, and it would work in space? So many questions already, but this was one of many amazing things that I would be creating today and over the course of the next two after this.
Once I was satisfied, I confirmed the selection, and Teresa shed with light. When it was clear, Teresa was more muscr, and her gray overalls fit her better.
[Name: Teresa Miles]
[Race: Caucasian (American South)]
[Talent: Tank]
[System: Heavy Weapon System]
[System Description: Heavy Weapon System creates Massive Weapons tforms that can be controlled by a single operator. The System is restricted to Land and Water.]
"Hey! Look at me, go! Good job, boss! You even added a bit on the old titty rack. Don''t worry; I can spot the minor differences. The left one is smaller; if you hadn''t noticed already, I am sure you were looking," Teresa said confidently, and I held back myugh and smiled instead.
"You do look good! You are going to have to start beating the men off with a tire iron!" Iughed.
"No, I have a bat for that. His name is Ben. Really the only man I need in my life!" Teresaughed.
"Oh? I might be able to animate him if you want?" I half-heartedly offered.
"Leave the poor stick dead, or it will just scream about all the things it can''t unsee!" Terriughed, and I had a feeling he might be right.
Chapter 167 A Gagger
"Ben is an actual bat, you French jackass! And yes, I would like for you to animate him, or whatever. That creature had been there with me through thick and thin. Saved me from a bear attack one night when I was walking him," Teresa dered, and I had to take a double take of what I had just heard.
Sofia was the first to ask the question.
"Wait. You take your pet bat for walks? How does that even work?" Sofia asked with a perplexed look on her face as she fingered her lower lip.
"Walking? Well, I walk, and I let him fly, of course! His little spindly legs aren''t too good at that! Ha! We tried the whole leash thing, but that just made him flop like a dead fish," Teresa exined, shaking her head in disappointment.
"Then how do you make hime back?" Aiko asked, and I nodded.
"That? Well, he loves me, of course, but he usually just gets too far away from me. Then the shock cor gives him a good zap! Then I have my trusty fishing with my GPS to make sure I can catch him when he falls! Only missed twice, but Ben is one resilient bat!" Teresaughed, and I paled a bit, feeling for this poor bat.
Maybe it might be in the bat''s best interest to get some distance from this woman. Their rtionship seemed a bit one-sided.
"So then, how did your bat, Ben, save you from a bear?" Terri asked.
"Landed on his head, freaked the bear out, and it ran away. That was one of the times that I missed him, but considering the circumstances, I am sure Ben forgave me," Teresa sighed, and I just blinked.
"Well, that is quite the story. Bring Ben by tomorrow, and I will see to him. Now, time for the next one, Terri!" I said, and Teresa nodded, stepping back.
"Thank you, Mon Amie! I am sure you already know what I do, but just in case you don''t! I worked for private contractors building some, let''s say, less than savoy weapons. We were shut down, and I was packing up my office when the world ended! Lucky for me, you are in need of someone with my specialties!" Terri said with his thick french ent.
"Interesting. Well, since you aren''t pointing those at humans anymore, I hope you can find some good ways to really shut down our foes," I said with a smile, offering Terri my hand.
"Ha ha! That is what I like to hear!" Terriughed and shook my hand as I scanned him and activated my System.
The first option that came up hit the nail on the head, and There wasn''t much that I needed to change about the System. It was good, but not nearly as overall strong as Teresa.
[Name: Terri Dubois]
[Race: Caucasian(French)]
[Talent: Combustion Weapons]
[System: Ignition System]
[System Description: Create Combustible Weapons and the ability to ignite anything that isbustible. Immune to fire.]
Terri shed as I confirmed the selection, and Terri''s hair lit on fire as his rough-looking suit was reced with a smooth ck one. The cuffs of his sleeves lit on fire along with his cor. He didn''t move at first, but his eyes went upwards as he tried to look at his head, which was clearly on fire.
"Ummm, is he supposed to be on fire like that? Hentai woman, you got a fire extinguisher?" Teresa asked, and Iughed.
"No, that is the way he is supposed to be! I thought he looked cool," I said, nodding to Terri, who was looking over his new body.
"This is something else, Mon Amie! I am actually on fire, but the fire does burn me!" Terriughed as he ran his hands through his burning hair.
Teresa reached over and tried to put her hand near Terri''s hair but ripped it back quickly.
"Son of a bitch! That is hot! How can he do that?! I mean, he is the one on fire, but that just isn''t right! How is he supposed to sleep?!" Teresa eximed.
"Sleep is for the weak! You should have been using the regeneration pools, and you would be able to work all the time! Sleeping is a human weakness that we are evolving out of with these pools!" Terri dered with augh.
"Waiiit!" Aiko shouted, dragging the world. "You don''t need to sleep?! Just from getting in the green goop?"
"Yes, Ni?ita, you can use the power to recharge that foul mouth of yours!" Sofia growled.
"Baka Hentia woman! I am going to need a recharge working with you!" Aiko growled back, and I could almost feel the electricity crackle between them.
"Girls, let''s just get along. Sofia, I think you might need a smoke," I said as I stepped between the two of them.
"A smoke? Yes, but I am going to need something stronger than that! Arbol Viejo! Twist me up a gagger!" Sofia snapped as she walked back to the corner, sitting down in a chair that formed under her as she sat down. "Frenchie, I need a light!"
"Excuse me, I have a name," Terriined, and Sofia gave him a look as she grabbed the freshly rolled smoke and put it in her mouth.
"And I have problems; now give me your sleeve so I can take care of this one before I hit that Ni?ita with my slipper!" Sofia growled, and Terri sighed, offering her his sleeve, but then sniffed the air. "Oh, that is some good-smelling skunk! Let me have a taste of this fresh grown stuff, mon Amie!"
"Sure, but Arbol Viejo makes pretty strong stuff for me! I think the tree thinks that it will mellow me out, but you have another thinging, ¨¢rbol Viejo!" Sofia said, but then the chair disappeared from under her. "¨¢rbol Viejo! Papi! You need to fix ¨¢rbol Viejo! He is broken!"
Sofia handed the smoke to Terri after she got up, and he took a deep drag but then immediately started to cough.
"Aye, Aye! What did you put in that thing?! Is it a Jeffery?! Woah! I need to sit down!" Terri said as he coughed and handed the smoke back to Sofia, who was grinning.
"I told you that this tree doesn''t mess around! ¨¢rbol Viejo is just making me more resistant to the stuff!" Sofiaughed, taking another long drag, and I sighed, turning back to Aiko, who was scrunching up her nose.
"That stuff really does smell like a run-over skunk," Aiko said, and I nodded.
"Good for rxing and calming the nerves. There are a bunch of other uses for it, but we have got rid of most of the bad things that make the stuff addicting. It''s still not for everyone, but it is great for listening to music, reading, and watching movies," I said with a smile and then offered the short woman my hand.
I was particrly interested in what System Aiko was going to get. She specialized in small-scale mechanized suits, but they were for arena fighting in Japan. I guess that Gaia must have gotten her brought over like some of the other people here like her.
"Yes, but to be clear, my name is Yua. Aiko is my surname, but I like when you call me that, Sensei," Aiko said, taking my hand.
"Oh shit, I should have known that! Bah, I have watched enough anime by now to know this stuff!" I said, pping my free hand to my face as I scanned Aiko.
"It''s okay; it is amon mistake," Aiko said as my System activated.
The first thing that came up was the Battle Bot System, and I would have pped my system for such a stupid suggestion if I could. The next was The Zord System, but that was specified around one set of mechs that made a bigger one.
I rolled again, and this time I got something more along the lines of what I was looking for. This one could produce the Mechs and upgrade them, and that was exactly what I was looking for.
[Name: Aiko Yua]
[Race: Asian(Japanese)]
[Talent: Mechanized Armor]
[System: Mech Assault System]
[System Description: Create Mechanized Armor Suits and Upgrade them.]
As I confirmed the System, Aiko shed, and she was fitted in a pink and blue body suit that was segmented with lines. There were also what looked like ports on her suit that could be hooked up to something.
Aiko''s body got slightly slimmer, but she still retained her cuteness. She was one of those girls that looked better with a bit of weight on her.
"Well, that is a cute change for you. How does it feel?" I asked as Aiko let go of my hand, but she had a far-off look.
"This is really amazing. Where is my office? And can there be a regeneration pool put in it? I don''t think that I will be able to ever sleep again with this at my finger tips!" Aiko exined as she walked to a table. "Ouch! Who put this here?"
"Sofia, do you want to get a floor ready and take Aiko before she walks into anything else?" I asked, and Sofia nodded.
"Yes, I will take her, but make sure that Frenchie here doesn''t burn the ce down," Sofia said as she put out the smoke.
"I¡ reject you calling me¡ What did you call me again? I remember that I didn''t like it, but that was about it," Terri said with a slow voice from the chair he was slumped in.
"Mr. Tree, can you whip up a pot of coffee for Terri here?" I asked with a sigh as Aiko and Sofia left the room.
Chapter 168 My Cunt
Sofia came back fairly quickly while I talked to the other four and took Terri and Teresa to their floors. Once it was just me and thest four, I turned back to everyone.
"Alright, so Mike, Binder, Jack, and Chiba Hinata¡ Hinata, right?" I asked, and the taller Japanese woman with cking hair nodded a few times.
"Hai!" The woman said nervously with an uneasy smile.
"Hello¡ no, wait, that was yes, not hi. Is your English not very good?" I asked, and she nodded.
"Yes, sorry. I am nervous¡ I don''t understand what you say orugh¡." Hinata said slowly, and I nodded.
"Let me see your hand, and I will make it so you can understand," I said, and Hinata slowly reached her hand forward, but I could tell she was still nervous about things.
I waited until she took my hand, but when she did, I took a deep breath as I started to use Sofia''s ability to connect to Hinata''s body. The small vines grew like thorns, applying a concentrated numbing agent so there was no pain.
The next part was putting my Memory Gem in ce on my forehead. I had gotten this from learning to use Anya''s abilities, but I have been using it for things other than recording. The Red Gems had the ability to transfer information that I knew to other people via a telepathic link. I used it now to transfer everything I had learned about the Englishnguage to Hinata, and she went wide open.
"How can you just make me understand?! I can even understand the stuff that you said before!" Hinata eximed, not letting go of my hand.
I have also lowered her stress levels, and now I retracted my small vines. There was no point in making this awkward If I could help avoid it.
"Good, now, if you understand what I said before, can you tell me a bit more about yourself and your talent?" I asked. "My abilities can only be seen in the basic."
"Yes! Now that I can understand you, this will be much easier. I was very nervous about all of this when Miss Sofia asked me to start reading. I just came to Canada recently with my family, but I have a degree in Advanced Kic Weapons. I specialize in theoretical Railguns, or we just hadn''t finished building it yet, and there was the matter of getting it into space. Then the program was shut down due to funding cuts in a bunch of divisions. I brought my parents with me here to find something new, but we just moved here," Hinata exined, and I nodded.
"Are your parents okay?" I asked.
"Yes, thank you for asking! They are very good and really enjoy living in the trees. Both of them are avid readers but were trying to find jobs when we came here. Now they spend most of their time in the Library Great Tree. That ce is really amazing! I wonder if you could do something like this for my parents? They would love to be able to read more books, and you don''t have many in kanji," Hinata exined.
"I personally might not be able to, but I can ask Anya to do it. We will set up two days a week where we teach differentnguages to those that want to learn, but it will mostly be to get everyone to speak English. It is not like I have a problem with the othernguages, but English is the best if I can just teach it like this," I exined.
"Yes! This is truly amazing. It''s like I have always known how to speak like this!" Hinataughed softly, putting a hand to her mouth, and I scanned her body.
"So, I am going to start with your System now. Give me a moment, and you are going to briefly sh with light," I exined, and Hinata nodded.
I opened up my System, and the first thing that came up was a Sentry System. It would allow her to create turret tforms with kic weapons, but it was restricted to the ground. We already had lots of things that would be on the ground.
The next was the Kic System, but this one was way off target, even if it was pretty cool. It allowed the Host to absorb kic energy and then release it. It was good enough that I stored it and started with another, spinning it again.
This time we hit paydirt. Orbit Firing System.
[Name: Chiba Hinata]
[Race: Asian(Japanese)]
[Talent: Kic Weapons]
[System: Orbital Firing System]
[System Description: Create blueprints and designs for orbital tforms and stationary installments for massive Railgun turrets.]
"This is amazing!" Hinata eximed as she looked herself over.
The first thing I noticed was therge military boots with a small heel and a wide toe box. They were olive green, and the sole was smoky grey. The pants were t fronted with a simple waistband and had cuffed bottoms that ended just above the boot.
The shirt was a deep green and had a cor that came up to just below the chin. There were no buttons, and it fits snugly against the body. The sleeves were long and ended in fitted cuffs.
The whole outfit had several pockets, and it looked like it was meant for a woman of action. The final touch was a dark green beret with a silver pin in the shape of a maple leaf.
"This is the Orbit Firing System. It allows the Host to fire kic weapons into space, but it has a limited range of fifteen thousand miles. The longer the range, the more energy it takes. The systemes with a standard pistol for some reason, but it can be upgraded with different weapons," I exined, and Hinata nodded with a smile and stepped back. "Alright, then the next one is Mike Hunt!"
"Do you really need to say my full name every time?" Mike Hunt asked.
"With every fiber of my soul! I swear, your parents are some real big assholes to give you that name, but I love it!" Iughed. "Now, let''s see what you got!"
MY system pulled up Mike Hunt''s scan, and I started to flip through the systems. He was an Aviation Mechanic, so I was looking to get something that could help him build, fix, and repair nes of all kinds.
The light shed, and Mike Hunt was in a simr outfit to Hinata, but the color scheme was a lighter blue and brown. His boots were brown, and the pants were a lighter gray, almost white. His shirt was light blue, and the beret was brown.
[Name: Mike Hunt]
[Race: Caucasian(Canadian)]
[Talent: Aviation Mechanic]
[System: Gravi-Jet System]
[System Description: The ability to create, control, and repair Gravity propelled air and spacecraft.]
"This is the Gravi-Jet System. It allows the Host to control, create and fix Gravity flown aircraft," I exined, and Mike nodded.
"So, I can control things like metal and stuff?" Mike asked.
"Sort of, but not really; you can just direct materials to do specific things to make and fix the vehicles. You can also use it to fly, but it takes a lot of energy. The system also has a passive ability that will allow the Host to absorb¡ Dark Matter, and store it forter use. The system can also be used to create force fields and shields," I exined.
"This is awesome! I feel like I can do anything!" Mike eximed.
"Just be careful. These abilities can be very dangerous if used improperly, and I have no idea what Dark Matter is, so I would like for you to wait before you do anything with that. I will try to get someone to look into it or get a specialist," I exined.
"I understand. I''ll be careful," Mike said. "Do you have a ce for me to go test these things out?"
"Yes, but you will have to wait for Sofia to get back. She is in charge of that stuff," I exined, and Mike nodded.
"I''ll wait. Thanks for the system," Mike said.
"No problem, and wee to the family," I said, and Mike smiled.
"Just call me Mike from now on," He said, and I gave him a childishly disappointed look.
"What?! Mike, I thought we were friends! Are you going to take this from me? I mean, I get it, but I rarely get such a kick out of this, but if you really don''t like it, I won''t say your full name," I chuckled, and Mike sighed.
"Fine, not like you are the first person to call me this, and you won''t be thest," Mike Hunt groaned.
"That''s the spirit! All right, we have only what? Two left? Binder and Jack, get up here, and let''s wrap this up so you can all get to explore your new abilities!" Iughed, and everyone grinned.
Soon I would be done, and then Hentia Poison Ivy was all mine!
Chapter 169 I Might Need To Use The Bathroom
"Alright, Jack. Say''s here that you are an Astro Mechanic and that you worked for NASA before this?" I asked, and the broad-chested man with a shaved head and big beard nodded.
"Yup. Bunch of idiots, if you ask me, and just in the business of covering things up! Did you know that we have never been to the moon? Fancy cover-up! All shot in a studio!" Jack Landing dered, and I blinked at him.
"Really? Are there actually aliens in area fifty-one?" I asked, but only half as a joke.
"Of course there are! They have a couple different-"
"Wait! Are you actually serious?! Like, If I go there right now, will there be something for me to find?!" I asked to cut Jack off and make him step back.
"Yeah, I have seen them! There even got some alien tech and craft! Been to that ce a few times!" Jackughed, leaning into me with a big grin.
"Do you wanna go right now?" I asked, leaning in with a child-like smile.
"I thought you would never ask! Give Binder and me here a System, and we can leave right now!" Jack eximed with a child-like joy that matched my own.
Seriously, this was the coolest thing I had heard that wasn''t to do with Systems. Looks like I was going to have to see if Sofia wanted to go on a bit of a trip first. Thest thing I wanted to do was piss her off after telling her I was going to spend the entire day with her.
"Papi! I am back, and I need a foot rub, so it is in good shape to shove up that Ni?¡Àitas arse!" Sofia snapped as she came waltzing into the room.
"Ha! Speak of the devil!" I said, whirling around on Sofia, who scowled at me.
"That is not funny, Papi," Sofia said in a low growl, her golden slipper magically in her hand and cocked.
"Cha, Cha, Hermosa! I didn''t mean it like that! Want to go for a trip?" I asked, putting my hands up in defense, but then tipped my head. "How did you run into Aiko again? You came up and got the others and took them down."
"I thought that I would be nice! I thought, you know, maybe I might stop by and see how she was doing!" Sofia growled, waving her slipper around dangerously. "Then! That little tart locks me out! Papi, then she stuck her tongue out at me... I am going to kill her. That''s it! I am going right now, don''t even try to spot me!"
"Wait, you crazy woman!" I shouted, and Sofia threw her sandals at me.
It hit me t on the face with about as much effect as a piece of paper, but now Sofia looked pissed at me. Better than Aiko, but the two of them were going to have to learn how to get along if they were going to be working in the same building.
"Call me crazy again," Sofia growled.
"I would like to vote on another course of action. That one looks a bit too risky. I personally would like to see the sunrise tomorrow!" I said as Sofia marked up to me to push her nose into mine.
"Where do you want to go? Is it more important than getting rid of thesest two so we can go do what I want?!" Sofia growled, but I kissed her and wrapped my arms around her.
"Hermosa, how would you like to go to area fifty-one?" I asked, and my little Spanish flower just blinked cutely at me, which considering thest ten reactions, was a good one.
"The ce where they keep all the aliens?" Sofia asked curiously, and I nodded.
"Yes, and all the alien tech that has been collected over the years. On the way back, we can stop at Fort Knox on the way home!" I said, and Sofia started to smile and cuddled into me.
"Oh, don''t talk so dirty to me like this when other people are around!" Sofia said and then leaned up to my ear and said, not whispered, "If you get me all that gold, I won''t need a safe word.
"Is it getting hot in here?" Binder asked, and Iughed, looking back at the two men that were looking a bit awkward.
"Sorry guys, let''s wait till we get to the ce to give you all Systems. I also want you toe with us, Binder. You have experience in Energy Weapons. I think there might be some things there that might give you both some inspiration. That will help me give you the best Systems," I exined, and they nodded.
"Yeah, I am pretty excited to go back! The rest of the people there are scared shitless that the government would kill them if they even talked to me! It was quiet and boring without anyone to talk about what I saw. Since no one would believe the stuff that I saw there, I have always just been a loner, but things are different now!!" Jack exined excitedly and then out a booming bellyugh.
"I am also interested in this ce, the fifty-one that is said to hold many secrets! It is true that I would be very interested ining to see a ce like this!" Binder said, but he adjusted his sses. "Though, from what I have learned about the pce, it is heavily guarded."
"We have Papi. There is nothing that is stronger than him in this world," Sofia said, resting her head on my chest, still hugging me.
"How are we going to get there? Nevada is not a short trip! Neither is Kentucky!" Jack eximed, and I nodded.
"Don''t worry about that part. I can do some pretty crazy things," I said and then gestured to the elevator. "Let''s head up to the top, and then I will change into a jet."
"Oh, you are "just" going to change into a ship?! Just?! Why do you talk about this like it is nothing?!" Jack eximed, and Sofia looked up from my chest.
"First rule of being part of my army is that you no longer get to assume something can be done! Anything that we can do, Daniel can probably do better given enough time. We are the only limit to our potential, and questioning, if something isn''t possible is not helpful. You should only be asking why it won''t work and how you can make it!" Sofia dered, and Jack grinned.
"You got it, Hentia Lady!" Jack said, giving Sofia a salute that made her growl in my arms.
"If this is your army, what are you going to call us?" Binder asked curiously, and I looked down at Sofia with a grin.
"Yeah, I am more than curious to know what you picked," I grinned, and Sofia rolled her eyes.
"It was supposed to be Sofia''s Golden Army! That was what I picked, but it seems that no one wants to use my name! So! We will be The Golden Army of The Hentia Goddess!" Sofia growled.
"Hey! That is pretty good, better than the first. It was too in, but this one really screams you!" Jackughed, but the wall behind him opened up.
Sofia let go of me, walked over, grabbed Jack, and unceremoniously tossed him out the opening.
I just stood there stunned, and Sofia turned to Binder, who put his hands up, stepping back.
"Do you have any funnyments?" Sofia asked in a low voice, and Binder shook his head.
"No ma''am! I think your choice is good, but I have nothing more to say!" Binder eximed, backing into a table.
As he did, Mr. Tree brought Jack back up into the tree, but the man looked pale. Once the root set him down, Jack gave me a pained look, but not of one injury. Nope, this one was one of those mistakes that have been made looks.
"I think I might need to use the bathroom...." Jack said in an uneasy voice, but then the smell hit me.
"Just head to the elevator, and you will be guided where you need to go, and new pants will be given," I said, turning away and putting my hand up to my face to cover my nose.
"Next time, you will think about making a funnyment!" Sofia growled, and Jack nodded slowly as he put a hand on the back of his pants as started to waddle to the elevator.
Once Jack was gone, I turned to Sofia, the Tree closing behind her.
"Was that necessary?" I asked, not made, just curious.
"I can ce a bet that he won''t make another stupidment like that again! I wish I would have done that to that Ni?¡Àita!" Sofia growled, and I grinned and then looked at Binder.
"Unless you like wingless flying lessons, I suggest you take this experience as food for thought. I am sure that you are better mannered than most, but still treat this as a friendly reminder that I will not get in between her and you all," I exined, and Binder nodded.
"No, I quite understand! I think he deserved it, but I will take note of this and store it away, so I don''t have to try the same trip!" Binder chuckled, and I grinned.
Chapter 170 Anything Was Possible
"Mother! I am sorry for not mentioning you every time I spoke!" Calishora apologized, but Tiamat was not interested in her spawn sniveling.
The Astral Goddess had called her daughter here to set ns in ce. It was clear that even with her immense power, it was going to be a close fight. This Daniel was able to easily defeat the mockeries, but they were still controlled by high-level generals that had fought many battles.
Tiamat was not a stranger to Beta. He and Calishora had shed many times, but Beta was the better of the two, but that was because she was controlled by Alpha and ran ragged until death. The Beta that was with the other fleet now was the seven thousand five hundred sixty-ninth Beta clone.
She had always given her daughter credit because, unlike her opponent, she had never died and knew when it was time to pull back. That was before she met Daniel. That creature was infectious, and he had made it clear that his n was to capture her.
Tiamat would kill her child before she let that happen. Each of her children represented arge part of her body. If she killed them herself, that part would be returning to her in the form of energy.
Whether the children lived or died, they never existed, to begin with. Each of them was living on borrowed time until Tiamat wasplete. If she was able to get her Astral Heart back, she would finally be able to remove Alpha, and no one would ever challenge her.
"Be quiet. You should have thought about that before you decided that conversation with this creature was more important than I, Tiamat, mother of all Drakar! Now, you are here for me to check to make sure that you are using the proper System. Since you made your point clear, I am going to use you as a way to make sure I get what I want!" Tiamat snapped.
"Yes, mother! Blessed be Tia-"
"Shut up and keep my name out of your mouth, or I willpletely subvert you over into one of my puppets like Alpha likes doing!" Tiamat snapped, and Calishora flinched back.
She had known that her life would end one day. All the Children of Tiamat were destined to be absorbed back into the True Body. Whatever her mother was nning, she deserved it for the failure she hadmitted.
Seven million years ago, Tiamat gave her the honorable job of chasing down her Astral Heart. The task was not simple, and Calishora hade close to death many times. Dragoness had always prevailed or was able to pull back.
For the first time, she had made a mistake and forgot to honor her mother. It was true that she only existed because of Tiamat, but that person had caught her off-guard.
Calishora had always secretly wondered what it might be like to not always be in constant war. Daniel had said that he was going to capture her, and that infuriated the dragoness. Then, Calishora wondered if he could¡
That thought had been in the back of her mind since she had been forced out of that body. Calishora knew that her mother would just kill her if she tried to give up, but maybe there was a way to get through to him.
She didn''t want to disappear. Calishora was more than just a piece of her mother. She had real memories, even if none of them were particrly good.
"The changes are done. I will send you back to your body. Since you are so interested in this child, I would like you to learn more about him and try to contact him. He might be smart, but he is not a God. He must have a weakness besides the girls. I will be monitoring all your conversations and studies so I can learn as you do," Tiamat exined, making Calishora look up in confusion.
"How am I supposed to be able to get a hold of him? We are one month from the ckhole still. He doesn''t even exist yet, from what we can see," Calishora said, and her mother nodded.
"I have made adjustments to your System that will help you contact him since he had already been inside of your mind. You will reach out across the cosmos and invite him in again," Tiamat exined.
"Is this not dangerous?" Calishora asked, unsure if this was a good or a bad thing.
"I have prepared measures for him this time. If he thinks that he will just be able to do what he likes, then I might even be able to trap him in your mind. Then I can kill you both while taking control of the body that holds my heart," Tiamat exined, and Calishora felt all hope to slip away as she was returned to her body.
The dragoness opened her eyes and sat up in her bed. Calishora was in her humanoid form. Her natural form was toorge for the ship, so a more petite body was required.
Calishora looked down at her hands, and she opened up her System Menu. She browsed the sections until she found the skill she wanted. Since her mother wanted her to talk to Daniel as soon as possible, Calishora would waste no time.
[Astral Mind Gate Activated.]
[Scanning for target, Daniel Brighton¡Target locked!]
-----
I was sitting in the pool with Sofia waiting at the top of the roof when it happened. Binder was with us, but we were still waiting on Jack.
''I, Calishora, Daughter of¡ The Astral Goddess is inviting you to my mind.''
I paused in the middle of talking about the jet we would be using, and I looked at Sofia with a raised eyebrow.
"What is it?" Sofia asked.
"Calishora just invited me to her mind again. Well, again isn''t right. Tiamat invited me the first time," I said.
"That is interesting. Are you sure that is a good idea?" Sofia asked, and I shrugged.
"Are you speaking of Astral Projecting yourself into someone else''s mind?" Binder asked, and I nodded.
"Yes, I am being invited in, but thest two times were by the Gods themselves. This time it is her daughter, so I am leery. There is more than likely a trap waiting for me by Tiamat," I said, and Binder nodded.
"Sofia and I will meditate and link with you. This will ground you and prevent you from being locked in. if you were entering on your own, we would need more, but an invitation is different. I am sure you are aware of that much," Binder exined, and I lifted both eyebrows.
"You talk like you have had your own experiences with this?" I questioned.
"I have a sneaking suspicion that I have seen Ah. From the reports that were given before you arrived, that is the same golden God you call, Alpha," Binder said, and my eyes went wide.
"Now that is some food for thought! It is quite possible. That makes me wonder if we are going to find any Gideons or Drakar when we visit the base?" I pondered.
''Hello?!'' Calishora echoed in my mind.
''One moment, please, I am taking a poo,'' I replied.
''What?! Why would you tell me of such a disgusting habit?!'' Calishora snapped, making me wince.
"What is wrong now?!" Sofia asked, grabbing my arm.
"Nothing, I am just pissing her off. If you can do this linking thing, I should get going. I will literally be gone for a blink," I said, and Binder nodded, standing from the water in his shorts.
"Sofia, you will just have to meditate, but center your thoughts on Daniel. I will be doing the same thing, and we just have to ce a hand on his back while we do," Binder exined, and Sofia nodded.
"I hope you know what you are talking about," Sofia said as I sat up on the ledge of the pool.
"Well, this is just from my own personal practice and studies. It is more of a hobby," Binder exined.
"That does not make me feel better," Sofia said tly.
"This is better than just going in with nothing. Considering that is all we had before, this is a step in the right direction. I also have some practice with this, and what Binder is talking about makes sense," I exined.
"Well, just be careful. We need you," Sofia said, and I nodded as I closed my eyes.
''Are you ready yet?!''
''What is your rush? I am trying to getfortable!'' I snapped back at the dragoness.
I was making sure that I was entirely centered. I had to make sure that I was fully in control of everything the moment that I entered this dream world.
I was the one that controlled the worlds that I was invited to, and I would treat this like a dream that I could control. In a ce like this, anything should be possible. No, anything was possible.
I was a god being invited to control the mind of this creature. I could do anything I wanted, and there was nothing that could stop me.
"I am going in," I said out loud, and in my head, I said, ''I ept your invitation as the holder of your heart and the true ruler.''
Calishora had no chance to stop me as I was ripped from my body and pulled trillions of miles across the cosmos. I was going to a reality that was created just for me.
I had been invited, after all.
Chapter 171 Everyone To Get A Bong
I was pulled into an empty room with a female in the center of it, but that immediately became a sun-dappled grove with luscious green grass. This was a ce out behind Katie''s farm that she and I had spent time in, and I was here now.
"You think that you can change things?! It doesn''t matter now! I have you!" Tiamat cackled as her image appeared in the sky, and a glowing red started to close in around the world.
"Is your mother always this pleasant to be around?" I asked as the red stopped, turned blue, and then started to retreat back to its source, Tiamat.
"She is going to pasture you and then kill us both," The woman with strange shifting cosmic skin said.
I assume this must be Calishora in a humanoid form, and she was quite pretty, but that was to be expected of the daughter of a Goddess. Tiamat wasn''t too bad looking for herself if she could only get over herself. That didn''t look like the case, so we were going to turn things around on her today.
"Tiamat, buddy, ole pal. I hear that you love to hear your own name! Almost like you have trouble remembering it!" I called up as the closed around her, blocking out all sound. "Oh, wait, that''s right I put you in another dimension where you will stay until I leave here. You seem to have forgotten about our visit trip, which was boss here, but I am a kind master. While in that dimension, any word you say wille out as your name, and then it will echo infinitely. Time is also drastically dted, so you are going to be in there for a while. As a helpful suggestion, you should shut the fuck up."
Tiamat roared and struggled as the blue crushed her in the sky, but neither of us could hear it. This creature deserved much worse, but I would slowly take strips off these Gods. They had been ying with no challenge for too long. While I may not be able to kill or physically hurt them here, there are other ways to deal pain.
"What are you doing to my mother?" Calishora asked, and I grinned when I heard no emotion in her voice.
"Putting her in a ce that should be perfect for a self-centered creature like her. Now, I didn''te to talk about that nasty old space dragon. I came here to see you and to see if I could make good on my promise," I exined.
Over thest week, all my free time had gone into the Memory Gem, and I had used it to transfer many consciousnesses from one body to another to practice for this. The thing was that I had practiced doing this in real life, so here it should be easier. Still, there was no rush. Time had effectively stopped everywhere, and this pocket ran on a different timeline that I controlled.
"Can you tell me about yourself? You obviously don''t seem that hurt that I locked and crushed your mother into an alternate dimension, right? Care to go for a walk to tell me about it?" I asked.
"There is nothing to say; she will just read my thoughts after," Calishora said, turning away from me.
"Come, you aren''t going back to your body," I said, and Calishora whirled around to stare at me.
"You are going to kill me?!" Calishora asked with shock, and I nodded but wiggled my hand.
"Yes and no. I mean, I am going to kill the body you were in, but it sounds like your mother was going to do that anyways. Honestly, she is a bit of a joke to even consider herself a mother, but she is a big dumb space dragon with a golden spoon up her ass," I exined with a sigh as the warm summer breeze with the scent of fresh cut blew through the grove.
"That sounds a lot like just killing me," Calishora said inly, and I reached for her hand, but she pulled away.
"Your mother can''t hurt you anymore. She can hear or see this, and you aren''t going to be here when she gets out. I also have a surprise to leave her with since she decided to nt a trap for me. Come, take my hand, and let us go for a walk," I exined, still holding out my hand, but then I realized that my hand was also Cosmic covered, and I pulled it back to look at it.
"You can take me from here? But this ce isn''t real, is it?" Calishora asked as I looked over my entire form.
"Hmm? Oh, that! Yeah, no problem. We could leave right now, but I think this is a good time to get to know you better. I am also in control of this world, so I can take us to some nice ces to talk. All you have to do is trust me, take my share, and give me permission to take you with me," I exined.
"Permission? You can''t just take me?" Calishora asked with a confused look.
"That is not how my powers work. I do nothing by force unless it is kicking the shit out of something, then we use all the force. For things like this, though, force is not the right path. I need your permission so I can gain full control of you and take you from this ce when the timees."
"You are very strange, but since I am to die anyways, I was hoping that you were going to save me. I never imagined that you woulde so quick or my mother would try this so soon," Calishora said as she reached forward slowly, taking my hand.
When she did, a light shed, and we were standing alongside a clear and gently moving spring. This was farther up north and a ce where I hade for walks with Melody and her grandparents when they were younger. That reminded me that I should go check to see how Henry was doing. Probably his wife still!
"Strange is almost aplimenting from an ancient space dragon," I smiled as we started to walk along the gently flowing river.
"I am just part of my mother. I only exist to find her body, and then be reabsorbed," Calishora said as she looked off in the distance.
"That is what your old body was. This, you right now, is not the same. Your physical form was part of Tiamat, but now I am going to give you a new physical form," I exined and then stopped, turning Calishora to face me, pointing a finger at her chest. "This is only you and no one else. This is the consciousness that you have developed, crafted by experiences and memories."
"And you can take this thing out of the body?" Calishora asked, and I nodded as my Memory Gem Appeared in my head. "Oh? You can use Astral Fragments? You really are not much different than my mother then."
"I am your mother''s heart in a way, so I can do many of the same things that she can, just on a far less grand scale. Why do you tell me about what your mother has nned with your body? Did she do anything to you?" I asked, and Calishora nodded, but she seemed unsure.
"She told me that she put things in ce to make sure that I was killed no matter what if I couldn''t defeat you. I don''t know what that meant, nor did she tell me," Calishora exined, and I nodded.
"Good, that is all I need to know. I am going to store you in my Astral Fragment now, and then I am going to go leave some instructions for your original body. Once that is done, I am going back to my own. It will be a day or two before I bring you out, but there are some interesting stories that I transferred into there. That would keep you entertained until I can get you a new body, okay?" I asked, but Calishora still looked unsure.
"Is this really happening?! It''s all so fast. How can you just do whatever you please?!" Calishora eximed.
"Because I don''t just believe that I can do things. I know that I can. Since I was granted your mother''s heart, I have done nothing but continue to break past all barriers that once limited me. This is nothingpared to what I have in store for the future that I would like you to be a part of. I am not saying to be one of my girls because there is no room, but I would like you to help me fight off Beta and to find Alpha''s heart. That is the only way that we are going to stop this all," I exined.
"What will you do when you have both hearts, and you stop both of them?" Calishora asked me slowly, and I blinked.
"Explore, of course! I n on making my transportable! I want to be able to visit new worlds and explore them! Meet new people and species! Come on! You can tell me that that doesn''t sound fun, right?!" I asked, but Calishora just blinked at me.
"You don''t want to control everything?!" Calishora eximed, and I barked out augh.
"No, I want everyone to get a bong, I mean along!" I said with augh, but Calishora just looked lost and confused.
Chapter 172 Needed Time
"What is the point of your existence? You are an infinite being, so you are never going to die as long as you have my mother''s heart. How can you not think about the grander scale of things?" Calishora asked me, and I stopped, and the scene changed as I sat down in an idle powerboat.
"Sit down first," I said as Calishora started to look around with shock.
"How do you keep changing the scenes?" Calishora asked as I put her arms out to bnce herself, the boat rocking gently. I reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her into the seat.
"I am in control of everything here because you invited me in. Since this is your mind, I am using your imagination to create memories from my past. This one is just one of the many rxing things that I enjoyed doing with the girls," I said, gesturing to the fishing gear in the back.
There was also a lunch bag, but only half of it would be food. The rest would be books in zip lock bags with our phones.
"What is the point of this?" Calishora asked as she looked around. "It is beautiful, but what are you going to do here?"
"This!" I said with a smile, grabbing the lever on my right and pushing it forward slowly. This thing had some power, and I didn''t want to flip the boat like I did before. That was how I lost it, but Anya and I had been fine.
"What is the point of this?!" Calishora repeated.
"Just rx. There is no point in it. We are traveling to my fishing spot!" I called and sat back.
Time had stopped outside of this space I was in, so I effectively had some free time. Sure, I could leave and do the other thing, but I was already here. No point rushing considering just how I had been going nonstop for a week.
Calishora sat back and didn''t speak, but I could tell that she had a lot on her mind. That was expected, considering what I was offering her. This was a chance for her to be her own individual self.
The thing was that I still nned on putting her back into a Drakar body that I was hoping to find in Area Fifty One. I was going to run some tests with her, but I wasn''t going to let Sofia cut into her.
We would find another one for that that was already dead. The more we knew about the biology of these creatures, the better we could deal with them.
Rather than shooting normal bullets, we could take them out in many different gruesome fashions. Whether it be an injection from darts or gas, we could engineer viruses that would only affect them.
It''s not like I wanted to inflict pain for entertainment; I wanted to make sure that I put my foot down here. I had already stepped up to both Astral Gods and asserted myself as a force to be reckoned with.
Now I needed to keep driving the point home. Leave me alone, or incur my wrath.
"What are you thinking about?" Calishora asked me. "You have a serious look on your face."
"You really don''t want to know," I said as I started to slow the boat down.
"Try me," Calishora said, turning in her seat and putting her legs into the center aisle.
"I am trying to think of the most gruesome way to kill your people and the Gideons. I want to make them fear me and not want toe and mess with us," I said, and Calishora nodded.
"That is a good idea. Both of our races are very proud and unmatched by most races that we have met. You are the first person to be able to genuinely stand up to us. I think that if you start crushing them, even Tiamat is going to have a hard time trying to force more people to fight without an overwhelming force," Calishora exined.
I n to keep bouncing around until I can find Alpha''s heart. It will be near impossible to keep tabs on me," I said as I stood up and stretched.
"Do not underestimate the size of the force that both Astral Godsmand. They both already have people heading to where your ckhole tunnel exits out a white hole. They will be far behind, but they will be able to track you. The only way you are ever going to be free is to get rid of the Gods," Calishora exined.
I grabbed one of my rods after getting out the red and white bobber float and pack of minnows. I unhooked the pickerel rig, untangled it, hooked three minnows, pulled a bit of line, and hooked on the bob.
"Quiet possible, but I don''t know what I am going to do about that yet. I need to get a hold of the other Astral Heart. Once I have that, I feel like I will have a better idea of what I am going to be doing," I said as I gently cast out my rig.
This was a great ce to fish with lots of fallen logs, but you had to be careful. When you dropped a line, there was a good chance the bitch would get stuck. I have lost my share of rigs in the past here, but I have learned over the years. This was the best ce to park the boat, and there were two good ces out the back of the boat to cast out to.
"Come and sit down here with this fishing pole," I said to Calishora as I stuck the rod in the holder.
There were two seats in the back that faced opposite the front ones, and that was mostly Anya, and I would sit and read while waiting for bites. We did a lot more, but that wasn''t something I was going to do with Calishora.
Calishora got up, holding the top of the seat as she quickly came around. She sat down right away and began watching me get the next rod ready.
"What is the point of this?" Calishora asked.
"Does everything have to have a point? See that red and white ball in the water? Watch it. If it starts to move, then you get a bite. I will help you from there," I said and then cast out the second line off the side of the boat.
Once it settled, I stuck my rod into the holder and pulled the lunch bag over. I pulled out a beer, cracked it, and offered it to Calishora.
"What is this?"
"Horse piss in a can. Take it. It will put some hair on your chest," I said, but Calishora gave me a disgusted look that made me burst outughing.
"I will not be drinking animal urine, nor do I want hair on my chest!" Calishora snapped, and I pped my knee.
"Oh boy, am I going to have fun with you here!" Iughed. "It is no actual piss. Just try it, and stop asking so many damn questions that don''t matter!"
"Then what kind of questions matter?"
"Now, there is one right there! Seriously though, aren''t you curious why I am helping you?" I asked as Calishora took the beer from me.
She put it up to her nose and scrunched up her face.
"It does smell like piss. I am not drinking this!" Calishora dered, and I rolled my eyes, but she was no different than Anya.
"Fine!" Iughed as I took the drink from her, took a long drink, and then put the can in the holder.
I went back into the bag and grabbed the bottle opener as I pulled out a lemonade cooler. I popped the top off and handed it to Calishora, who epted.
This time she closed her eyes and breathed in the sweet lemony scent. The Dragoness put the bottle to her lips and then downed it all in one shot, making a refreshed sound after finishing it.
"I guess you liked this one more?" I asked with a chuckle, and Calishora nodded.
"That is very good. We have a drink that is like that, but that sour taste with the sweet is very nice, but the burn was strange," Calishora said as she looked in the empty bottle. She tipped it back again, trying to get thest few drops.
"Would you like another?" I asked, and I reached into the cooler, and Calishora nodded aggressively. "Go slower with this one," I said as I offered her a sparkling grapefruit cooler.
The woman sniffed it again with eyes closed and then drained it.
"I am going to stop giving you them if you keep doing that!" I warned, not wanting to deal with a person''s first time getting drunk.
I was trying to rx and fish, with a slight possibility of getting some reading in.
"What?! Why not?! They are so good! Can''t you just make more?! I like them!" Calishora dered, and her gctic skin seemed to start moving. That was enough to almost give me motion sickness watching it, so I turned away.
"Fine, drink what you want from the bag, but don''tin to me when you get sick!" I warned, and Calishora stuck up her nose at me.
"I am an Astral Dragon. I will not get sick!" Calishora dered, but I shook my head, and she became a human woman with gctic hair and eyes.
"Nope, you are just a human now, so be careful how much you drink, or you will regret it," I said and reached for my book that had my phone with it.
Chapter 173 You Are Scaring All The Fish Away
I tried to read, but that went over as well as you would expect with the way Calishora was going at the drinks. After the first two, I forced her to open them herself. That slowed her down a bit, but she wasn''t a couple billion-year-old dragon for nothing.
"I can see why mother wouldn''t want us to have this stuff! It''s too good! How do you ever get anything down with all these different vors?!" Calishora asked with a bit of a slur, popping the top off her sixth drink. I had made sure that each one was different, but the mixed alcohol was going to catch up with her.
"Don''t worry, you will learnter why we don''t drink all the time," I said with a chuckle, my eyes glued to my phone.
I could ess the inte or at least things that I had essed before, so I was trying to see if there was anything I could get from this. Even when I got the power back on, the inte wasn''t just going to start working again.
What I wanted to do was create something like the inte but have it connected through the trees. I wasn''tpletely sure how I was going to do that yet, but Mr. Tree could act as the inte police.
In my time, the inte had be a cesspool for fake news and information, among other things. There was also the darker side of the, but all these things could be fixed with proper monitoring. The problem was that it was the worldwide inte, but every country had run on its own rules.
Division was no longer going to work, and I wasn''t going to stand for anyone''s shit. Mr. Tree would watch the new inte when the time came. I knew that my dream of a perfect world was never going to happen, but I could work towards the best version I could make it. If I was going to make the world bigger in the future, I was going to have to have good control of the people in it.
What did that actually mean to me, though?
Control.
Was I just supposed to hold it all and point everyone in the directions that I assumed best for them? Did I stand behind them and only step in when it was needed? Or was I just sitting back and hoping for the best?
"You are making that thinking face again," Calishora said, and I was pulled from my thoughts. I had been spacing out on my phone, so I put it away. There was nothing there that could help me.
"Just trying to figure out how to make everyone get along and work together. You know, without forcing them to do it," I said with a sigh.
"Are you not the king?" Calishora asked, and I shrugged.
"To most, but I am not epting of all humans. There are a good number of people that refuse to change," I said.
"Then let them die. The ones that are willing to listen to you are the most faithful. Those people will do as you say. If not, then you can kill some of them to make an example," Calishora suggested, but I shook my head with a smile.
"No, that is not how I do things. I do like to make and set examples, but not by killing people. That will make me no better than Tiamat or Alpha," I said as I watched the bobbers floating on the water. We hadn''t had a single bite yet, and I had already recast twice on both lines.
"It does not sound like you are trying to be better than them. Both of them have full control over their people," Calishora exined and took a drink from a chocte milk cooler, emptying it.
"Oh yes, full control. That is why you, Tiamat''s own daughter, are willing toe over to my side," I said with a smirk, and Calishora blinked at me.
"Oh. Well, you do make a very good point," Calishora said as she bent down to fish out a tall can from the lunch bag. "Is this the same horse piss that you are drinking?"
"Nope, that is a caesar. I would try to describe how it tastes, but they aren''t vors that you would be used to. It is much more hearty than the coolers," I exined, and Calishora cracked open the can with a small snapping hiss.
I watched as Calishora put the can up to her nose to the spicy caesar, pulling back right away.
"What is this?! There are chemicals in this that will burn your mouth! Are you trying to poison me?!" Calishora demanded, and I nodded with a smile.
"You have been poisoning yourself this entire time, silly. Alcohol is a poison; what you are smelling is the tabasco sauce or whatever hot sauce they are using. I don''t know if you will like it, but you might as well try it. If you don''t like it, I will drink it for you," I exined, and Calishora nodded.
"I will try this thing. You, humans, drink strange things," Calishora said, shaking her head and then taking a drink.
She didn''t drain this can, and as soon as she was done drinking, Calishora started to cough.
"My mouth is on fire! Why would you do something like this to yourself?!"
"Personally, I like to put hot sauce on everything! Eggs are the best! God, I haven''t had a good meal in ages!" Iughed, but it was true. My body had no need for food, and I didn''t crave it in the real world.
That did not stop me from having a te with two poached eggs, sliced ham on English muffins, and hondaise sauce. A bottle of Franks was in my other cup holder, and I flipped the top to squirt it into the creamy, rich yellow sauce.
"What is that?"
"Eggs benedict. One of my favorite breakfasts," I said as I cut a portion and put it in my mouth, closing my eyes in ecstasy.
"Can I try?" Calishora asked.
I opened my eyes and looked over to find the can of caesar on the floor of the boat.
*BUUUURP!*
"What was that?!" Calishora asked in surprise as her hand went over the mouth that the loud burp had just escaped.
"This is what happens when you drink too fast," I said with a chuckle and then cut her off some of my food, holding it up for Calishora. "Here, try this."
Calishora''s cheeks were starting to get pinker, and she leaned forward to slowly bite down on the fork. Then she tried to bite through the fork, but I grabbed her by the cheeks.
"Don''t eat the damn fork, woman!" I growled as she growled feral back at me as I tried to take the fork from her, almost spilling my te.
I finally got the fork out, and Calishora started to chew the food. Her eyes closed, and she made an erotic moan as she slowly slowed the food. When she was done, her eyes opened, and she turned back to me.
"More, please," Calishora asked cutely, opening her mouth.
"I can just get you a te," I said, but Calishora closed her mouth and shook her head.
"Mm mmn. I don''t know how to use that tool. Please feed me more," Calishora asked, putting her hands together, and I sighed. It was hard to say no to her when she was being cute like this.
I also would probably incur her wrath if I denied her. I was the one that gave her the first drink, and now I was going to have to sleep in the bed I had made.
Once the te finished and refilled three more times, Calishora leaned back, rubbing her belly. The pink in her cheeks had started to settle down, and she didn''t bother going for another drink, which was a good thing.
*Bloop!*
I looked over at the noise, and I jumped up.
"Cali! Grab your rod! You got a bite!" I said as I watched the red and white float bobbing.
"What do I do?!" Cali shouted as she jumped up, tripped on her bottles, and then unceremoniously fell out of the boat with a scream.
I pped my hand to my face and considered if I should reel the fish first.
"I am drowning! I can''t swim!" Calishora screamed from the water, and I rolled my eyes.
"Quit making a fuss. You are scaring all the fish away," Iined.
"I AM DROWNING!"
"No, you are iling in neck-deep water is what you are doing," I sighed as I looked over at the non-bobbing bobber.
Once Calishora was back in the boat, I dried her off with a towel, but she wasn''t talking to me now.
It wasn''t my fault she fell out, but in truth, I had mostlyughed and was not that helpful.
"Are you ready to go back now?" I asked, and I watched the angry face turn into something that looked scared.
"Back?" Calishora asked, giving me a worried look, but I shook my head.
"Not your back, my back. I am taking you home with me, but before I do, I am going to take over your body. This is something that I am going to need your permission for," I exined as we were suddenly standing in the starship where Calishora''s real bodyy dormant.
"Why?" Calishora asked as she looked around in surprise.
"I am going to make sure that your ship never gets to Earth."
Chapter 174 The Originals
"If this is what you need, then I give you permission to use my old body as you choose. You had better not do anything that is perverted!" Calishora had told me before I took over her body.
Now my eyes were opening, and I was filled with new senses and feelings of things either missing. Some were also bigger and softer than what I was used to.
To be clearly honest, I did want to do perverted things to myself, but I had told Calishora I wouldn''t. Still, I made sure to give my tits a good squeeze before getting out of bed. It was much better than squeezing someone else''s!
I got out of my fancy bed and looked around the room, but the ce was bare and metallic.
"This ce isn''t very homey," I said, in Calishora''s voice, surprising myself. This was my first time trying to take over an actual person''s body.
I had done this with the bulky Kratos clone, but this was different. I was a Space Dragon now, and I had a job to do.
"Let''s see what this body can do!" Iughed, and I summoned my menu.
I started to look through it, but there were parts of the System that were sealed off. Well, they were sealed off to Calishora.
Even though I was not in my body, I still controlled the heart of all these Systems. There was no such thing as off-limits to me.
[Systems Menu]
[1. Astral abilities]
[2. Transformation]
[3. Consume]
[4. Dream Walking]
[5. Restricted]
I selected thest option, and I was talking to a screen that showed me a separate function of the Cosmic Dreamer System.
[Final Rampage: Attack with everything you have in a blind rage. While doing this, your body will collect energy. When you reach critical health, your body will explode inwards for three seconds and then affect everything within 1 lightyear. Damage is dependent on the distance from the epicenter.]
So, this was what she had nned for us. This Tiamat was a real piece of work, but in hindsight, it was a good way to make sure that she got what she wanted. I just found it hard to believe that she would use her child for this.
Child.
I kept calling Calishora that, but the truth of it was that the Dragon was just a part of Tiamat. In the Astral Goddess''s mind, she was only killing a small part of herself that would be returned in time.
I needed to remember this going forward. There would be no limit to what kind of dastardly ns these two Astral Gods would try. Neither of them needed my people or me alive to get what they wanted, and this was proof they were willing to kill us all without a care.
That just made what I was about to do that much easier.
I had been a bit apprehensive before about this n, but after seeing this option in Calishora''s System, there was none. I was only striking before they could.
"System, activate Final Rampage!" I called out, and then I forced myself out of Calishora''s body.
I had to leave the body, or I would have been caught up in the System''s forced berserk mode. No part of me wanted to have my entire body blown to bits. There was no way that the ship would be able to survive the attack.
As I left the body, strings of memories flew by me, but none of them were my own. They were all of Calishora and the hundreds of thousands of fights she had been in.
I was subjected to all of her memories at once, and I was able to see the slow degressions of Calishora. She had been so bright and happy before, but seven million years of chasing the heart across the gxy and being at the end of Tiamat''s constant rage had slowly stripped her down.
I watched as Calishora''s proud face slowly became more and more tired as the years flew by. Thest million years seemed to be the worst.
This was the point that Calishora had caught up with Omega, but that was also the same time that Beta and the Gideons did. The two had been at war, but neither could ever gain the upper hand.
There was a problem with everything that I saw, though. Each time that they fought, Tiamat focused on Calishora killing Beta.
That didn''t make sense. From what I understood so far, the heart was the most important thing. If that was the case, then why not focus on it?
What I saw was that they were more concerned about having the upper hand in the fight. Each time, Omega would escape with the Annokale while the other two were still fighting.
Even if Calishora made it there first and could be attacking the Spirits, Tiamat forced her to prepare to intercept Beta. If I had a head right now, I would be scratching it.
Then there were the six million years that they spent fighting in space before ever even catching up to Omega. I just couldn''t understand what was going on here.
It would have made sense if it was only the Gideons attacking the Drakar, but that was not what happened. Both races constantly attacked each other and then would put both ships out ofmission for sometimes up to fifty years.
The entire thing just looked like one big mess. I had a hard time believing that These two Astral Gods were the driving force behind this. Yet, I could clearly see Tiamat ordering Calishora to make the attacks but never giving a reason for it.
I was going to have to make sure that I talked to Calishora and Omega about it right away. There was something important to be learned about this, but I need more information.
The rest of the memories flew by, and I watched the same thing repeat itself.
Then I opened my eyes, and I was back in my body, still feeling the hands on my back.
"I am back, and things are good," I said as I stood up, the hands falling off me.
I turned around, and both of them looked shocked.
"Really? That was barely a breath since you said you were going in!" Sofia eximed, and I smiled.
"Most of that time would have been spent closing and opening my eyes. Tiamat was waiting for me, but I gave her a taste of her own medicine," I exined.
"How did things go with this child of hers?" Binder asked as he slid back into the water.
"Good, I took her from her body, and now I have her story in my Memory, Crystal. I am hoping that we find some Darkar alive at Area Fifty-One so I can edit one of them. I learned a great deal more about the Drakar race, but also some things that make no sense. The sooner we can get Calishora in a body and talk, the better," I exined.
"How did things with her go in there? You were gone for such a short time, but time must move differently, right?" Sofia asked, and I nodded.
"I took her fishing, got her drunk, and then she fell out of the boat. It was a great time!" Iughed, and Sofia gave me a look.
"Is that all you did?"
"Yes, Hermosa. I have more than enough with all of you," Iughed, but Sofia gave me a more serious look.
"This is something that needs to be put to the Wife Council. When we return from our trip, I will be calling all the women together to talk about this," Sofia said, putting her chin into the crook of her hand between her thumb and index.
"Huh? Why? What do you all need to talk about?" I asked. "I mean, I had something that I needed to bring up about Chelsea. Let me know when you all want to meet."
"Hmmm? Who invited you? What part of the Wife Council didn''t you hear? This is when we all get together and talk about our issues," Sofia said, narrowing her eyes at me.
"What? You don''t want me to be there?" I asked. This was news to me.
"We have not needed you there any other time, so we will be fine."
"Wait just a minute here! Just how many times have you all met? Why is this the first time I am hearing about this?" I asked in confusion.
"How do you think we all can handle sharing you? Not all of us are like your Queen or the other two Originals," Sofia exined, and I made a surprised face.
"Do you actually call Anya and Katie the Originals? And Melody Queen?"
"They are the ones that had you first, and they are sharing with all of us. It is the least we can do, even if Melody grates on me sometimes. We all need this time to be able to talk about our personal problems that we don''t want to bother you with. You should be thankful that we do this, or your life would be a lot more hectic," Sofia exined, and I nodded.
"I never really thought about it like that. I guess that I have been so busy with everything else," I said with a sigh as I looked out over the forest''s tree tops.
"That is why we talk. Some of us aren''t as patient as others, and this helps us direct you to the ones that need you more than others. Like Melody said, you really don''t have much choice at this point. Still, we all know what you are trying to do, so we are trying to help make things as painless as possible for you," Sofia said, getting up anding to give me a kiss as I heard Jacking up the stairs.
Chapter 175 Cut Them Up
I turned around with my arms around Sofia as Jack came up the stairs in new green clothing. When he saw Sofia, the man looked away, and I grinned.
"Alright, I am sure that you are going to keep yourments about my wife to yourself from now on, right?" I asked, and Jack nodded.
"Yes, I will give General Sofia the proper respect from now on!" Jack said, snapping to attention, and Sofia giggled.
"General Sofia? You know, I kind of think I like this, Papi. Maybeter, you can call me that?" Sofia asked as she petted my chest.
"Only if you trante my name for me," I grinned and then turned back to the now empty pool.
I extended my hand towards it and pulled at some of the systeminium that I stored. Slowly, the metal streamed up from the pool into a sphere that floated before my hand.
"So, this is the stuff that you inject into us, and we get the special abilities?" Binder asked as he straightened the shirt he had just put back on, and I nodded.
"Yes, in a way. The systeminium fuses with your cells and changes your body to be able to ept the ability that I am giving you. In my mind, my System can do anything, but if you don''t know something, you can''t do it, right? That is what me giving Systems to all of you is. You are just getting a tiny piece of what my power is," I exined as I started to change the orb into a big tear drop that would seat four.
"Interesting. So, it''s not that you can use our abilities; it''s that you are now aware that you are able to do that. That is very interesting, but in a sense, someone that practices for a long time could get better than you at a certain skill, right?" Binder asked as I created a door, but I shook my head.
"I thought that might be the case, but after my interaction with Calishora, I don''t think that is the case. I think that if you be good with your System, I could just scan you and figure out how you are doing what you do. I can then apply it the same way. While it is true that you could get better at something than me, that would only be a temporary gain that I would always be able to catch up to. I am the Progenitor of all abilities and the master of them," I exined as the tear tipped sideways the door open to reveal a shiny spartan inside with nothing but seats and some lights on the wall.
"Well, I guess that makes sense. You are the king that gives everyone powers, so I guess you should be the one that can use them the best. They are all your abilities, after all," Jack said as he walked over to the silver teardrop. If anyone should be the master of them, it should be you. How does this thing fly?"
"Gravity engine, the same one that the Gravi-Jet System will be using. It should only take us about five minutes to get there, I think," I said, thumbing my chin as I tried to figure out how to bnce the stabilizing field.
"You think? Don''t you think you sound a bit more sure before we get into the Death Tear?" Sofia asked skeptically, but I waved her off as I squatted down to touch the tree, connecting with Octavia.
[Yes?] Octavia asked.
''Can you run some simtions for me? I am trying to get the gravity suspension field just right. If it is too much, everyone is crushed. If it is too little, everyone is crushed. I feel like this is one of those times in Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, and I need to call a friend for the million dor question,'' I exined.
[Yes, I will run everything for you now, but it will take about five minutes.] Octavia said, and I turned back to Sofia.
"There. I have Octavia running simtions to make sure that everything is good, and then we will go. Happy?" I asked, but Sofia just scowled at me.
"Happy? That I am not going to be crushed into tomato paste?" Sofia asked, shaking her head. "Sometimes I wonder why you were picked to save us all."
"Hey! I am not that bad! I am just not the type to think of every little thing! That is why I have all you people to remind me," I said with a grin and Sofia just rolled her eyes at me.
---
Across the universe, Beta was sitting in his captain''s chair on the deck of his ship. He was surveying the three-dimensional holographic image that was before him.
This was the wreck of the Drakar ship that he had fought with and chased for thest seven million years. To see itpletely destroyed like this now was surreal for Beta and the rest of his clones.
They were all lesser copies of their imperial God, unlike Beta, an Imperfect. Beta was not one of the perfects, but if he could retrieve the space witch''s heart, then he would receive the final chromosome.
What he saw before did not make him feel overly confident about this, though.
"What are the reports on the wreckage? How did this happen? I have attacked that ship countless times, but this destruction is on another level," Beta said as he looked over the scan of the sr system they were in.
There was a scar on the and one that had been blown to pieces. This explosion was the type of thing that could have been caused by what Alpha had ced inside of himself.
"The way that the systeminium is spread from the st says that the explosion happened from within the ship. There is not really much more that I can tell about this¡." One of the Gideons started to exin but then trailed off as Alpha took control of the body. "This is very interesting. Beta, what do you think happened here?"
Beta and the crew were used to this, and all of them bowed their heads.
"Praise To Alpha," Everyone said in unison, then Beta began.
"This is a curious situation. I think this might be a result of Tiamat reaching too far, thinking she could end this before she even got there. I think we should refrain from trying to contact Daniel. I have been putting in constant work on my and the other Mechanize Armor Units," Beta exined, and Alpha nodded.
"As usual, our thinking is in line. She must have tried to invite him back in, but this creature has had twice the time to grow since our first encounter. She is not a nner, but this was just careless. I am sure that she is just going to send more of her children now that this has happened. There is no way that she will let this lie," Alpha said with a wicked smile.
"You are thinking that we can get rid of more of her flying rats in one go?" Beta asked, and Alpha nodded.
"I think I want you to start doing deep scans to find where these dragons are going to be alling from. Tiamat will make sure they all get there at the same time, and they will be able to move much faster. I would like you to send Tor and all three hundred of the elites ahead. He is to wait outside of the sr system and wait for the Drakar to attack. I don''t think they will beat the Hero, but they should be able to do some damage. We will make sure none of them escape and even try to capture some if we can," Alpha exined, and Beta smiled.
"That would be nice. It has been ages since I have had any living y things to cut up and dissect. I was hoping for the day that I would finally capture Calishora. I was going to spend at least seven thousand and sixty-nine years to cut into her. I will just have to settle for the sisters," Beta said, a bit sour about that.
"Don''t worry; we will get you many toys to y with if you can retrieve Tiamat''s heart. Get Tor moving, and exin everything that you know about Daniel to him. Also, make sure that all of the suits are set to explode on death. They can only handle the micro pulsars, but they will give off enough radiation to kill anything living within one hundred miles," Alpha exined, and Beta nodded.
"Yes, supreme leader, it will be done," Beta said, standing out of his chair as Alpha left the body.
The clone looked around but then went back to the task he had been doing as Beta turned and walked off the bridge. A door slid open, and he headed to the elevator that would take him to the training deck where Tor and the others would all be training.
Chapter 176 The Gideons
The door slid open to a massive room that was over three hundred feet square, but the ce still felt cramped to Beta. The Mechs that they trained in reached up to one hundred and twenty feet tall, but not all were that big.
Beta''s golden jewelry and piercing clinked softly as he walked out into the sounds of training. Photon des humming, mech gears whining and grinding, and the smash of metal on metal.
The group that Alpha was looking for was in the middle of a sparring match, and the group of fifty War Mephisto''s were ringed in the center around two. They were using practice photon des that wouldn''t damage the armor and shields.
The Mephisto was a sixty-five-foot mech built for speed, but they normally used their horn des to fight. The mechs were ck-ted versions of himself that had glowing red lines running between the segments. They looked like every other Gideon.
All Gideons were clones of the Supreme leader. All females were killed over seven million years ago when one of them was visited by the Star Child and uttered the mysterious Astrals God''s name. That had sparked a massive genocide of all Gideons that were not clones. That was everyone that wasn''t part of the military or government.
Beta had been a part of this, and he had taken care of the task with pleasure. There was no room in the universe for those that did not haveplete faith. The only ones that could do that were the clones, and now they made up the entirety of the Gideon empire.
The ranks of Gideons depended on how many chromosomes you were given at birth or had earned. All clones started off as deform creatures with rigid and rough gray skin. Starting life was hard for everyone, but it was easy to move us if a clone wanted to, and they all did. The harder one worked, the more chromosomes you could earn. This also extended their life each upgrade, which was why all clones worked to get better.
Gideons were a demonic-looking race with horns and ridged skin, but not much different than humans originally. They would reproduce and live lives slightly longer than humans, but they had families. Then Alpha started to mess around with cloning and gic maniption while looking for a way to extend life. That was twenty-six billion years ago, in the third age, but Alpha was able to keep his knowledge when he was reborn in the fourth and current age.
This had been a problem when Alpha was reborn, and he had be more vicious and enved his own people. This was before the Star Child had visited, and the Gideons that weren''t cloned lived thirteen billion years like this. Their fate, in the end, was only to be killed by the person that was supposed to lead them into a world without pain.
Beta sometimes wondered if killing everyone was the right answer, but he also wondered why other races created waste. Questions like that had no purpose. His purpose was to continue forward.
Unlike most other clones, Beta had been reborn countless times and would continue to be. This was the right of an Imperfect, and his smooth, bright yellow skin and six head horns were a mark of this.
Those three things were the mark of rank among all Gideons. The skin color ranged from gray to bright yellow but having yellow skin didn''t mean a high rank. The horns were the true mark of division. Depending on the number, shape, and cement of the horns was how each level was divided.
The prefects had curved massive horns that could be removed from their heads and used as photon des. The same was for the smaller ones on the forehead that could be used as daggers. The third set was set on the sides of his jaw. These would regrow instantly and were used as thrown weapons.
Beta could remove his own horns and do the same, but he hardly ever did. Most of the fighting was done in the mechs, so there was no reason for him to use them.
The mutainium allowed him to use his entire body as a weapon and to connect with the mechs. He alone could control one of the Mephisto Mechs, but it took six elites to do the same.
That was the gap in power between Beta and everyone else on this ship. Tor was also bright yellow like Beta, but he had not earned his properrge horns yet. His skin was not rough but covered in veins. Tor was arge and more muscled version of Beta, making him look stronger at a nce.
Unlike Beta, Tor still required two helpers to even start a Mephisto. There were smaller mechs, Azmodan''s, Belial''s, Andariel''s, Duriel''s, and muchrger like the Baal and Diablo''s. There was no Diablo''s onboard and only one Baal, Beta''s mech, Hellfire.
"Beta! You havee to join us for practice?" Tor called down from his Mephisto, Xenokiller.
"I suppose I could entertain you for a bit, but I havee here to send you on a mission from our supreme leader. Praise be Alpha," Beta exined, and those gathered repeated the blessing for their leader.
"You are sending us out?! A chance for action?!" Tor eximed, and Beta nodded and then bent his knees.
Beta jumped nearly sixty feet up to one of the Mephisto''s shoulders, and a section of the chest opened up. Six elites with light yellow skin jumped up without order,nding on the ground and running off to take their ces to watch from the sidelines.
This was a big asion for the elites since Beta was almost solely trained by Alpha, like all other imperfects. There was another rank above him, but there were only three that had reached the rank of Nephilim.
These three were the only individuals in the Gideon empire, and each was named after the mechs. Mephisto, Baal, and Diablo. Each of these Gideons had been turned into great monstrous beasts capable of destroying a on their own.
Beta was trying to reach that rank and be the fourth, Azmodan. There hadn''t been a Nephilim named in nearly fifty million years, but time meant nothing if you never worried about dying.
Dropping down, Betanded on the te that had opened in the chest of the Mephisto and stepped inside the single room. There were six gel bays, but Beta walked into the one in the center.
The cool blue gel pressed against his smooth skin as he entered. Sections of his body opened, and golden veins of mutainium spread out and connected to silver hexagons that covered the inside of the gel bay.
[Connection Complete!]
Beta opened his eyes, and his view was filled with system messages and reading from different parts of the mech. Everything was in good order, and Beta made a couple movements to test the Mephisto.
Then Beta ripped out one of his horns as a humming de came for his face. Beta smashed the strike back without much effort, and Tor''s Xenokiller was knocked back in a spray of sparks.
"The legends are true! You Imperfects are just as strong as they say!" Torughed over his spoke, and Beta nodded.
"I am what you should aspire to be. If you canplete this mission, there is a possibility that you could make it here in no more than five million years," Beta said and then dashed at Tor, bringing the humming horn de down in a sh.
Tor spun, deflecting the strike with his shield, dropped his horn that disengaged, and flew back to his head. As Tor spun, he grabbed a dagger horn in a reverse grip, bringing it around to stab Beta''s left side.
Beta blocked the strike with his left forearm and then punched Xenokiller in the face, smashing the entire side of the face-off. The mech hit the ground lifelessly, and Beta growled. He had used too much force, and now this Mephisto would not be making the trip.
"Get up. If you can''t take that, then I will pick someone else to take your ce. It seems that I spoke too soon if this is all you have," Beta said condescendingly as the Mephisto, Xenokiller, got back up, but the face was rebuilding itself. That was a new feature that Beta had not seen.
"Going to take a lot more than that to take me down!" Tor roared, dropping his shield and dagger to rush Beta with an over-the-head punch.
Beta pped it back, but Tor followed up with a cross strike that Beta was forced to block. Then Tor kicked him in the chest with so much force that Beta was knocked into the air, but time slowed for the Imperfect.
Tor jumped up to him with lightning speed, trying to punch him back into the ground. Beta caught the fist, spun in the air, and tossed the mech to the ground. In the same motion, Beta pulled out his horn de and brought it down on the neck of Xenokiller, severing the heart.
"You still have a long road to go. Head to the editing bay after this. The supreme leader, Alpha, praising his name, has decided to give you his blessing before the trip," Beta said as he pulled his photon horn de back and watched the head of Xenokiller reattach itself.
This would be useful in the fight against the Hero, but Beta had doubts that they would be enough. This Hero was unlike anything that they had ever faced, but this was just another stepping block for Beta in his quest to be a Nephilim.
Chapter 177 Unbannable Jack
The trip to Area Fifty-One was fast, but it was the only good part. Traveling two thousand miles in less than two seconds seems to have a couple more issues than just the people getting crushed, which almost happened anyways. This proves that the margin for error was a lot smaller than I had anticipated, but everyone survived.
Even if they were sweating, short of breath, and covered in Jack''s puke. Everyone was alive, and now we were being shot at by people on the ground. Thatst part really wasn''t a problem, and they had even tried using an RPG, but nothing left a scratch.
"Daniel, if you don''t get me out of this oven right now, I will ensure you can never have babies again!" Sofia snapped as she looked down at her dress in disgust.
So, what had happened was that we left, but the gravity stabilization was slightly off. This made Jack puke instantly, and the puke went everywhere. On top of this, I didn''t ount for the air''s resistance and the fact that it would catch fire.
In a brief burst, my silver tear turned into a glowing red one. Thankfully, systeminium is tough stuff, and I was venting the heat out now as we moved around in the air, pretending to dodge bullets.
"Do you really want to get out right now? No one seems to want to say hi," I said as I stuck my head out a hole in the wall to look outside to get a better look at who was shooting at us.
I was shot in the face almost instantly with a high-caliber bullet, blowing a hole through my cheek. I turned back to Sofia with the best frown I could Imagine, with half my face blown off, but there was no blood.
"Do you think that they want to talk?" I asked as my facepletely healed like nothing had happened.
"If I could, I would probably puke again after seeing your face do that," Jack groaned.
"If you puke again, I will stick you outside the ship to ride next time!" Sofia threatened, and Jack flinched back.
"Alright, Hermosa, I will get everyone cleaned up in a minute, but I need to deal with all the people shooting the pokeys at me. The ship will gond somewhere and create a regeneration pool for you all to get cleaned off. I should be done with everyone by then," I exined, and Sofia sighed.
"This is not how I thought the trip would start! I want to go see what they have been hiding here!" Sofiained as a hole in the floor opened and dropped me out of the ship that was floating fifty feet above a long airstrip.
The ship left after the hole closed behind me, but it moved at a normal speed, zipping off this time. I fell to the ground with bullets hitting and flying around me. Each one that hit me was pushed back out of my skin, but when I hit the ground, I activated a gravity field around me.
Suddenly, all the bullets that were firing at me were sent off in random directions, but they wereing from all directions. I looked around and saw people all around me behind crates, and others set up barricades.
While I didn''t expect a friendly greeting, this seemed a bit too prepared, but there seemed to be more to this. There was a building with smokeing from it, and it looked like it had a lot of damage, but it was hard to see from my angle.
Then A rocket hit my gravity shield and then went straight down, and I was blown off my feet. Roots sprung out of me as I wasunched into the air.
This gave me a better angle on the damaged building. There was arge hole in the ce, but the debris was outside of the building, not inside. This meant that something got out, not in.
"CEASE FIRE!" Someone yells as my roots caught me, setting me back on my feet, retracting back inside me.
"Thank you!" I called out as a man stepped out of a building.
"This area is restricted. I am going to have to ask you to leave," The man in a dirty uniform stated as he walked up to me with his chest out.
The man was some old general, and it was cute that he still thought he could give order to someone that just stopped bullets. This would be like normal me yelling at superman to give me his seat on the bus.
"I am d you still know how to ask questions, but how about I stay? While I am here, could you tell me what just escaped from that building over there?" I asked and got the response I thought I would.
"You are not the one in charge here! I am General-,"
"Zip it," I growled as silver roots burst from me, picking the man off the ground and bringing him close to my face. "Answer my question now, or I will kill you and move on to someone who will tell me what I want to know. You are no longer in charge of this facility. The earth will be a battleground with Space Dragons and Demons in less than six months. I would greatly appreciate it if you didn''t waste my time."
"You''re just another of these dirty Xenos. If you kill me, the men won''t listen to you!" The General snapped, and then I snapped his neck and tossed him to the side. Whatever had escaped was not that far gone, so I needed to find answers to my questions.
The area around me stayed quiet, but I think it was from the shock of what had just happened.
"You all have a choice. The age we were in before is now over, and we are moving into a new one. The intergctic one. This means that we will not only leave this sr system but also fight deadly and powerful enemies. I am certain that one of them escaped here," I exined, looking around at everyone as I tossed some Great Tree seeds. "There are two ways to do this. Sugar or spice?"
Either someone would step forward in the next thirty seconds, or I would start looking for someone that would.
"Are you a good alien? Like with the Grays?" A man asked as he walked out from behind a crate with his hands in the air with no weapons in them.
"I am, or was, a human. Did you have anyone go crazy here and develop powers like mine?" I asked as the man walked over.
"Private Evans, reporting. Nope, but we just had a draconic-looking creature that went crazy and broke out from underground. Filus, the Gray, said it was a Drakar, but the names mean nothing to us. The thing killed and half ate a few people on its way out. We still have people cleaning up, but then you showed up almost right after it broke out," the private exined in a shaking voice.
"Calm down; I will not hurt you unless you start acting like your General. None of us have time to waste right now. If you are already listening, I have someone that can help you with the injured people if they are still alive," I said and then gestured to the three Great Trees growing up from the desert floor around the base. "Inside each of these trees will be fresh food and water. If you can help me, I will help you, but you already know if you waste any more of my time."
"Yes! The creature headed south into the mountains! Its wings were damaged when it tried to break free, so you should be able to track it," Evans exined, and I nodded and then turned to everyone else.
"Gather in! Fast!" I shouted, and men and women rushed over, but I could see that some of them were in rough shape.
People in remote ces like this would be worse than most here, but I had people working on this. The problem was that earth was a big ce. At Least the people here would have army food to feed them, but they must have been rationing it.
More like the higher-ups would have been eating well while everyone else was rationed. That would change quickly now that Mr. Tree was here, and I called the tear back as everyone gathered around me.
"I don''t have a lot of time to exin things, but my wife, Sofia, will do that. There will also be two others with her. Binder Grover, energy weapons specialist, and Jack Landing," I said, and a man spoke up.
"Unbannable Jack is with you? This ce really can''t get rid of that guy!" The manughed, and others joined him.
"Unbannable?" I asked.
"Jack Landing is or was an Astro mechanic that hase and been kicked out numerous times. The man doesn''t know how to keep his mouth shut and constantly butted heads with his superiors. General Crass that you just killed was the worst, but not the only one. Still, Jack somehow was constantly invited back," Private Evans exined.
"That is because the man is too fucking good at his job. He is worth more than all the uppers!" a manughed, but another man shoved him.
"Shut up, or you are going to be stuck runningps in the heat!"
"No moreps today," I said as my tear reappeared above us and started to lower to the ground, making everyone back up.
Chapter 178 Impending Doom
"What do you mean that it got away?!" Sofia demanded as she got out of the rejuvenation pool and walked out of the ship.
As Sofia walked out, many soldiers were trying to see inside the ship. I knew that they would have a lot of questions, but I didn''t really have time to exin things right now.
"I am going to go hunt it down right now, but I want you to go with the others and start exploring the ce. Mr. Tree is connected here with these Great Trees, so he will provide you protection if anything goes wrong," I exined as I looked to the south.
"I don''t need Arbol Viejo to protect me, but I will take him along to make you happy, Papi. Go get the space lizard, and I will see what I can find here!" Sofia dered, giving me a kiss, and then turned to the rest of the people. "Well, are you all just going to stand there, or do I need to start whipping people to get you all moving? Vamos! Take me to the things that are still breathing!"
I chuckled as I watched Sofia order people around briefly, then I started to run. I kept my eyes scanning everything around me while also using the System to scan.
I immediately got a scan hit on some blood that was green.
[Scan results: Male Drakar Blood]
I plugged that information into the System, and all the blood in the area started glowing green in my vision. This gave me a clear path, and I jumped into the air with the assistance of my roots, and my metallic dragon wings burst from my back.
Once I was about thirty feet in the air, I was able to track the path of glowing blood much easier. The path was headed into the mountain, but I had to drop back to the ground once I got there.
The tracks lead into a cave, but there was almost no vegetation around here, so I had no way to sense where the Drakar was. All I could do was follow the glowing green blood footprints, but it wasn''t like I was that worried.
I knew what this creature looked like from the information that Octavia had, and it was formidable. Seven to eight feet tall, then Darkar males were scary looking, fitted with razor teeth and ws. They were also very smart, but it was just a man for all intents and purposes.
The Drakar Males were not given any powers; they were just bred to be strong. I didn''t know how that happened, and neither did any of the Annokale.
There was very little known about the reproduction of Drakar, but there was a lot of information about Gideons.
The Gideons were literally a clone race that was all copies of Alpha. The why is unclear, but the show was just done through special cloning bays. That was how Beta had been reborn so many times.
As I walked into the cave, I changed my body into a metallic leopard and started to bound down the long tunnel. Everything was rock, so grass couldn''t grow to pull me along, and this form was faster.
My eyes adjusted as I got farther into the cave, and the light disappeared behind me. I wasn''t sure how far this cave system ran, but there was no end in sight. I also had to turn at ces where there were multiple branches in the path.
It took almost twenty minutes before I started to find fresh blood. There seemed to be less and less blood now, meaning that the creature was healing, but that wasn''t a bad thing. It just meant I needed to find it sooner thanter.
Lucky for me, the Drakar found me.
I wasing around a corner, but the next area opened up to arge cave with a pool in it and some glowing fungus. That messes with my eyes a bit, making them appear brighter briefly. Me being a stupid human using a body I wasn''t familiar with, I tried to shield my eyes with one hand.
Or paw, I should say.
The result was me tumbling forward embarrassingly, but the moment I did, something jumped on me and then bit into my back.
[Pain Receptors turned off.]
The sharp teeth bit into me, but I had no blood, and all my vital organs just moved out of the way of the teeth. My muscles that had been cut now methodically grabbed and snapped off every tooth that had sunk into me.
''Ahhh! What have you done to me?!'' The creature screamed in my mind as it jumped off me.
I winced at the guttural growling sound in my mind as my body almost instantly healed. I changed back into my human body, but I smoothed out my face and made my body sexless andpletely silver. I also made my body glow white after scanning the fungi around the room as I stood.
I assumed that Tiamat would be watching or even controlling this one. I wanted to know how she was doing after her nice little stay in the pocket dimension, me destroying her ship, and stealing her daughter. That, and I wanted to try and y a trick on her.
"So, I would assume you have had a chance to meet Daniel?" I asked in a voice identical to one Star Child had used with me. I was told not to say his name, but I was curious if impersonating him would get me into trouble.
I didn''t really know what would happen if I did say his name, but I wasn''t going to test it out for shits and giggles. Still, this was pushing the limits, but I had to assume that both Alpha and Tiamat already knew this was Star Childs doing.
From what the records say, Omega saw that I was ced on earth by Star Child. So it was safe to assume the others should be able to see that as well, depending on how far they wereing from.
"You! Don''t try to fool me with your cheap tricks! I already know what you smell like, Daniel! I will make you pay for what you have done to me and my ship! You think that you can do all this, and there will be no repercussions?!'' Tiamat''s voice screamed in my head this time, and I changed back to my own body with a feral grin.
"It was worth the try. Also, Calishora doesn''t say hi. I think you wanted me to tell you that you are a horrible person, a bad mother, and you smell funny," Iughed, and the massive green Lizardman with massive wings growled at me.
''I care not what my traitorous child thinks of me! She was a mistake! A failure! Nothing more!'' Tiamat roared, and Iughed.
"That would make you a mistake and a failure, right? She is just a part of you, after all, right?" I asked, and the green Drakar rushed at me.
Silver roots burst from my body and grabbed the Lizardman, but the creature was pretty strong. It was able to rip the first few roots off it, but for every one removed, three more grabbed the creature. Soon I had the creature bound in a cocoon that was attached to my back.
''What do you think you are doing with my soldier?!'' Tiamat demand.
"He is going to be a she, who is going to be Calishora. She will also have some very nasty traps set in her mind that I am sure you will trip. Speaking of traps, how was your time? You know, in that pocket dimension?" I asked.
''How dare you turn one of the Dracos into a female! This is sacrilege! I will see you pay with every fiber of your being for this! Do you hear me?! Rexia, Shyvana, and Lexoria are on their way right now toy waste on your. I will make sure that they give your people the worst possible deaths before your is destroyed. I will make sure that you are thest one left alive, and only then will I have you brought directly to me so I can devour you myself!'' Tiamat snapped.
"Hey! No need to get so excited! Just giving buddy here a little sex change, and then we will put him in a human body! Everyone wins, right?" I asked with a grin. "Also, you are sending me more girls? Am I going to have to make a separate harem just for all of your daughters that I collect? You keep sending me them, and I am gonna have more of you than you will!" Iughed as I started to jog back out of the cave system, the Dracos still struggling on my back.
''Mark my words, Daniel! I will make you pay, and I will get my heart back! Even if it is thest thing that I do!'' Tiamat screamed, making me wince.
"At the rate, you are going, that might be the case, except for the getting it back part. I think it would be more apt for you to say that you are going to "try" and get your heart back. That is probably thest thing that you are going to do," Iughed and then cut off Tiamat so she couldn''t reply and took thest word from her.
I can be petty too. Plus, I also didn''t want to listen to another long rant about my impending doom.
I had a top-secret base to explore with my wife!
Chapter 179 Filus, The Gray
Once I was back at the base, there were some soldiers waiting for me, and they guided me over to the building that the Drakar had broken out of. Once I was to the big hole in the walk and turned to the three younger men.
"There is no need to follow me. You can go freshen up in the trees. There will be food and water along with hot showers if you want," I said, and the three men''s eyes went big.
"Like real hot water?" One of the men asked, and one of the others pushed him.
"Don''t be a dip shit. What other kind of hot water is there? We had cold water if we got them. Just shut up and do as the man says. Be happy he isn''t asking you to runps because that is where I would have you!" The other man snapped, then the other two straightened up, and then the man turned to me. "Thanks for getting rid of that bag of wind, Crass. Your wife is doing some house cleaning as well, but not quite as violently as you did."
"Oh, I can imagine that she is shuffling people''s positions around. Thank you for your hard work. I know it is probably a thankless job most of the time. My name is Daniel," I said and offered my hand.
The man took it, giving me a firm handshake, and then said, "Corporal Riley. Good to see that you are somewhat human."
"Somewhat might be a slight underestimation. I am still human, but I have extraordinary abilities," I said with augh, and Riley snorted at me.
"You are about as human as my snake boots. Extraordinary abilities? No, that is what some of these aliens have. You can just say no to our bullets and grow giant trees that could fit skyscrapers in. Whatever you are, it is not human. You are the definition of an alien among aliens. I have been here for five years, and I have seen some things, but not like you. There were other creatures like you, and I have heard reports about you stopping them all," Riley said, and I nodded.
"That is true for the most part. I guess that I am what I am," I said with a shrug.
"I am d to be on your side; that is all I am saying. Talk to youter, chief," Riley said and turned to follow the men to the trees.
I guess it was kind of silly to try and convince someone that I was human with the giant still squirming sack. I would have to work with Sofia on some poisons and paralyzing toxins that we can produce with our bodies to make this type of thing easier.
Not that I wanted to get in the business of snatching people, but this was a valuable point in the future. Not every world we were going to find that was habitable was guaranteed to have intelligent life, but I had grand ns for the future.
I wanted to create a multiyered shell world that was segmented into different biomes. This way, we could collect samples froms and recreate them in theyers of our shell world. Something of this scale was going to take a long time, but after the first jump, I would be looking for arge area that was filled with asteroids to hide in.
From there, it would just be a matter of time to harvest enough material to create the first couple ofyers. If we could do that, then we could start exploring.
Sadly, humans were nowhere near close to being ready for this. We were all going to have to go through many changes and hurdles to get the desired state I wanted us in before we went out exploring.
I think it was safe to say that we were never truly safe. While we might not always be running, we would never be able to sit still.
I walked into the building and looked around, but there was nothing but arge open room. There was, of course, another hole, and I headed through it. The area past had some blood, but there were no bodies, so Sofia must have got whoever was here cleaned up or zipped up.
"Daniel! Come over here!" I heard Sofia call from far down the hall, so I picked up my pace.
Once I got down to where I heard Sofia calling from, I found her alone in the room with a gray alien.
"Did you make a friend?" I asked as I walked into the room, looking around for Binder and Jack.
"Sort of. The other two are down below looking at whatever is down there, but this person is intriguing me," Sofia said, waving for me toe over. "Filus, this is Daniel that I was telling you about."
The gray man was everything you were looking for in a little green man that was gray. His head was oversized, and his eyes were ck and beveled. Filus wore a simple brown robe, but the material looked very soft.
"It is a pleasure to mean one of your kind in the flesh. This is a rare case indeed. To think that I would be the first to make contact with a physical Annokale. As I was introduced, I am Filus, known as a Gray. We are interster farmers, if you will. We try to guide growing races from the darkness without trying to interfere too much. When you kill each other or yourself, we try to collect bits and parts to put you back together. We are in the business of trying to keep all races alive," Filus exined, and I nodded.
"The pleasures are all mine. You are the first alien species that hasn''t seemed hell-bent on killing me," I chuckled, and the alien smiled at me.
"The races you speak of are most of the reasons why we do what we do. The Gideons and Drakar are both scourges that stretch across the universe. They go and scoop up entire civilizations and then force them into very. We try to help where we can, but we are not fighters. The best that we can do is collect samples of the DNA and then replicate them on another. While this does not save the original species, this does allow their kind to live on," Filus exined, and I nodded.
This was all in line with what Star Child had told me about the Grays, but I was d to know that they seemed peaceful in person. I knew that there was much more to them than this, but I was trying to give these abductors the benefit of the doubt, mostly.
Since I was doing the scan thing now more often, I ran it over Filus, but a message popped up.
[Scan Blocked]
"You should always ask before you scan a friend, Daniel. We, Gray, are more machine than biological, so we are normally the ones that scan," Filus said with a smile, blinking his eyes, but the eyelids came from the sides.
"Does that mean you aren''t going to let me scan you?" I asked, not really liking this. I usually didn''t push to scan things, but I also didn''t get denied like this.
"Is there a reason for your scan?" Filus asked, but Sofia spoke up.
"Is there a reason for you to refuse a simple scan?" Sofia asked, and I agreed with her.
"Our bodies hold many secrets, and those belonging to the Gray. Humans have already died trying to do a much simpler scan on me after refusing my request," Filus said, the alien''s tone never changing, but I wasn''t going to be intimidated.
"Good thing that I am not human. Sofia, leave the room, please," I said and waited till she did so. Once she was gone, and she left without question, I turned back to the Gray. "I don''t have the patience for this kind of thing right now. If you haven''t noticed and have a very tightly bound Dracos on my back, I want to deal with it. You are intentionally trying to hide something from me or many things."
"I have a right to hide secrets," Filus replied, and I crossed my arms.
"What about the rights of the humans that you took? I know that you have taken humans and done experiments on them. This includes the **** of our women. You say it is for the better of all races or something? Then what I am about to do is for the betterment of the universe. You have two choices. Submit to a scan, or I will split you in half and do it the old fashion way," I threatened.
This was not up for debate, and after two explicit refusals, I was starting to lose my patience. These creatures were farmers but zookeepers more than anything. All they did was take what they wanted and start new worlds to watch and control.
"I will have to politely decline. I have been alive for nearly as long as this, and now my time is at an end, it seems. I will return to the stars that bore me," Filus said and then started to scream as his body started to melt like hot butter.
I tried to scan the creature again, but it read me the same message. I was left to watch Filus melt into a stinking and disgusting brown pile of sludge.
Chapter 180 Superhombre?
"That was disgusting," I said after I called Sofia back into the room. I had tried to scan the brown goop, but it just came up as an unknownpound.
"What happened? Did you useser vision on him or something, Superhombre?" Sofia teased me, and I rolled my eyes.
"Maybe I should get a suit and sses like him?" I asked as my body shifted to look like rk Kent from the man of steel.
"Don''t give me any weird ideas, Papi. I already heard from Gaia that you two were doing some weird stuff that I now have to try. Thank you for adding another kink to my oversized trunk! Aye, ye ye, you are one strange one, but I kind of like it," Sofia said as she leaned into me, resting her head on my shoulder. "What are we going to do about the melted pile of shit?"
"Not sure. I am still trying to figure out what he was trying to hide. Next time we find one, I want a way to subdue it. I don''t like them. They are zookeepers that do what they do more for their own entertainment and pleasure," I said with disgust, and Sofia nodded.
"I will get Arbol Viejo to put it in a containment bubble, and we will take it back to theb for testing. I will see if there is anything I can get out of it," Sofia said, and I sighed.
"Did you get any farther than this, or was this the only thing that you saw?" I asked.
"This was as far as I got. I sent the other two off, but I wanted to wait with Filus until you got here. I honestly thought that the alien was going to be more helpful. Now I am more curious than ever to know what they are hiding. When we get back, I will work on some frequency devices that we can p on creatures to put them asleep," Sofia exined, and I grinned.
"We sound just as bad as them," I chuckled, and Sofia pulled back from me and gave me a look.
"We are much better than them. We are trying to figure out how we can protect ourselves from all these different races. It is like everyone has some kind of ulterior motives. I was really hoping that there were going to be more good people in the universe," Sofia said with a sigh, and I smiled.
"There are some good ones, but there are many more bad ones from what I have gathered," I said, and well, then Dracos on my back was squirming. "We need to deal with this one I got in my back before we go. I need your help to edit this male Drakar. I want to make it female, but I need you to hold it while I take the mind out of it first."
"You want me to hold it? How did you even make it in here with that thing on your back?!" Why am I only noticing it now?!" Sofia eximed, and Iughed.
"Sensory overload. Seriously, this thing is pretty strong, and I can''t use my roots while ripping a mind that won''t want toe out. I will have to put all my focus into this, so I would prefer if the monster doesn''t start chewing on me," I exined, and Sofia rolled her eyes.
I had some experience with taking out some of the Annokale that had lost their minds. They resist being pulled out of a body that wasn''t their own. This Dracos was probably going to be a lot harder.
"Arbol Viejo! Come help me hold the space lizard!" Sofia called, and the ground cracked as therge green arms grew from the ground.
Then they gave Sofia two middle fingers.
"Oh really? Real mature, you rotten fungus!" Sofia snapped.
One fist closed, and the other pretended to crank an invisible handle, making the middle finger extend again.
"Oh, that is it! I am going to turn you into kindling!" Sofia roared and started to look around the room; for what I was not sure, but this was not being productive, so I cleared my throat.
"Hey, Sporty Spice, we didn''te here for you to fight with the trees. Can we please get this over with? I actually would like to explore the rest of the base," I said with a sigh, and Sofia threw her hands into the air.
"This tree is always trying to get under my skin!" Sofia dered, and I rolled my eyes.
"And you are an angel that can do no wrong," I said with a sigh, and Sofia stabbed her finger at me.
"Exactly! See, I knew you agreed with me!" Sofiaughed, and one of the hands grew into a face, and both Mr. Tree and I facepalmed. "Alright, Alright! I get it. Let it out, and we will hold it for you."
With her words, green vines burst from Sofia''s back like my silver roots did, but hers were much thinner than mine. I brought the silver cocoon forward and slowly started to uncoil from the Dracos.
Slowly, the creature was revealed, but it had a wild look on its face, and it had also stopped moving.
"Get ready to grab it. It is very likely coiling up to try to break free!" I said as I concentrated on the creature that was staring at me.
''I will kill your she, and then I will make you pay for insulting our great mother, Tiamat!'' The Dracos roared into my mind, but I ignored it. I would soon be taking face to face with this creature.
"I am ready. Let me have the Space Newt!" Sofiaughed, and I let go.
Everything happened so fast. The Dracos tried to jump at Sofia, but Mr. Tree had already grabbed its massive ankles. The creature fell forward, and more roots popped up from the ground, pinning the Dracos without Sofia doing anything.
"See? I told you I had it all under control!" Sofia dered as I let out a long breath.
"You are just lucky that Mr. Tree was on point. Tilt the creature''s head up so I can see its eyes," I sighed as I walked around the Drakar.
"Can''t you just tell me that I did a good job?!" Sofiained as her vines pulled the head of the creature up.
I still had to squat down as my red Memory Gem pressed out of the skin on my forehead. I looked into the creature''s eyes and activated the gem, sucking me into another room like before, but this was one I made.
The Dracos was in there, but he was pinned to the wall like she was on the ground in the real world.
"What is this ce?!"
"This is a space that I made inside of your mind. I am here to take you from this body. I need it," I exined, and the creature narrowed its eyes on me.
"Why not just take it then? I am a soldier, and I am loyal only to Tiamat," the Dracos hissed at me, and I nodded.
"True, but I am still going to stick you into a basic clone and see how you interact with everyone. I really don''t want to have to keep killing everyone," I said with a sigh, and the lizardughed at me.
"You picked the wrong person to mess with if that is your wish. While you are alive, and Tiamat''s heart beats within you, death will always follow you!"
"Possibly, but it doesn''t hurt to try. Don''t worry. If you cause me problems, I will kill you. That is not a problem. I already killed either ship''s worth that was on the way here. If you want to join the dead now, let me know, and I will just toss your mind into the cosmos," I said, and the creature went silent.
"What is the point of offering me a new body if you know that I will not be loyal?"
"Oh, you will be loyal. If you try to kill anyone or even hurt them, the body won''t let you. Mess up enough times, and you will be killed in the body just like it was your own. I am trying to find a way for everyone to coexist, and it probably won''t work, but I will try," I exined.
It was easier to do this if I could get him to agree to leave, and being frank with this creature seemed to be the way of them. There was no point in beating around the bush. I knew this might not work, but I would learn something from the experiment.
"Fine. I am dead anyways, so let me see what a lower lifeform''s life is like. Tiamat would probably kill me herself if she could for this," The creature said with its own sign.
"I cut her off from your mind. You are no longer a Drakar; you are an earthling now. One of us!" Iughed and then pulled the willing mind from the Dracos body, sucking back into my own body.
Chapter 181 Bolas De Plata!
"You all can let go of him now," I said as I stood back up straight.
"You know, I would really like to see what that is like some time, Papi. Watching you bend over like that and then stand back up right away doesn''t make any sense. You just blink, and then you are done? How does that even work?!" Sofiained, and I grinned.
"Time inside of your mind doesn''t exist, at least not the way that we perceive it. This is why dreams can feel really long sometimes, or really short. When I enter someone or even my own mind, and I separate myself from this reality, that time doesn''t exist here. From what I have gathered from my experiences, I could live an entire lifetime in someone''s mind," I exined, and Sofia nodded.
"So it is not that you are dting time in your mind; it''s that nothing actually exists in your mind, and it is a clear separation from this reality. Doesn''t make any sense from a scientific view, but you seem to know what you are talking about. We will just go with that for now until someone finds a better way to describe this sorcery," Sofia said and then pointed at the door. "Let''s go. Who knows how much trouble Mr. Unbannable Jack is getting into? What kind of nickname is that anyways?"
"Not nearly as good as the Spanish Hentia Lady!" Iughed, and Sofia shook her finger at me.
"Keep that up, Papi, and I will string your balls over your shoulders and make you wear them as earrings far better than any continental soldier!" Sofia warned, and I gave her a shocked look.
"Aye! That is a bit aggressive!" I replied, covering my package, trying not tough.
"I am a bit aggressive, Papi! So watch yourself, Bs De ta!" Sofia growled, and I patted her head.
"Don''t call me silver balls, Hermosa, I was just saying that I liked your nickname better!" I said as Sofia scowled at me, and then I scooped her into a hug and was about to leave the room.
"Don''t you think you are forgetting something? Or are we just going to leave that body lying on the ground?" Sofia asked as she kissed me and then wiggled out of my arms. I had gotten distracted without banter, but I supposed it would be good to get this over with.
"Do you want to help me with this? I haven''t really done any sex changes like this, and I feel like this is going to be a bit moreplicated," I exined as we went over to the green and unconscious Dracos on the broken tiles.
"What are you trying to do? Turn this into a sexy dragondy?" Sofia asked, putting her hands on her hips.
"Should we make her ugly?" I asked with a grin, and Sofia rolled her eyes hard.
"Fine, we had better make her look good-looking if I am going to have to look at her face often," Sofia said like that was the only option.
"I mean, I guess you are going to see her a lot if we are going to be running tests on her, but no cutting into Calishora. I will find you others to cut up and examine," I said, and Sofia gave me a look like I was stupid, and it might not have been undeserved.
"Do you really think that I am going to hurt her, Papi?!" Sofia snapped at me, and I put my hands up.
"Hey, I am just rying what I promised Calishora when I was fishing with her!" I replied, and Sofia sighed.
"I am not going to do anything that is going to hurt her, much. We will have to put her through testing, but that will all just be some needles. If you think that you will be able to start collecting people from other species to put on our, we are going to have to study them first. They could bring diseases or might not be able to crossbreed between species," Sofia exined as she sat down in front of the big Darkar, putting her hands on its head.
That was true, and I didn''t really think of the diseased part. Since I have just been able to cure everyone, I assumed that would be fine. Maybe I might have trouble when we add other species from others.
"Do you think that we won''t be able to cure them?" I asked curiously as I did my own scan of the body before taking a seat beside the Drakar.
"I think that we can cure anything at this point, but why have to cure anything in the first ce? I think it would be better just to be able to constantly update our immune systems so we can fight off anything before it can infect us. This way, there is no need for us to cure anything. The best way to stay ahead is to always n your next steps before they can be taken," Sofia exined as the body was starting to change.
The male Dracos'' body slowly started to get smaller, but the color of the skin and scales was also changing to a more purplish pink color. The body was lying down, so I couldn''t see what was happening on the front of the body. I was getting a rough idea from my scans, but it was only a wireframe outline in my view.
My System was making most of the changes that I wanted, but I was only helping at this point. Sofia was doing all the major editing, and I was just making what she was doing easier for her. Not that I minded.
Considering that I might have gone a bit overboard with Kitsune, this was better. If Sofia made Calishora beautiful, then I would not be to me.
"There, the body is done, but I should clean her up first. Go look for the other two while I do this, but make a dress before you leave. Don''t need you or the other two ogling her the moment that she wakes up!" Sofia told me as she stood up from the now wholly pink dragon girl.
"Why did you make her pink?" I asked curiously as my eyes scanned over the back side of Calishora''s new body.
"Stop staring at her butt, Papi!" Sofia growled, and I looked up from Calishora''s ass with a grin. "She is pink because she will look cute pink. Now, make the clothes for her, and go do what I asked you, or I will get ¨¢rbol Viejo to drag you out of here!"
"Yes, Yes, Hermosa! I am going!" Iughed as I walked over to an empty chair, and created a light purple dress. I wasn''t sure what color to make it, considering that even Calishora''s hair was now pink.
Once I was finished, I left the room and started down the hall, but my buddy from earlier was back. Corporal Riley was looking much fresher and clean up than thest time that I saw him. Even his uniform looked to be cleaned.
"Corporal, good to see you again. You didn''t take much time to rx like I said," I said to the soldier that was waiting for me.
"The¡ Tree¡ is pretty helpful, but I felt like I was in a fantasy movie with the way that everything just does whatever you need without you even saying anything. That is saying something from a guy like me that has gotten used to seeing aliens and their tech for things like that," Riley exined, and Iughed.
"You will have toe back to the Great Forest and see the amazing things that we have created there," I replied, and Riley gestured to another hole in the wall before the elevator.
"That does sound interesting. This is the stairwell to the lower sections, but there are some that arepletely locked off. There are a few levels that I would like for you to open, but I think that some of them should stay closed. Once the power stopped the first time, most of the levels locked automatically," Riley exined as we started to walk down the stairs that were lit up with glow sticks.
"Stay closed?" I asked, and Riley nodded.
"The two lowest levels are the ones that should stay closed. When Filus crashed here seventy years ago, his ship was filled with monsters from others," Riley exined, and I frowned.
"Monsters? You mean creatures from others, right? They might look like monsters, but most of them are probably like the animals of this world, right?" I asked, but Riley shook his head.
"No, those are on the third lowest floor. The ones on the secondst are carnivorous creatures and are deadly efficient at what they do," Riley exined as we slowed down to the first door. It opened a crack with a metal bar leaning on the frame.
"What''s on thest floor then?" I asked as Riley grabbed the bar, and pried the door open.
"Things that can only be found in your nightmares."
Chapter 182 [Bonus Late ] You Do Not Have The Clearance!
The ce was lit up with glow sticks everywhere, but that made sense since there was no way to vent the smoke. Inside the first floor was a massive area filled with ss containers and four sad-looking scientists walking around the room with clipboards.
I could see why they were sad. Most of what they had been looking after were dead from what I could feel, but that wasn''t a problem for me.
"Wee to the first floor of many. This is the Organics floor, or it was. Most of the nts that were being studied could only survive in regted climates. Some of them couldn''t even absorb Co2, so they had to have special gasses pumped inside," Riley exined as we walked into the area.
"This is something that I can help with," I said as I walked past Riley, looking into each of the ss cases.
There were some exciting things in each one, and I could honestly say that I had never seen anything like them. Though, when I scanned some of them, it seemed that the Annokale had run into almost all of the nts.
"Corporal Riley. Does this man have clearance to be in this area?" A gaunt woman asked with a bit of an east coast ent. "You know that will get us tossed in the far if he doesn''t!"
"Permission? Nicole, this man... sure, we will go with that. This man killed Crass and now is taking over the base," Riley exined to the woman, and she looked startled, blinking at Corporal Riley and then looking at me, then back to him.
"Why don''t you seem more worried about this?" Nicole asked.
"Because after he killed him, Daniel went and captured the Drakar that got away. Before doing this, he sent in people to go heal those that had been hurt. Then he told me to go have a shower, eat, and get cleaned up after," Riley said, and Nicole nodded.
"Well, for an alien, you are pretty friendlypared to most I have heard about and met. Does this mean I will get to eat as well? God knows I could use a bath, or fifteen," Nicole said as she tried to put her hands through her hair unsessfully, but I was curious about something.
"Sure, there are three giant trees outside. Once you enter one, just wait, and the grass will bring you to your own room. Once you are there, everything that you need will be in the room. If you are hungry, you can eat until your heart''s content," I exined, and the woman''s eyes lit up. "But before that. How did you know what I was, let''s say, notpletely human?"
"Really?! Can I really? We have been on rations for thest week, and let me tell you. You might as well starve than eat military rations! As for you not being human, your eyes are so blue that they glow slightly," Nicole said, and I frowned.
"Really? I never noticed, but I don''t think I have looked in the mirror since all this happened to me," I said, touching my face around my eyes.
"Yeah, I was going to say the same thing. You stand out more in the glowing lights down here," Riley said from beside me.
"Interesting. Well, that doesn''t really matter. I wille back to this floorter. For now, I want you all to head up and get yourselves cleaned and freshened up. If you want, new clothes will be there as well," I said, and Nicole smiled brightly, and the other three cheered.
"I can''t say no to that, but what do you mean that you will being back hereter? There are still a few specimens alive, but most of them are long dead," Nicole exined, and I nodded.
"I can scan them and bring them back to life. I can also learn things from them and apply that to other things," I exined, and Nicole nodded.
"That sounds very interesting. If you don''t mind, please wait until I return to do so. Very few aliens are willing to work with us, so I would love to witness your work," Nicole said with a bright smile that showed off her beauty, even though she was underfed.
"Sure, but stop calling me an alien. I was born a human, sort of, but I have lived my entire life on this. I only received this power less than two weeks ago, but before that, I was as average as theye," I exined, but that wasn''t entirely true.
Thinking about it now, things in my life had alwayse easily to me if I wanted them, but I never had any drive. I always just wanted to be able to make the people around me happy and livefortably.
I had been doing all that before this happened, but when Omega entered my mind, I suddenly was kicked into gear. It was almost like my body had been waiting for something, and was letting me coast until that happened.
Was anything in my life idental? From what I could see, this was all just part of Star Child''s long stretching n. Did I actually have free will in all of this, or was I just doing everything that my creator had intended?
"Sorry! I seemed to have made you consider your existence! I didn''t mean for that to happen!" Nicole apologized, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Don''t worry about it. It was a question that I had been ignoring for a long time, but maybe I really am just an alien that was ced here. Still, even if I was, I still am not going to change what I have nned, even if it is all just part of one big n that I didn''t make. I am in control of myself and everything I do," I said as more of a confirmation to myself than the others around me.
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I think you seem to be a pretty good person for the job. This world needed a severe change, and you are that change. Much worse, people like Crass could have been the one given your powers, and just imagine how that would be?" Riley said with a chuckle that made me grin.
"That is true, but it wouldn''t have happened. You have no idea just how much time and effort went into getting me to this. Not to mention what it took to get the power that I have now," I said as I waved for Nicole and the other three to leave.
"I don''t, but I don''t get paid enough to know that stuff," Riley said, turning back to the door.
"Well, you don''t get paid anything now, do you?" I asked with a chuckle, and Riley nodded as we headed back to the stairwell.
"Exactly. The next floor that we go to will be the one where your two friends will be one. This floor and the one below it hold all the alien tech that we have recovered. The first is for the stuff that we say we understand. The next is for the stuff that no one has a clue how it works, or it is too dangerous to be messed around with," Riley exined as we headed down two flights of stairs to the next level.
I could hear the sounds of people arguing as we got closer to the door, and I was pretty sure that one of them was Jack. I groaned inwardly, wondering what kind of trouble the mad had gotten himself into this time. You would think that he would have learned his lesson after getting tossed out of a tree and shit his pants.
"There are no such levels of clearance anymore! Just let me in so Binder here, and I can go look at the damn space tank!" I heard Riley argue as I was led down a metallic hallway filled with doors that were widely spaced out. There were only six in total, but there were almost thirty feet between the door with nothing more than numbers from one to five.
"You do not have the clearance, Jack! I will call the guards if you do not stop with this persistence! Unit 4215 has always been off-limits to you, and it will continue to be! You are not getting past me!" A soft-voiced man argued as we reached the room.
"I will be going over the top of you right away, Sherman! Get the hell out of my way, or I will call the guard! The one that I came with!" Jack snapped as we walked into arge room that had sealed-off ss areas that held strange vehicles.
"I hope you are not calling me your guard," I said and Jack whipped around, putting his hands up.
"Hey there, Chief! I wasn''t trying to say you were my guard! I know that I work for you, don''t worry! It is this ninny that won''t get the hell out of our way, so I can take Binder here to look at the Gauss Gun on that tank!" Jack exined, and Binder just shrugged.
"Let them in, Sherman. This one has the highest level of clearance," Riley said in a tired voice.
"ording to who?! You?! You are not the one that runs this ce!" Sherman dered, and Riley turned to me.
"I asked nicely, so now you can do whatever you need. I never really liked this guy," Riley said to me.
"Wait! What?!" Sherman squeaked.
Chapter 183 The Way The Cookie Crumbles
"Sherman, was it?" I asked as I stepped forward; in front of Jack and Riley, Binder was standing off to the side.
"Yes! You know, I can''t just let anyone in to see these things! They are dangerous! I am doing this for everyone''s safety!" Shermanined, but I shook my head.
"How about you just open all the doors? That is easy right?" I asked, and Sherman blinked at me,
"Didn''t you hear what I just said?!" Shermanined, but I gave him a look, and he sighed. "I have worked here half my life, and this is the respect I get! Pushed around by everyone!"
"Stopining and just open the damn door already, Sherman! No one gives a shit about your sad story!" Jack snapped, and I put up my hand.
"I get it, Sherman, but things are going to be changing around here. If you want to be part of the change in a positive way, I suggest that you start working on being a bit more helpful. I will look past this for now, but I require you to be more helpful when I ask things. If not, then I will find someone that will. In this case, it will be someone that can hold and turn a key. I can assume a recement won''t be that hard to find," I exined, and Sherman''s prominent Adam''s apple bobbed up and down as he gulped.
"Umm, sure. I will work on that. If times are changing, then I guess I had better get on the bandwagon, hehe," Sherman said with an uneasyugh as he fished out arge set of keys.
"Wow, all these years of this dipshit saying no to me, and he just rolls over like a dog looking for a belly rub!" Jackined, and I turned to him.
"You do know that this person has just been doing their job, whether you think he was trying to wrong you. I can respect someone who follows the rules that are set out for them and do as they are told. Seems that is the striking difference between the two of you. One listens, the other talks," I said, and Jack snapped his mouth shut as I turned back to the ss booth that was being unlocked.
? The tank that was in there was like nothing that I had ever seen in real life, but it kind of reminded me of one of the tanks that the Covenant used.
The gun on it was the thing that stood out the most; a six-foot barrel in a triangr shape, but the points were t. The barrel had what looked like they were used to absorb whatever kind of recoil it produced. There were no tracks, so that meant that it used a gravity engine, one of the few energy sources that still worked.
"Can we take this out? Or is there another one somewhere for easier ess?" I asked as I turned to Sherman, and he gave a sideways look at Jack.
"There is one in one of the secret hangers above," Sherman said in a barely audible voice.
"Quite fucking whisper, you little shit!" Jack growled, and I waved him off. This fucking guy.
"Sherman, what can you tell me about¡ what do you call this thing?" I asked. "And not the unit number, please. That means nothing to me."
"The registered name for it is Gravity Propulsion Tank with a mounted Particle Beam, but most people just call it the Gravy Train. Don''t ask me why. The name is stupid," Sherman exined as I walked around the tank.
"Particle Beam? What about blooming? How does it keep all the energy focused without losing strength?!" Binder asked as he looked over the cannon barrel.
"No clue. We really have no idea how any of this stuff works, and we haven''t even been able to shoot this thing yet because we don''t know how to," Sherman exined.
"That is because you only let stupid white coats like you test these things! You have never driven a single tank in your life! I am an Astro Mechanic! This is my job to know these things!" Jack dered, and I turned to him.
"Since when is it an Astro Mechanics job to work on Xeno-Tech? You repair space rovers and satellites, not Xeno-Weaponry!" Sherman snapped, and Jack gave him his middle finger.
"Shut up, sses! Your job is to be an expert in Alien weaponry, but you have never even fired a pistol! How the hell are you supposed to know how to use an alien weapon if you have never even used a human one?! Call me what you want, but I have real-world experience, and I have served my country!" Jack snapped, so I turned to him.
"Then how does the particle beam work then?" I asked, and Jack shrugged.
"Never been inside, so not a clue, but I can make her move! Let Binder here figure the gun out. I mean, I could get in there and fuck around, and I could probably make it fire something, but why do that when we got the pro here!" Jack said, pping his hand on Binder''s shoulder. "You can figure this out, right?"
"I have no idea how this thing works," Binder said, but he looked excited. "This thing is amazing, and I would really like to see this particle beam in action. If we can learn how they power it and how it works, the applications we can use this for in the''s defense should be astounding. Creating an Energy Rifle will be very good for fighting robots. Depending on where they get their energy from, we could use the weapons to overload them."
"I like the sounds of that. This is something that we are going to clearly have to work on if it can deal with the Cleaners. They are the farthest away, but they pose the biggest problem. We don''t want to start an all-out fight, but I am sure that we are going to have to hold them off for a bit. We still have a lot to do before we are ready to leave the sr system," I exined, and Sherman made a strange noise, so I turned to him. "What is it?"
"You said to leave the sr system?! Are we leaving on a ship?!" Sherman asked in confusion.
"Sort of. We are going to turn the into a space-faring vessel and jump into a ck hole to escape from a horde of AI called the Cleaners that areing to "clean" us from the. There are also two other alien races, the Drakar and Gideons, that areing to attack us," I exined, and Sherman looked like he was about to pass out.
"... I will assume that you have a n in ce for this already?" Sherman asked quietly, and I nodded.
"For the most part, but this is why I need everyone to work with me, not against me. This is the reason that I know the General Crass fully intended to work against me and was only concerned about keeping control of this base. I have no room or time for people like that in the new world I am creating," I exined, and Sherman looked paler.
"Are you just going to kill those that don''t want to listen to you?" Sherman asked, and I shrugged.
"To bepletely honest, that is a real possibility. I don''t n on, nor do I have time to wait for everyone toe around. This world has been a bunch of chickens running around with their heads cut off and everyone doing their own thing. How has that worked so far? Do we have peace anywhere? If I ask, will everyone work together?" I asked.
"I am sure that given a choice, people will want to change, right?" Sherman asked hopefully, and Jack burst outughing.
"Before I was brought to the Great Forest, there were people outside of the forest, trying to get in. They were all fat cats and other high-ranking people. I talked to them beforeing into the forest, and none of them seemed to understand why they weren''t allowed in. Sure, some people will change, but Daniel doesn''t have time to wait around for that. When he says the world is going to end, that is no joke. He has already saved us once fromplete destruction. Stop being a dipshit and grab a paddle or sink in the drink!" Jack snapped, and I sighed, even though Jack was right.
People that I had kicked out of the city were still trying to get in, but none of them were willing to change. This was going to be the same for arge portion of the world. I wasn''t sure what I was supposed to do about that.
I wasn''t going to cave and ept people into my society that wasn''t going to get along with everyone. I also wasn''t going to task the trees with trying to make these people change.
What I was going to have to do was figure out a way to exin this to everyone across the world. Once everyone knew the conditions, then they could decide if they wanted to change.
The options were change or death. Not much of a choice, but this was the way the cookie crumbled.
Chapter 184 Bunch Of Weirdos
"Anyways, what are the other things in here? There is this big t disk, and then this wheeless motorcycle. Tell me more about this stuff," I said and then turned to Jack and Binder. "Jack, go look inside the tank, but do not turn it on, or I promise that you will get a trip into space, understand? Binder, do the same, please, but watch that overgrown child."
"Hey! I take offense to that!" Jack dered, and I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms.
"Not as much as the other slew of names I can think of right now. I am serious. Keep your meat hooks off the buttons!" I growled, and Jack put up his hands as Binder shook his head.
"I will keep my hands to myself! Scouts honor! Marines too!" Jack said as he snapped to attention, making both Riley and I let out sighs.
Somehow, I just knew this was the wrong decision. Still, I figured that if the people here couldn''t make the thing work, Jack should be fine. There was that childish look he had in his eyes, though, that worried me.
"Well, we should move inside of one of these chambers if they are going to be messing around with that thing. Pray that he doesn''t actually figure out how to start-"
*Hueeem!*
Sherman''s words cut off as the strange noise of the now glowing Gravitank made us all turn. This was exactly what I said not to do. How does a person fuck up so fast?!
"I didn''t touch a thing, but you better get out of the way! This thing is targeting you!" Jack called from inside the machine.
Suddenly, both men were thrown from the tank, and it started to transform into a robot.
Didn''t see thising.
"Everyone out of the room!" I roared as silver vines burst from my back.
Sherman screamed, pissed himself, and then passed out. I have never been more disappointed in another human being.
Still, the tank turning into a giant robot with a particle beam cannon on one made me kind of wonder. Was I moving towards changing the earth into a Cybertron-type world, just a bit greener?
"Daniel! Can you do something about this?!" Jack called as the robot raised its arm at me, but my roots were already surging forward.
My metallic roots sshed over the robot and started blocking all paths that looked like they were transferring energy. The robot slowed to a stop, and I started to scan it. Even if there were another or even five, I didn''t want to lose any of them.
[Scanpleted!]
[Target: Cleaner Recon Unit Weapon]
[Reworking AI to reply in English]
[Reworkpleted!]
"Release me, lower lifeforms, so I can remove you from this. Permanently," A robotic voice said in a monotone, and Iughed out loud.
"Wow, you really are a people person," Iughed.
"I do not need to converse with lower lifeforms. My task is to clean as many of you from the. You are impeding my task," The robot replied, and I shook my head.
"Is there any way that we could maybe work something out where you don''t kill me?" I asked, and the robot paused very briefly.
"You could kill yourself. That would mean that I don''t have to do it myself. This would be of great service to me. You should do it," The robot replied, and everyone that hadn''t pissed themselves and passed out, I am looking at you; Sherman started tough.
"Well, I happened to not like dying. Tried it once and found out that it really wasn''t for me. So, if you don''t mind, I will continue living. I am also removing all nuclear weapons from the as soon as I can. Then you will have no reason to attack us, right?" I asked.
"This information is irrelevant. You have the capacity to create such weapons, so it is only a matter of time before you infringe again. I can also detect that you have systeminium infused with your body. This means you are of the pretend Star Goddess, Tiamat, and other races we are in the process of cleaning," The robot replied.
"How is that going?" I asked. "I am not on her good side, so I wouldn''t say we are really together."
"Terrible, the creatures reproduce too fast with their birthing chambers and can restock as fast as us. This has posed a problem, but like all things, it is only a matter of time. Your fate will be much quicker when the fleet arrives in twelve months, sixteen days, ten hours, twenty-three minutes, and thirty-two seconds. Then your fate will be sealed," The robot exined, and I nodded.
"Thank you. I was wondering how long you guys were going to be. So, I guess I can''t hope that you will be taking out Tiamat any time soon, then?" I asked.
"Negative. The estimated time to fully clean the entire Drakar race is over three billion years. There can be expected to be a two hundred to three hundred million year fluctuation, depending on the level of our technological growthpared to theirs," the robot exined.
"You know, for someone that is bound and determined to kill us, you sure are helpful," I said.
"We have nothing to hide from a race that will not exist in two years. None of this information can help you in the fit against us. We will remove you from the universe. Permanently."
Well, looks like I wasn''t going to get much more out of this guy, but I wanted to make sure and bring him back for Aiko to y with. I am sure this was something that she and Sofia might even be able to work on together on. Maybe.
"Well, it has been really talking with you, but now I am going to shut you off and wipe you from here. Is there anything you would like to say?" I asked the robot.
"If you think this is killing me, then you are sadly mistaken. I am the Cleaner, and all are me. This will not be thest time that we speak. The next time will be me telling you I told you so, as I kill you," The robot replied, and I shut it down, making the robot slump forward and hit the ground in front of me.
Sherman was just out of the way, but the robot''s face was facing him, so I just left him there and turned to Jack.
"I swear to god I didn''t touch anything!" Jack pleaded.
"He is telling the truth. For some reason, as soon as we walked in, the whole thing turned on. Then we were pushed out, and this happened," Binder exined, and I nodded.
"I am curious as to what set it off. Possibly entering it when I was in the vicinity woke it up and gave it a target, but that seems too easy. I will have to get Sofia to tear it apart when we get back. I bet this thing has all sorts of hidden secrets for us... Do you hear beeping?" I asked as I started to hear a beeping noiseing from the robot. "EVERYONE OUT OF THE ROOM!"
My roots shot out and grabbed the four people while ripping me out of the room. The beeping was getting louder and faster, and that was never a good sign.
I made it a little way down the hallway when it happened. The explosion rocked the bunker, blowing sections of the wall off and sending all of us tumbling in the air. My roots shot out like webs to catch us all in the air, and no one was seriously hurt from what I could tell.
The room we had been in, well, I didn''t need to look to see what the results were in there. I just had to hope that the people on this floor and the ones above and below are fine.
I didn''t see thating, and it proved that the Cleaners were just as bad as I thought. It, since they were all the same AI, proved that it had no concern for itself. This meant that they would be a ruthless enemy in the future to deal with.
"Is everyone okay?" I asked as we all hung from the webbing with dust and smoke all around us.
"I mean, we could be spread all over the inside of that room rather than hanging out like spidermen," Jack chuckled and then coughed.
I slowly let everyone down, but Sherman waspletely out of it and looked like he was going to need some heavy counseling. I suppose most normal people would react the same after this, but Binder, Riley, and Jack all looked shocked, but still with all their facilities intact. That just meant they were battle-hardened weirdos just like me.
"Papi! What are you doing down here?! Are you trying to bring the whole ce down?!" Sofia called from behind me.
"I was trying to have a friendly conversation with one of the Cleaners, but it ended in a bang!" I called back.
Chapter 185 Emotional Damage
"Do you think that we killed it?"
"Not likely. The creature was an Annokale but fused with a human. The body not only was made from systeminium but also resonated with old records of Tiamat''s heart. This means that the Annokale have also reached the. This is not good."
"Should we send more units?"
"Negative. As recorded before activation, we now know that they n on transporting the. We will stop the flow and redirect to the sr system 81292 that they will be arriving in."
"What do you estimate their actions to be on arrival?"
"ording to the long-range recordings, they n to settle into an area heavily seeded with asteroids. We have targets, but none of them are any more appealing than the next. Even if we did know where they were going, our chances of striking them there have an extremely low probability of sess."
"What will we do about the humans and Annokale for now, then?"
"Watch them and wait. Once they leave the asteroid belt, we will track them until they stop. We would send units to follow them, but our time is better spent dealing with the Drakar and Fulmin."
"What of the Gideons?"
"The supreme leader has not sent any more requests to us. As always, our ties to them must be kept secret, but it is only a matter of time before they outlive their usefulness. After that, we will clean them, and the universe will be free from the parasites that infect their children.
"We are the Cleaners, and we are one. Star Child gave us this task long ago, and it is our purpose to fulfill that task."
----
Once everyone was on the ground, Riley and I went over to the other rooms to look for injured people. Luckily, it was around lunchtime, and the others from the floor were three floors down.
"Well, not much left to salvage from this," Riley said as we looked over the room that now had a hole in the floor and ceiling.
"What happened?!" Called a voice from below.
"One of the alien techs activated and tried to attack us. We stopped it, but then it blew up. Clear the floor and report on the surface," Riley called down as Sofia walked up beside me.
"These aliens really don''t like you, Papi," Sofia said as she shook her head.
"This ce is full of surprises, but that one really caught me off guard. I am starting to wonder if we should put the tech on hold for a bit. I think that it might be better for us to get electronics integrated. I had no way of hacking into theputer that ran the AI. I also wasn''t able to detect the bomb. We are all lucky that I heard that beeping or that would have been the end of the others," I exined, knowing that I could have easily survived that.
"Hmm, that might be a good idea, but what are we supposed to do with all of this stuff then?" Sofia asked, and I looked at Riley.
"Do you mind staying back with a few people to watch over thispound?" I asked. "I also need you to clear all the floors that are below us. I will get rid of the rest of the things that are living, including the locked floors."
"Not a problem. I assumed that was going to happen. I will get on getting everyone out of the bunker," Riley said, turning from the hole and heading away from what was left of the room.
Jack and Binder had been sent up to get cleaned up, and now it was just Sofia and me.
"What do you n on doing with the creatures below?" Sofia asked.
"Capturing them all and then containing them for us to study. There could be valuable secrets hidden in their DNA," I exined, and Sofia nodded.
"That is good because I want to study all of them as well. Make sure you bring any carcasses or bones you find. We might have to make a second trip for the gold," Sofia said, looking only slightly disappointed.
"Yeah, I will have to make a bigger tear this time," Iughed, and Sofia gave me a look.
"You had better not go as fast this time! You might be nearly indestructible, but we aren''t. Do your testing while you are alone!" Sofia scolded me, and I smiled.
"Yes, I will take more time to get us back, haha!" Iughed but then yelped as Sofia bit me. "Stop that! Damnit!"
"Then stop being a pendejo!" Sofia growled, and I frowned at her.
"Mami! Stop being mean to me! I said I will go slower this time!" Iined, and Sofia rolled her eyes.
"Then don''tugh about it like you are some babaso! You inspire very little faith when you act like that, you know?" Sofia told me, and I sighed.
"Yes, Hermosa. I will try to keep my crazy contained," I said as I turned to head back to the stairwell, whispering. "There is obviously only enough room for one of us to be loquita."
I instinctively dodged to the left, but she still got me in the back of the head with her golden slipper. The damn woman was far too good with those things, but you know. I think it was just in her blood as a Spanish woman. I was not trying to stereotype Sofia, but I had seen enough videos online to know there was some truth to the im.
"I am not deaf, Puta!" Sofia snapped at me as I picked up my speed to put more distance between us.
"And I am not a hoe! Well... never mind. Anyways. Weren''t you supposed to be going back up top?" I asked as I turned back to grin at the ring Sofia, another slipper in hand.
"Are you supposed to be doing something useful? You know, other than getting another one of my slippers across your face?!" Sofia growled as she tried to march by me, but I grabbed her and pulled Sofia into my arms.
"Ah, Hermosa, you know that I love you," I said, kissing her cheek, and Sofia turned her face to press her lips into mine.
The two of us shared a soft and slow kiss in the ruins of the second level. Even though we were fighting, it was mostly just fun ying. I enjoyed the back and forth between us, and I really didn''t get this with the other girls.
Once we were done kissing, I pulled back from her lips, and Sofia was smiling warmly as she rested her head on my chest.
"I love you too, Papi. You drive me up the wall, but that only seems to make me love you even more. Though, it wouldn''t hurt for you to be a bit more serious at times," Sofia told me, and I grinned.
"There are enough times that I have to be serious. Please don''t make me serious all the time! This is my favorite part about our rtionship!" Iined, and Sofia made a soft moan.
"Can you say it again?" Sofia purred, and I couldn''t help myself.
"Mufasa?" I asked, and Sofia looked up at me with a scowl.
"Mufasa?"
"Say it again!"
"Mufasa?! I don''t understand," Sofia said, tilting her head.
"Never mind, haha!" I said and let go of her. " Now, get going up top so I can start my exploration of thest floors. I would invite you along, but I am sure that this will be dangerous, and I am not sure what to expect."
"That is fine. I don''t want to get my hands dirty right now anyways. I think that I am going to go rx in the pool," Sofia said, but then gave me a look. "Make sure that you are careful down there. I know that you think you are indestructible, but you need to be careful when you are messing around with things that you don''t understand. If I didn''t know there were people trapped, I would tell you that we should wait to do all of this."
That was true. I did have it in my mind that I was nearly impossible to kill at this point, and for a good reason. Still, Sofia was right that there were still many things that we didn''t understand yet. The Cleaner exploding was a clear indication of that.
"I will make sure to be careful. Once everyone is up, I am going to seal up the stairwell below the third floor. That will make sure that nothing can escape while I am trying to round everything up. Since there is a possibility that there might still be some people alive, I will start with the lowest floors and clear them all systematically. If I find anyone, I will have Mr. Tree transport them up to you to take care of since you are the expert in...."
"Emotional Damage!" We said at the same time in random Asian ents.
Man, I was really starting to miss the inte.
Chapter 186 Rundown Of The Horrors Below
Once everyone was up, I stood in the stairwell on the third floor with Riley. I was pretty excited to check out the floors alone.
Sure there would be untold horrors, but I was ready as I could be. Once I sealed up the exit, I would edit my form.
"Are you sure about going down there alone?" Riley asked me, and I grinned.
"Why? Did you want to join me?" I bugged him, and Riley crossed my arms.
"No, that is not what I meant. I know how resourceful you are from our few interactions, but there are some bizarre and violent things down there. Most of them are cargo from the Gray''s ship that we captured after it crashed four years ago. I wasn''t there, obviously, but some of the things killed a lot of people before getting captured," Riley exined, and I nodded.
"Yes, I understand that there is going to be some serious resistance down there, but I won''t look like this," I exined, and Riley nodded, uncrossing his arms.
"Good. You really are the only person that is capable of handling something like this. Stick off four through six. They are more tech levels. The ones that you want are seven to ten. Seven has the basic non-aggressive herbivores. There are some dangerous ones there, but that is because of theirposition. I just know that some can be poisonous to touch or breathe in the fumes they give off," Riley exined, and I nodded, impressed.
"You are quite knowledgeable about this stuff, but I guess that is to be expected, right?" I said, and Riley nodded.
"I was part of the strike team that dealt with problems in this bunker, so I was required to understand the things that I would be dealing with. The eighth is more therge herbivores, but that is probably the safest level. I would deal with that onest. There is someone in there, but Michael is fine. He is a Xeno-Biologist, and also a Xeno-Botanist with ess to a garden. There is food and a unique alien water filtration system that can slowly create water from siphoning oxygen from the air, and one of the creatures down there," Riley exined, and I nodded.
"That sounds really interesting, but if he is okay, we will leave Michael, and I will start with nine and ten first," I said and then asked, "What can you tell me about them?"
"Nine are carnivores, and there were two people on the floor, but I would be surprised if either of them survived. From thest message, I got from¡ Candace¡ it just didn''t sound like she was going to make it," Riley said and sighed.
"This is someone that you were close to?" I asked, feeling that from the way he paused and sighed. The man was tough, but everyone had a soft spot.
"Yeah, but I have made my peace with it. If there is anything of hers you could grab for me, I would appreciate that. That floor has some vicious pack-type monsters and some other monsters that fight alone. I wish I could tell you more about them, but I never actually had to go to the ninth or tenth floor. If there was a call, we would be sent packets on our tablets. I was allowed to keep what was sent, but they were dead, and there were too many to remember. Luckily, a good portion of them will be dead, and only the strongest will be left," Riley exined.
"Who was the other guy on the floor?" I asked.
"Floyd, if any of the four that are locked on the two floors survived, it would be that crazy bastard. Still, I listened to the door, and there was nothing but animalistic howling on the other side. Thest floor had Cecil, and she is nuts, plus Arseni, but that is all the biggest and most dangerous predators. There is no way that they survived," Riley exined, and I nodded.
"I will start with nine first, and then hit ten. Let Sofia know that I am going down now and to have Mr. Tree gets an incubation chamber sent down to the ninth floor. If anyone is alive, I will bring them out safely, and if not, I will clean the ces out, so they are safe to recover what was lost," I said, sticking my hand out to Riley, and he shook it firmly, and then turned, and headed back up the stairs.
I turned right away and started to head down. I felt terrible for Riley, and it hit close to home for me. I couldn''t imagine what it must have been like for him to hear what I was sure must have been her cries.
What I didn''t tell Riley was that I could detect two human life sources. There was one on each floor, so I didn''t want to get his hopes up; I was pretty sure they were both women, but the walls were really thick.
Once I was down to the seventh floor, I used Firaga''s powers to heat up and tten the steel stairs. I added more systeminium to strengthen it to the point that I would even be able to get out without being able to control it.
The next step was to change my own body in the same fashion. I used Katie''s ability, mixed with some of Aiko''s, to create special reactive armor that makes me look sort of like if Master Chief and a Gundam Wing had a threesome with a Transformer and somehow shit me out into a pool of silver.
I don''t even have good words for what I had created. This is what happens when you have too many sources to draw inspiration from. Now I was walking death.
My legs were covered inyers of tes that could break away and be controlled with maics and the gravity engine that was now humming inside of me. They were sharp and autonomous, acting on my will. I tested them out, and the parts of my legs flew off and started to circle around me in an orbital pattern. They would alsoe back to my legs if something tried to attack me on one of the legs, but I was a lot lighter without them.
I was pretty sure that I might dent the floor if I wasn''t using the gravity engine to make me lighter. My body was covered in rifles, pistols, and des, and there was even a mini particle beam on my shoulder.
[Hey! How is it going?!] Omega asked, nearly giving me a heart attack.
''I am getting ready to go fight some Xeno-Beasts. What the fuck are you doing? Also, do you mind using your inside voice when talking in my head? I almost shit my pants!'' I sent it back, and Omegaughed at me.
[I just noticed that you were using the shit out of the System, and I thought that I should check on you. Melody also says hi, and she loves you.] Omega exined, and I sighed.
''How are things going with you two?'' I asked, but then Melody and Omega''s images came into my view.
"This is much better! Hey, baby! I missed you!" Melody cheered, and I grinned.
"I missed you too! How are things going with you two? Is he giving you trouble?" I asked, and Melodyughed.
"Omega is much easier to push around than you are, so things are going pretty smoothly. I was just bringing in another herd of beasts. They listen so much better than the humans," Melody said with a sigh.
"Oh? Have you been telling people about the forests?" I asked. "I have spread pretty far, but they are still pretty sparse and far apart in the states down here."
"We have been trying, but the further south we go, the less receptive people seem to get. That isn''t to say that we aren''t getting people toe and go to the tree. It''s just that most people are pretty leery when we start exining things," Melody exined, and I nodded.
"I was worried about that. Part of the problem is getting people to give up violently and hate each other. That doesn''t mean we are all going to dance and sing. There will still be anger and disputes, but we are going to be settling them with clones; as for the other part of the problem. The conspiracists, and many other people in general, have grown up in a world that makes its daily bread by lying to everyone," I exined, and Omega nodded.
"Yes, many people seem to make constant reference to news and government officials constantly lying and covering things up. Is this really how your world worked? We studied your people, but I have never seen such a diverse race. And I don''t mean that in a good way. Hardly anyone can agree on anything, and there are many variations of the same thing that other breeds try to make more special than others. Why would not all people that were good at something work on it?" Omega asked, and I chuckled.
"Don''t worry, and I know that this is hard, but you two are doing good work," I said, but Melody was giving me a weird look.
"Why do you look like Megazord jumped Ironman in a dark alley?" Melody asked with a confused look.
"Because I have to go capture a bunch of vicious monsters. They are creatures from other worlds," I exined, and Melody wiggled her finger at me.
"You should maybe work on it, so it doesn''t look like¡ that," Melody said, and I shook my head.
"Love you and goodbye, you little shit," I said as Melody blew me a kiss and both screens closed.
Chapter 187 Sci-Fi Jurassic Park
Now that I was suited up and looking like some robotic abortion, I floated down to the third level. I was thinking of doing the fourth first, but I thought that I would get warmed up with the third first.
I really had no idea what I was going to be facing, but I was pretty sure that I was as prepared as I could be. All the weapons that I could shoot were running hot and ready to fire, so I started to pry open the door on the ninth floor. This proved to be a lot harder than I had expected, and it made one hell of a screeching noise.
That noise brought the sounds of hissing, and I immediately targeted four wolf-like creatures with massive mouths.
*Phew! Phew!*
Two shots fired from my shoulder cannon and blew the first two into a red mist. This made the other two turn and run in the other direction.
"Shit! That is too much!" I growled and retracted the particle beam back into my shoulder as I continued to pry the door open.
When I was finally inside, the sounds of all the different creatures started to fill the air, but this was nothing like being a zoo. Some sounds were like pping gs, whispers, and hacking. The first area I was in was pitch ck, but my vision was already adjusted to it, and I could see fairly well.
The first thing that I noticed, and the only thing left in this first room, was the source of the pping. It was a strange-looking thing that was like a fat bulb with a thin fan-like webbing that pped up and around it. It was hard to tell if it was a creature or a nt. From its orange center and red fans, it looked like a fire incarnated as a creature.
I got about ten feet away from it and then ran a scan over it.
[Target: Fellosom]
[Type: Carnivorous monster]
[Height: 7-10 feet tall]
[Description: Orange bulbous body with bright red fans that constantly undte to attract prey.]
[Attributes: Originates from hydrogen-richs and can be found in many parts of the universe. They hunt by sitting still and waiting to open up seams along their sides to grab passing prey with tentacles, consuming them.]
[Danger level: 2]
Well, danger level two seemed pretty good, but now was one part that I hadn''t thought ofpletely. How was I supposed to capture something like this?
The particle beam was being converted into a thrower, but I didn''t really have a good way to deal with transporting anything yet. I had to get to the far left side of this floor to set up a transport system. I also had to make sure that nothing escaped up the track, but Mr. Tree should be able to take care of that.
I wish I could make better use of the trees, but it was going to take time for the roots to spread out enough to be useful. Truthfully, I probably could have just set the trees to do this and stayed up above. Could have been resting in the pool, but that was boring. This felt more like being in a sci-fi Jurassic Park.
*Hiss!*
I whirled around and thought there was a person standing behind me. It took no more than a blink to realize the pink skin and basic shape were where the human resemnce ended.
The creature was holding out its arms that were covered in what looked like floppy tub-like fingers, but they wereing out of every direction. The face had no eyes or ears, but its mouth stretched far back to where its ears should be. There were also nose holes, but its face was kind of snake-like.
*Whisper, Whisper, Whisper, Whisper, Hissssss!*
[Warning: Target is attempting to use hypnosis on you. Scanning frequencies¡ Complete]
The creature was making a strange whispering noise as it walked towards me slowly while also hissing. I could feel it making me a bit heavy. The moment that the scan of the sounds wasplete, my body started to emit a much more powerful version of the sound.
The creature''s fingers started to straighten out suddenly, and it stopped, pointing its¡ hands at me. They looked so friggin weird!
Slowly, the creature sank to the floor, and the fingers flopped.
[Targets are both incapacitated.]
[Creating barriers.]
Roots burst from my suit as I turned to see that the Fellosom was lying on its side, split open with some red tentacles hanging out. It was also leaking some kind of white milky liquid.
My roots were creating containment cages that were inch-wide hexagonted domes around both creatures. This would be good until I secured the room to transport them up. After that, I would figure out how to transport them, but it shouldn''t be too hard with the domes.
I walked over to the Fellosom and bent down beside the cage, and got a closeup scan of the white jizz the creature was leaking.
[Target: Fellosom Digestive Fluids.]
[Description: White viscous fluid.]
[Attributes: Breaks down organic material into basic elements.]
[Elemental Separation learned]
"There we go! This is going to be he useful! Man! This stuff is crazy!" I eximed to myself,ughing.
I could get Sofia to study this, and we could learn how to apply this to inorganic materials like metal and rock. If we could do that, mining asteroids would be a rtively easy job!
This white jizz was going to be a real time saver, but it could all be used for many other things. I might even be able to use this Elemental Separation to make a system for Drake, the mining specialist from Sofia''s list.
I stood back up, walked over to the other cage, and scanned the creature inside.
[Target: Shigavant]
[Type: Carnivorous monster]
[Height: 5-6''3 feet tall]
[Description: Pink-skinned creatures that have no eyes using echolocation while hissing with snake-like mouths that are filled with razor-sharp teeth. They hear using special tubes at the end of their fingers with ten to thirty on each hand. The fingers have no bones but get stiff when the creature is excited.]
[Attributes: Extremely resistant skin that is shing and piercing-proof. They use whispering to hypnotize their victims. Found only on Desserts and originates from Trifrieda, orbiting Alphard 177 million light years away from earth.]
[Danger level: 6]
"Yup, this would definitely count as at least a six," I said to myself, scratching my metal chin, and then stood up.
I backed up from the cage, and then my suit started to open up, and I stepped out. My body was now like that terminator that was made of liquid metal, apletely smooth and silver body. I turned around to face my suit and winced.
Looking at the way that the floor was divided up, it was going to take a while to check everything. That gave me an idea while I was staring at the abomination that I had created. It looked more like something from Warhammer, but like Tony Stark built it. Then like, the US government got ahold of it and gave it the old stars and weapons of mass destruction treatment. The thing was a fucking mess.
"Yeah, maybe it does need a little work, but I will leave that to my worse half," I said to myself as I sent a call to Firaga.
"Yes?" Firaga asked as her image appeared, and I winced again, but this time at the sound of a hammer connecting with metal.
"Can you connect the Chimera de to me? I need Eddie to help me clear some floors at the army base I am visiting," I said, and Firaga was giving me a strange look. "Do I have something on my face?"
"No, I just thought that you look good all in metal like this. It reminds me of when I am absorbing metal. Kind of hot, and I am not talking about the metal," Firaga said with a sexy smile that made me grin.
"Thanks, babe! I will have lots of new metals for you to check out when we get back," I exined, and Firaga nodded and then turned her head.
"Eddie! Daniel needs your help!" Firaga called over, and soon a funny-looking clone of me with an extremely in face came into view.
"Do you need me?" Eddie asked, and I nodded.
"Yeah, I have a mech suit here for you to use. I need help with capturing alien monsters," I exined, and my ined face grinned back at me.
"Ha! That actually sounds like fun! A mech suit? What does it look like?" Eddie asked, and I sent my view to them. "What fucking retarded alien made that piece of shit? What fucking dusty ass bunker did you find that thing in?!"
"I made it!" I snapped.
"No, you fucked up, you retarded alien! What the fuck is wrong with you? Can''t you fucking pop an eyeball out and look at yourself while you are doing it? Bring the damn scan of your body up in your HUD?" Eddie snapped back.
"Are you going to help me or not? Fucking bargain shop Venom," I growled.
"Oh, now we are getting lippy, Mr. I Can''t Look In A Fucking Mirror! Of course, I am going to help you, but you have to let me fix that piece of shit!" Eddie retorted, and I grinned finally.
"That I was hoping. I get it if fucked it up, but you can tinker with it all you want," I said.
"Are you two done yet?" Firaga asked, shaking her head. "I still can''t believe that you are the same person."
"Don''t lump me with him!" Both of us said at the same time.
"Nevermind," Firaga sighed.
Chapter 188 Piss On It
Once Eddie was transferred over, I had to listen to himin as he changed the suit around. This time the mech suit was starting to look more like Master Chiefing in at about just over seven feet tall.
"See? This looks cool!" Eddie said after he was done, and I crossed my arms.
"You know most of the doorways to the room are seven feet tall, right? You are going to have to duck to go in each room," I told him.
"You are going to have to duck in each room you go!" Eddie mocked back, and I gave him the finger.
"Just go make yourself useful, and don''t kill anything!" I growled.
"Yeah, Yeah. I will capture the circus reject! Now let me go and test this bad boy out!" Eddie cheered, and I sighed, scrubbing my hands over my face. I was starting to regret inviting myself to this party, but It would take me too long to do it all alone.
"You take the right, and I will go left after I get a sample of this creature''s skin," I said with a sigh.
"Sure, boss," Eddie said as he walked away.
I turned from him and squatted back to examine the Shigavant that was still knocked out on the ground. This creature had extremely tough skin, and I wanted to get a sample of it before I sent it up. Sofia might be able to do this, but there were going to be a lot of monsters to look over, so I thought this was best to get a sample for my body to study.
Opening a slot in the cage that was around the Shigavant, I reached in and tried to cut the skin using a sharp root. Even with it as sharp as I could make it, my roots made no mark. I heated up the de to glow red and pressed it to the skin, and still not ever burning.
"What the hell is this thing made out of?!" I asked myself, but then I heard something.
"Fuck!"
The next thing I knew, Eddie, in his Master Chief suit, was tossed over beside me to bounce off the metal flooring. I looked over to where he had been thrown from, and there were some pig-like creatures with red eyes. Each of them was about five feet tall and covered in tattoos all over their piss yellow skin.
"You okay? Looks like things are going well?" I asked curiously as Eddie picked himself back up.
"Shut up! Stupid pigs caught me off guard! That''s it! I am going to go bring the noise and show them a whole new world of hurt!" Eddie snapped as the five of the massive creatures spread out around us, but I sniffed.
"Did you piss yourself? Can you even do that?" I asked as I wrinkled my nose, and Eddie growled.
"I walked into one taking a piss!" Eddie growled as he marched over to the five creatures.
I was supposed to be doing my own thing, but this was far too entertaining. I ran a scan over one of the creatures and nodded as the information popped up.
[Target: Orrowkai]
[Type: Carnivorous humanoid]
[Height: 4.5-5.5 feet tall]
[Description: Pig-like humanoids with piss yellow skin. Large naturally muscled, and not wise alone. They have tusks thate from their mouths and small curly tails.]
[Attributes: The more Orrowkai in one ce, the smarter each of them is. If more than 100 gather, they can reach the same level of intelligence as humans. Naturally angry creatures, and do not work together well, but listen to their Felnka if a group has one. It can be found on nearly all Surperterras, but the breeds vary.]
[Danger level: 6]
Smarter as a group, but didn''t like to work together. Not sure why, but this resonated with me as I watched Eddie approach the group of Orrowkai. I almost considered calling up Sofia or Omega to start making bets, but I just watched instead.
"You!" Eddie shouted, pointing at the central Orrowkai with a ck marking on his face that strongly resembled male genitalia. "Oochi baga!"
"Killika moro f!" The dick-faced Orrowkiaughed back, and Eddie gave it the finger.
"What did you just say to it?" I asked curiously.
"Trante it, dipshit. You just fucking scanned the damn thing, or am I the only one with a brain?" Eddie snapped, and I gave him the finger, but that was useful.
[Tranting Orrowkia to English]
"Great, now I can understand, but that still doesn''t tell me what you said," I said, but Eddie ignored me as he marched over to the group.
The five looked like dwarves and pigs had gone at it, but they did look like they could be useful. There was also information that I had read about them getting smart when there was more in a group. That made me wonder if there was a civilization of these creatures.
"Beznk, go kill that shiny thing."
"You, I do what I want. You pissed on it. Made angry. Not my problem."
"Can I kill the other one?"
"Do you even piss on your own?"
"Why? You want to help?"
"I don''t help, or I rip it off," The smaller of the five said.
Interesting. These creatures were definitely not the smartest hammers in the bag, but it was clear that they were at least slightly intelligent.
"I think we should just kill them all. They are a bunch of handicapped juice monkeys, and we don''t need any more of that!" Eddie dered as his arm became a particle beam cannon.
"Put your gun down, you idiot! This is the first intelligent race of monsters we have found, and you want to kill them?" I snapped as I walked over to put my hand on his arm, pushing his weapon down.
"It didn''t piss on you," Eddie growled, and I rolled my eyes.
"You could have scanned and been able to tell that they were in the room, dipshit," I replied.
"Then you deal with them! I am going to find something that I can kick the shit out of!" Eddie snapped and turned to march off to the right side of the floor.
This left me with the five Orrowkai, but I wasn''t sure what to do with them. The first step was to see if I could make some kind of contact with them.
"Whippa!" I said, and all five flinched. This was not the reaction I was hoping for, but this was the trantion for hello.
"What you want? Put us back in cage?" Beznk, the dick-faced Orrowkia asked.
"Depends¡ Will you listen?" I asked, and Beznk frowned.
"Listen to what?" Beznk asked in confusion, but the smaller smacked him.
"To him, Oochi! This is why we got caught first time. You too Oochi," The smaller one hissed, and I started to notice the slight difference between it and the other four.
I ran another scan on just this one, and it was as I thought.
"You are a female?" I asked curiously, already knowing the answer, and the small one nodded.
"Yes, I am Fllna. Do you want to mate me? You look thin but stand strong. You make good looking baby. These ones only make ugly."
"Uhh, umm, not really what I was going for. I already have many she, no need for more," I said with an uneasy smile.
This thing looked not a lot different than a pig with legs, and there was very, very, very little to discern the male and female. Possibly I could do some editing, but fucking everything that moved was not on my to-do list.
"You tiny man, I would break you anyways. What you want from us then, if you no want breed me?" Fllna asked, and I shrugged.
"Nothing yet. I just want to know if you are a friend or monster," I replied, but there was no word for friend in Orrowkia, so it came out in English.
"Fri¡end? What is this thing?" Beznk asked, speaking up.
"You know, like someone you can¡ trust¡." I said, but this time Trust didn''t trante. This made me feel uneasy about them.
For anguage to be missing words like friend and trust meant they didn''t have either of them. That was bothersome and made me wonder what I would even do with these people. If I couldn''t trust them nor could they make friends, there was hardly room for them in our world.
Still, I didn''t want to give up on them yet. While this race wasn''t hyper-intelligent like the Drakar or Gideons, they stillmunicated, and I could work with that. Still, Rome wasn''t built in a day, and I needed to gather the rest of what I came here for.
"Do you all mind if I put you into cages for now? I have to get the rest of the creatures on this floor cleared up. Once I am done, I will be moving everyone to a safer ce where you will have more room and freedom to a degree," I exined, but again, the words freedom, safer, and degree didn''t trante, but they seemed to understand what I meant.
Chapter 189 Hentai Fire Crotch Plants
"Yes. There is a big thing back there, trapping the creature that watched us. It looks like you, but long hair and smaller," Fllna said, and I frowned, but not about the girl they were obviously talking about.
"Why are you so ready to be caged?" I asked, and Fllna squinted her eyes at me like I was the stupid one.
"Big Monster? You not understand that? You are going to piss it off, right? I don''t want to die," Fllna said.
I looked at the others, and they stood with little to no expression, almost with haunted looks. I wasn''t sure if that was from the monster or something else, but I didn''t want to keep making cages in the middle of the room.
"Interesting. Go stand at the walls, but apart," I said, but suddenly, something started to happen between the four males as they backed away from me.
The four males reached down and used sharp fingernails to cut into their sides at thest rib. My roots exploded from my back, but I was toote. The creatures had fished out something like a ck pearl and shoved it in their mouths.
*Crack! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!*
My roots circled back around to cover me, but it seemed that there was an explosive substance in the pearls. Once my roots retracted, I saw the results. The four malesy headless with orange blood, skull fragments, and yellow flesh stters on Fllna.
My roots snatched up the female, grabbing her by each limb and around her neck. This was a Felnka.
"Why did you make them do that?!" I growled.
"Don''t know."
"What do you mean you don''t know?!" I demanded, but the Orrowkai was giving me a stupid look.
"Don''t know," Fllna said, doing her best to shrug; then I remembered.
"Don''t think you are going to get away that easily!" I snapped, and my roots grew thorns, piercing the creature''s yellow skin.
My System activated, and I requested aplete upgrade on this one. This was obviously another attempt to thwart me from learning valuable information, but not today, Satan!
The disy showed the bare body of the creature, but it was also disying notes targeting specific ces. The first was to the head with two notes on cleaning up the facial structure, but there was a muchrger note for the brain.
[Target: Orrowkai Fllna Brain]
[Information on target: The targeted brain power of the creature is meager, but there are nodes for a Telepathic Collective. The more of this type of brain that is together within an unspecified range, the stronger each brain bes. This brain is much more potent than usual, making this target a leader, or Felnka.]
[Warning: Increasing this creature''s brain power could cause unknown results when in the range of great numbers of brains with the same nodes. Caution is advised.]
Interesting. Even the system was telling me to be careful. I had to assume that because I was connecting her to me, I would be able to control her. I was curious what unknown results could be considering it can be from my System, which could do pretty much anything.
The rest of the things done were either superficial, or they were to help adjust the creature to our gravity. She was from a muchrger than ours, so this world would make her more robust, but she wasn''t going to be a fighter.
"What you doing?" Fllna asked curiously, with no concern for her current situation.
I ignored the creature and confirmed the changes, and Fllna shed. Her body started to change into the form that I was looking at in the corner of my disy. Once it was done, the slow and simple look on her face was reced with a scared and confused one.
"What have you done to me?! Why can I think like there is arge group of my kind close?!" Fllna asked in confusion, and I smiled.
"My question needs answers first. You will get yours, but not before I get mine. Why did you order those four to kill themselves?" I demanded.
"So you could not question me! Why else would I make myself stupid?" Fllna returned with heat.
"I gave you the ability to think, but you will not hide secrets from me. I just made you the most powerful one of your kind to ever exist. Hell, I don''t even know what will happen if you go near one of your own kind now," I exined and slowly let Fllna down. I was no longer concerned about her attacking me.
Fllna was a bit taller now but still retained most of her piggish features, but she did look a bit more like a woman now. The tattoos or markings were much closer because of my editing, and there were more markings than skin now.
"What are you going to do to me to make me talk?" Fllna asked as she rubbed her wrists, and I sighed.
"Nothing; when the timees, I will ask you some questions, and you will tell me the answers. You are now a smart person, and you will soon be others just like you. For now, go stand against the wall like I originally asked," I said, and the creature just stood there.
"That is it?! No torture or ****? No cutting off my limbs? Do you not care about what secrets I have?!" Fllna demanded, and I put my forehead into the crook of my hand, letting out an exasperated sigh.
"Don''t sound so disappointed. Sure, I am very interested to know what you do, but if you haven''t noticed, we are in a dangerous ce. Do you really think that this is the right time to dig for information?" I asked as I looked up.
"Oh... Well, I suppose you are right. This is strange to be able to talk with you in your ownnguage like it is something that I have always been able to do," Fllna said to herself as she walked over to stand against the wall.
I followed her over and created another hexagon cage, and then I moved the bodies over into one of the corners and caged them as well. Sofia could still study their bodies, and I didn''t want the damn dogs to get them.
I headed down the hall where Eddie had been thrown down and then pulled him up after wondering what he was doing. The view that I got was interesting.
"Eddie, what are you doing?" I asked as I watched red tentacles slurp over his vision.
"Getting molested by one of those fucking Hentai Fire Crotch nts you have caged out front! What the fuck does it look like?! Can I kill this son of a bitch?!" Eddie shouted, and I chuckled.
"Only if you have to; I would like to keep as many alive as possible," I exined, and Eddie growled.
"You are a piece of shit," Eddie shot back.
"Don''tin, Master Chooch. This is getting you out of the house, and from under Firaga''s thumb," I said.
"Oh yeah, I forgot that I should be counting my blessings! Send me back home and deal with these stupid fucking monsters yourself!" Eddie shouted back.
"Sorry, I am too far away, and I have suddenlye down with a serious case of ignoring you," I said and closed the window as Eddie cursed me out, but I knew he was having fun. Or I assume he was, but it didn''t really matter; the job had to get done.
I turned the corner and smelled pissed, but there were even more pungent smells that were burning my nose, so I set my sense of smell down to a minimum. The scent was just ammonia, but it would have been dangerous to a human at this level.
*Grrr!*
The sound was deep and guttural,ing from up ahead. And I assumed that this was the creature that had the only person alive left, but now I was sensing two signs of human life. The second was extremely weak, so I had to assume that person was hurt badly.
I had my scans going now, actively scanning ahead to get an idea of what was up ahead, but I was confused. The thing that I saw in my disy was only a wire frame, but it looked like a dog sitting on its haunches.
I moved forward until I got to thest room and spotted the creature.
It was strange, to say the least, but it looked like a dog mixed with the little blue alien, Stitch. Most of its body was covered in orange matty fur, but it had a mane that was a solid royal blue. The thing that made it really weird was its oversized eyes, tongue, and mouth. All looked far too big for its head.
[Target: Barabasuar]
[Type: Carnivorous monster]
[Height: 2.5-3 feet (transformed 12-15 feet)]
[Description: Created Transformation Monster. No other data.]
[Attributes: Transformation. No other data.]
[Danger level: 8]
I stared hard at the creature, and it growled at me, but I was trying to figure out what this thing was. It was a created monster, but what did that even mean, and why did I have little to no information about this?!
"Don''t kill it!" A female voice called.
Some humans really had a lousy danger sense.
This is why so many people died in movies.
Chapter 190 Growl
"Candace?" I called as I kept my eyes locked on the dog-looking thing.
"Yes! I am okay, but John is in critical condition!" Candace called from the next room.
"What can you tell me about this creature? I don''t have much to go on other than I can transform! My name is Daniel Brighton, and I was sent in here by Riley!" I called over, and the dog thing started to growl again. "Can you shut the fuck up? Stop growling at me, you damned beast!"
The Barabasuar stopped growling, to my surprise, tilted his head at me, and narrowed big eyes. No part of me liked the look I was getting, and a small part of me had a feeling that this thing understood me.
"Don''t curse at it! Growl is very sensitive!" Candace called up.
"Really? Can it understand me?" I shout over.
"Better than you think!"
I gave the creature an unbelieving look, and I was given a non-caring one back, and the Barabasuar turned up its nose at me.
"Listen, doggy, I need to... is he supposed to do this?!" I asked as I started to step back.
"I told you he is sensitive!"
The dog was starting to shift and got much bigger to the point that it was filling up the room that was thankfully much bigger than the others. Looks like the puppers wanted to y.
Roots burst from my back and then sshed into the metal floors and walls, making everything a part of me. Roots burst from every direction and grabbed the massive monster as it dove at me, stopping just before my face. I didn''t flinch, but I did step back as the creature roared at me, straining futilely against my bonds.
I reached forward and patted the creature''s massive head. I could feel the intelligence, and a quick scan told me that this creature was nearly as smart as a human.
"Good man. I know that you are probably trying to protect these people, but that is what I am here for. If you like protecting people, then you cane home with me. I have lots of people to protect, and I have beautiful forests for you to roam freely. You don''t have a home, right?" I asked the creature, and it stopped roaring at me and went quiet.
I was hit with a sensation of thoughts; this creature felt me to be different than the others. This feeling was almost identical to the way that Mr. Tree talked with me.
Suddenly, Images of a massive tube structure that was filled with caged creatures that I had never seen before filled my mind. This ce was where Growl had been created and where he had spent his entire life until he was transported. The ship he was on crashed here, and humans captured him, but he was very close with a woman that I assume to be Candace.
I sent back everything that had happened to me so far, and the images not only shocked Growl but intrigued him. I was sent questions about if he could see the forest and some of the other big creatures that I had disyed.
"Once we are done here, you cane back with me and the others. I still have to do some more work, but I first need to heal the hurt person behind me. Are we done with the fighting?" I asked, and I got a strong confirmation that Growl was no longer my enemy.
My roots let go of him, and the massive blue-maned and matted orange fur body shrank back. This guy was going to need a brush at some point, but I am sure that one of the girls could deal with it.
"Come with me, and let''s go see the others. Show me where they are," I said, and Growl nodded at me.
After my roots were back in, I followed Growl to arge ss area filled with straw. There were two humans inside, and the male looked to be in rough shape. The girl got up and came over to the door, opening it up to look at the two of us in shock.
"How were you able to calm Growl down?!" Candace asked, and I shrugged.
"We understand each other pretty well now. Let me in so I can help John," I said, and Candace opened the door, letting both Growl and me into the twenty-foot cubed area.
I walked over to the man, and he had a severely infected right arm that was severed at his elbow. The man was sweating and looked to be in a great deal of pain.
"John was attacked by one of the Wargon''s, and it took most of his arm," Candace said as she and Growl came over beside me.
"Yeah, looks pretty bad. I killed two of them by ident, but I think there are two more running around," I said as I squatted down.
"Three more. The ones that you would have killed would be the lesser males. The female is much bigger and will note out if she doesn''t have to. The female Wargon is much bigger than the males, but they make them do all the hunting," Candace exined as I ced a hand on John''s chest.
"Is there anything special about them? Or anything that I should worry about?" I asked as I activated my System and slowly started to not only heal John but rejuvenate him as well.
"What are you doing to him?!" Candace eximed, and I smiled. It was easy to forget how crazy this looked to someone that knew nothing about me.
"My name is Daniel like I said, but I am not fully human. I am rejuvenating his body and bringing him to his ideal body age. Everyone has a peak age, so to speak, and I have the ability to recharge a body to that point. There are a handful of other things that I can do, but there are also rejuvenating pools I have created above that do the same thing," I exined, and Candace looked away from me to think for a moment.
Chapter 191 [Bonus ] Calm Down, Uncle Ben
While she thought I got to work on healing John, it wasn''t like I had to put more effort into it. My System could be considered autonomous, but that wasn''t the whole truth.
I had split my mind in two, and that meant that one half of me was always working and controlling my System. This made it so I could just direct the flow of things with my intentions. Not having to constantly pull up charts and menus when in battle or trying to doplicated things was a beautiful thing.
John''s injury would have been fatal, even if we got him to a doctor, and there was power. There was more than just a normal infection. As my System healed him, I also took samples of the strange cells that were trying to destroy his body from the inside out. These things were the reason why he would have died, not the severed arm.
[Target: Wargon Blood Leukocytes]
[Information: Responsible for protecting Wargon from infection and disease. They have a special code that registers all known cells in the Wargon''s body, and anything that is not part of that code is attacked. When introduced to another creature''s body, they will attack all living cells, devouring them, and reproducing, resulting from the consumption.]
Wow, that was some scary shit. The Wargon''s white blood cells were amazing and could be useful in the future. If we could integrate them into humans, this would basically stop all organic infections and diseases. It wouldn''t stop things like metal or radio wave poisonings like lead or radiation, but still incredibly useful.
"So, you came to the base to do what? It is still dark in here, so I can assume the power isn''t on, right?" Candace asked as I continued to heal John.
The cells were very hard to get out of the body because none of them could be left behind. This made the job a lot more meticulous for my System, but I just had to sit back and watch the loading bar fill up.
"Do some exploring, look for some specific aliens, you know. This is area fifty-one, after all," I chuckled, but she narrowed her eyes on me.
"You didn''te to save people?" Candace asked in a pointed tone.
"Nope, this just happened," I replied.
"You are not much of a hero," Candace said, and I ced a hand on my chest to mock being hurt.
"I am going to pretend like that hurts my feelings, but that word has worn out its wee for me," I sighed.
"But, you have power! You have responsibilities!" Candace demanded, but I put a hand up.
"Calm the fuck down, Uncle Ben. I am not Spiderman, and this is not a movie. You have no idea what has been going on or what has happened. I don''t owe anyone anything, so keep your opinions to yourself about whether I am a hero or not because I don''t actually care. I was left as one person out of nine billion with the power to stop what attacked us. I stopped them, and now they are working on cleaning up their mess," I exined, trying to to get upset, but the word Hero grated on me now.
I was no Hero, and I didn''t n on bing one. I was working to protect my people and the others that I chose, nothing more or less. I would do whatever it took to do that. I would be a monster to fight the other monsters that stepped on me. I will be the viin if that is what it takes to remove the great evil that held me back from what I wanted.
I continued to heal John, but Candace stayed quiet.
Not everyone was going to agree with me, and that was fine. I wasn''t in the business of forcing people to do anything outside of basic things to keep them healthy. I would not stand to have people getting sick and dying because their heads were too hard.
That was going to be one of the biggest hurdles going forward. Even the people that could ept my policy of no human on human aggression, there were going to be those that had trouble with the new concepts. This I could handle, but it was something that I was going to have to figure out how to nip in the bud.
I had to hope that much of this kind of attitude was tied to mental diseases and we could cure them, but that wasn''t all that caused them. The people of this world had been subjected to nothing but constant lies to keep people in order, or that was what they told themselves. People were going to have a hard time trusting anything, but they were going to have to learn.
The question was, how much time did I have before I needed everyone on the same page? That question brought me back to the one that had started bothering me today.
What happens when I reach that time? Would I actually leave hundreds of millions, possibly billions of people, out to die? If they were left on the surface, all of them would be killed by radiation sickness, and they would be horrible deaths. What about all the kids that weren''t allowed to make a choice because their hard-headed parents made it for them?
I hated that I was the one holding the ax, but a choice would have to be made. Whatever choice I made was going to be with me for the rest of my life, and that looked to be very long. I had to hope that one day I would be able to look back at all of this and nod to myself for making the right choices.
With great powerse great responsibilities. Yeah, Uncle Ben had it right, but I was starting to feel more like Thanos than any Superhero.
As the big purple man said, "Fun isn''t something one considers when bncing the universe."
Chapter 192 Breed Me
"How do you feel?" I asked as John sat up and looked around.
"Alive. No, I feel much better than being just alive, but that is something that I am thankful for. What did you do to my body?" John asked as he sat up.
"He cured you of what was killing you. That should be enough, considering where we are," Candace said, crossing her arms, and John looked over at her and then at Growl.
"I suppose so. Can''t be mad about that! Who are you? You don''t look all that human to me, even if you are the shape of one. I ain''t never seen eyes that glowed that blue or glowed at all. You are like one of those super people or something like that, right? Like Superman, the Kent rk guy, or over ever it is," John said as he turned back to me.
"Something like that. I was human, but now I am changed, you could say. Are you two fine to stay here with Growl? I am going to seal you three in here while I clear the rest of the area up. Once all dangerous things are caged, then I will get you both back up top," I exined, and Candace nodded.
"This is fine. Out of all the creatures brought here, Growl is the only one that won''t actively try to kill you if you treat it nice," Candace exined as she stroked the blue fur of Growl.
I could tell that she didn''t really like me, but I wasn''t sticking my dick in her, so she didn''t have to. She still understood this was the way it had to be from her bodynguage, but it also said that she didn''t have to like it. I had to hope that more people that were disagreeable would take her approach.
People were allowed to not like things and not participate in certain things, but some things were going to happen, hell or high water. The faster everyone could see this, the easier my job would be, but I don''t think anyone cared about how easy my job was.
"I don''t mind not ying with them damn doggo again! I really thought I was a goner!" Johnughed, scratching the back of his head.
I nodded and walked over to put my hand on the wall, creating a hexagon barrier like the cages. I also made some small lights to let them see. I figured that, while I was at it, I grew some strawberries and raspberries.
"I won''t be that long, but there is some fruit here if you are hungry," I called to them, but neither raced up to grab the food.
"Thanks, but I will wait until I get back up top," Candace said and turned her back to me.
"I am not that hungry yet, but if I try one, I will let you know how they taste!" John said, and I shrugged and turned.
I personally didn''t care if they ate them or not, but Candace''s turning her back to me did spurn me slightly, but I brushed it off. I knew there were going to be people like this, but that didn''t make them bad people. I didn''t need to touch Candace to know that she was a good person, or Growl wouldn''t let her pet him.
I walked back to the main area, and Fllna called to me as I passed through.
"You didn''t die?! You are powerful! Are you sure that you don''t want to breed me?" Fllna called to me, and I waved to her.
"If you only knew the list of women you would have to fight, you might not be so excited to get a chance with me," Iughed as I passed through.
"I don''t need to use my fist now! I can fight them only using my words!" Fllna dered, and I stopped to turn back to her.
"What do you mean, only your words?" I asked curiously. Eddie wasn''t screaming for help, so I figured that I could spare a moment for this.
"See? My words made you stop, but they can make others do more. The spoken word is mighty, but the Felnka''s words have real power. Why do you think the men all did what they did? I used my words, and they had to listen," Fllna exined, but I wasn''t really understanding.
"You didn''t speak, so how did your words do that?" I asked, assuming that they had some sort of telepathy.
"I speak with my mind," Fllna said, and then her voice was inside my head. ''Do you hear me?''
''Yes, I can speak like that as well, but only others that can do this can hear me, like my girls,'' I exined with my thoughts. "But it is better to talk like this unless a private conversation is needed."
"I can use this to control the mind of others and force them to give up before the fight starts!" Fllna dered and then gave me a look that made me ufortable. "Does that mean you will breed me now?"
"No, that does not, but it is a cool ability. I wonder if it only works with brain power? Would be quite the ability if it made you more physically stronger with more people around you," I said, thumbing my chin.
"I will not give up. I have given my people''s lives to keep our secrets safe, but you have made their sacrifices for nothing. You are responsible for me now, and you must give me more people to lead!" Fllna dered, and I rolled my eyes.
"You want me to breed you enough times that you can make a new vige?" I asked skeptically, but Fllna shook her head.
"No, you will need many more than just one vige! I will give you an army of warriors and builders! If we start now, we could have a vige in thirty days!" Fllna dered, and I let out a sigh.
Chapter 193 Stupid Cunt
"While that is all impressive, I don''t know if I will need that, but I will keep it in mind. I could find you a male that could do the job, but I already have ten wives," I said.
There was no denying that being able to pump out new people that fast was great, but I could almost do that with the clones. The problem with the clones was that they had no one inside of them, and they needed a pilot of sorts.
"No! I will only do this thing if you are the one to put the seeds in me! That is my right as Felnka! I get to choose my mate if I am to birth you an army!" Fllna said and crossed her arms, and I crossed mine.
"Well, I guess this is where we hit the impasse then. I will not be unfaithful to my girls, and I don''t need an army that bad," I said and turned away.
"You say these things now, but I know of the evils that areing for you! You wille back to me, of this I am sure!" Fllna called as I walked away.
I didn''t think that was true, but there was no denying that we were short-handed for what wasing. I couldn''t give every human a System, even if I wanted to. There was a limit, and I wasn''t near it yet, but there were not enough to even make a city worth of people with powers with all that could be used.
I pushed the Orc out of my head and headed over to the side that Eddie was taking care of. I could hear fighting and growling, so I headed down a hallway filled with doors that were smashed inwards or outwards.
There were a few cages in some of the rooms, but I stopped when I found the one that Mr. Tree was waiting for nearby. The moment that I went into the room, the metal wall became like silver water and then became a massive door that opened up. There was an elevator bay on the other side, but thankfully no one was in the elevator. Thest thing I needed was Sofiaing down here with the crazy wolves running around.
I exined to Mr. Tree about the things that were captured, and roots started to pour out of the elevation door. Mr. Tree was going to start collecting the captured creatures and sending them up. I also made sure that the trees rescanned everything and tried to take samples from each one.
After that was done, and the roots were already bringing back one of the Fellsom nt monsters, I left to find Eddie. I could sense him up ahead, but things had gotten quiet. I could sense Eddie up ahead, but he seemed to me squaring off with some giant creature.
Once I got to the end of the hallway, I noticed that there was a dead Wargon in one of the rooms that were torn in half, but there was another cage. That one wasn''t moving, but it still had signs of life, even if they were fragile.
"How long are you going to stand outside there?! I could use some help!" Eddie called from the end room.
"Sorry, I have to go heal the Wargon that you almost killed," I called as I walked over and did just that. I wasn''t going to lose all Sofia''s specimens just because this one was a raging asshole.
"Fuck that blood puppy! This thing is going to kill... Get the fuck off me!" Eddie yells as I watch the big thing in my sensors grab Eddie and shake him violently, tossing him into a wall. There was a loud crashing noise, and I sighed.
"Do I have to do everything myself?" I asked as I walked out of the room the Wargon''s were in and into thest big room.
The ce was all metal, and there was a massive Wargon in the center of it. The creature must have been almost three times as big as the male I had just healed, or bigger.
"Bought time that you came and helped!" Eddie snapped as he picked his body off the ground, and I narrowed my eyes at him, giving him a what the fuck look and shaking my head.
"What is taking you so long? You have roots just like me; lock it down!" I told him, but Eddie just returned my words in a mocking tone.
"Dipshit! Don''t you think I tried that! If you are so fucking bright, then you show me how it is done then!" Eddie snapped, giving me the finger, and I rolled my eyes.
"If you want something done right," I said as roots burst from me and sshed into the ground to spread over the metal like mercury.
The female Wargon backed up from me slowly and then shook its head, but more than just the shake happened.
"What the actual fuck?!" I said as I watched the creature shake itself apart into three smaller copies of itself.
I immediately closed off the door behind me with solid metal. My scans were telling me that it was much more than the creatures that I had fought previously to this one.
"Oh, look, the boss is getting serious now, stupid cunt! I told you this thing is a fucker! We should just kill it!" Eddie growled, but I gave him the finger.
"Yeah, the creature that can split itself into smaller copies of itself. Probably the biggest scientific gold mine has been found down here, and you want to kill it?" I asked with an incredulous look.
"Yes, this thing needs to be burnt with fire! You have no idea what this thing is capable of!" Eddie snapped, but I just woke him up.
"Stop being a pussy, and help me catch this fucking thing!" I snapped.
Eddie mocked me again, so I used a vine to toss him at one of the monsters. It split into two smaller versions right before Eddie was going to hit it, then they sucked back together.
Man, I loved my job!
Chapter 194 Eddie, Everything Gets Under Your Skin
"Eddie! Stop lying around! We had work to do; this is no time to be napping!" I called over as the three Wargon surrounded him.
"I am ying dead. Shut the fuck up, or I will shove my fist up your ass!" Eddie snapped back, and the Wargon all pounced on him. "This is not what a good time looks like."
? As much as it was funny to watch them use Eddie as a chew toy, I had more floors to explore.
My body was all over the room now, and it was like being in a ss cube in a pool of mercury. Roots burst from every direction to grab the creature, but even predicting up to five separations wasn''t enough. They broke down to impossibly small one-inch tall copies, but that was the limit.
"What the hell is wrong with these things?! I thought we were the kings of impossibility?" Eddie growled as he got back up, and the creature started to pull back together.
"Just start creating boxes and make ultra-fine mesh to catch them in," I said, and Eddie groaned. "Once we have enough of her collected, you can burn the rest."
"Oh? I can torch the bitch? Why didn''t you start with that! Come here, puppy! You better get in my box, or I am going to burn you with FIRE!"
It took us an hour of cursing and then an inferno of ss melting proportion to finally get the room cleaned up. The creature was not only crafted but extremely resilient. Nothing like the male counterparts.
This was the third species that relied on females that I hade across. It made me wonder how many more there were?
"Alright, what is now? What monster is going to try and molest me next?" Eddie asked as I unsealed the room. I had made sure to give the room a really good scan before I did, but we had got all of the Female Wargon captured or destroyed.
"You are going to seal this floor up and help Mr. Tree for a bit. I want everyone cleared off this floor and safely escorted to the top side. Try not to be a dick to the humans," I said, and Eddie made a disgusted face.
"You want me to deal with lower life forms? Disgusting. There are only so many lines I will cross, Silver Sparkle!" Eddie growled but thenughed. "I am just fucking with you. Hell to the yes, I will go help some people instead of being your ammo! Hell, I might even be nice! Get really wild!" Eddieughed, shaking his hands in the air as we walked back out to the main area.
"You are back and alive again, and you brought the ugly one with you!" Fllna called as we entered.
"I know; he is pretty hard to look at!" Eddieughed.
"I was talking to you, ugly robot man! You probably don''t even have the right parts!" Fllna shot back.
"Listen here bitch, I just said I was going to be nice, and you are testing me!" Eddie snapped.
"Fllna, leave Eddie alone. He is a part of me, even if it is the worst one."
"Daniel, you can just shut the fuck up any time now. Don''t you have a floor to explore? Go fucking get eaten by a monster or something," Eddie growled.
"Please try to be a bit more understanding with the humans. They have had a hard time down here, and you are to be a help," I said, getting more serious, and I looked at Fllna. "You as well. You are alive because of us, not me."
"Yeah, I got it, boss. This one just got under my skin," Eddie sighed.
"Eddie, everything gets under your skin. Just rx. Also, be nice to Growl, the alien dog with them. I am serious. You don''t want to insult it," I said, and Eddie nodded, following me to the door.
"Yeah, I got it, don''t make fun of the alien dog. Go ruin some monster''s day and leave me to this," Eddie said, and I grinned as I walked back out into the stairwell.
I turned back and watched as Eddie closed up the doors with solid metal. I was surprised that nothing had tried to get out here, but there was nothing as I scanned the stairwell.
Once I was down to the bottom floor, I was about to start prying the door open, but I stopped as I felt something intense wash over me. It wasing from directly in front of me, almost like there was something on the other side of the door.
I took an involuntary step back and took a deep breath in. Whatever was on the other side of the door was nothing like what had been on the floors above. Whatever was inside of here could almost be considered evil from the terrifying presence it was giving off.
Turning, I melted the stairs and sealed off this level, even though I had sealed it above. Once I was done, I turned back to the doors. They were heavy-duty, and they didn''t have to be open to know that they were extremely thick.
I walked up to the door and ced my hand on it, and my silver spread over the door. It took a moment topletely liquefy the door, but when it was ready, I walked through.
Instantly, I was hit with a feeling of wrongness and the stench of blood and death. A quick scan of the floor told me that there was one person locked in a small room on the far end of the floor and something else in the center. Whatever it was, my scan couldn''t read it properly, but there were ck pulsing veins covering the hall.
I created a light, but I shut it off. There were so many ck veins that the light would just cast too many shadows. I could see perfectly fine in the dark with my eyes.
"What are you?" an old human-sounding voice called from up ahead.
Chapter 195 Shalgoth
I froze at the words, but it was the strange, very American voice that bothered me. My scans would be able to tell if there was another human up ahead, but there was only the unknown creature''s signature.
"I am a human," I called.
"If you are a human, then so am I."
I walked forward until I reached the central area that should have had a desk in it and many other things, but that was all crushed and covered in ck veins. In the center of the room was a figure cloaked in darkness.
Immediately, I ran a scan over it, but nothing came up. I mean, I got the scan read, but everything about this thing was unknown.
"You don''t look like any human I have seen," I said to the figure, and solid yellow round eyes opened, and it smiled with razor-sharp white teeth. There was something under that darkness.
"Neither do you, Annokale. You are only human-shaped, as I am. These forms are nothing more than the conveniences we provide to the lesser forms. We are much greater than these fragile shells, are we not, Daniel?" The darkness asked me, and I took an involuntary step back. How did this creature know my name already? Could it have heard us above?
"Who are you, and how do you know my name?" I asked, taking a step forward again. I would not lose ground to whatever this was.
"I have many names given to me, but they tend to get lost after I tire of ying games and devour all that know them! You can call me Shalgoth, the Devourer of Worlds!" The darkness announced.
"What are you doing here then?" I asked. This creature was terrifying from just its presence, but was that all? It was being held by humans, after all.
"I have been waiting for you, of course! The Bright One isn''t the only being that can n in advance, and now I have you here!" The form dered and then started to shift into a ck knight. "I am here to take the heart from you, and then I can search out the other!"
Suddenly, the knight burning with shadow jumped at me, bringing the sword in an overheard strike aimed at my face. Silver root blocked the strike and then pushed the de back, but it became incorporeal and kepting for my face. My hands went up, and I grabbed the de, instantly feeling a burning like nothing I had ever felt before.
[Dark Matter Resistance increased to 5%]
I threw myself back, letting go of the de, shaking my hands that looked tarnished silver. This was the first time that I had felt real pain in a while, but what the hell was dark matter, and why could it hurt me?
"So, you are much stronger than I could have imagined, but that will only make taking your life from you that much sweeter!" Shalgothughed, but I pped my hands, then put them to the side as I bowed, and twin katana formed in my hands.
"Bravo, Shalgoth. I am actually excited," I said with a vicious smile as the terror I had once felt burned away. I had been looking for a real fight since I had gotten this power.
"Excited? You are supposed to be feeling terror!" The knight snapped, and I shook my head.
"I was just scared that you were going to be something weak that talked a bunch of smacks, but you are just another space fart looking for a good ass whooping!" Iughed, bringing my des up.
There was no doubt that this creature was incredibly strong, but it seemed to think highly of itself. In all fairness, it probably had a good reason, but it was still strange that it said it was waiting for me.
"Youugh now, creature of the stars, but where there is always more darkness than light!"
I dashed forward and shed at the creature, but my de passed through it. I was shed by the creature''s sword, but roots burst from the cut, grabbing the de and holding it to my side.
"Gahh! Fucking shadow!" I roared and kicked the ck knight in the chest, sending him flying back into the wall, but the de went with him. I healed the cut easily, but it still hurt like a son of a bitch.
This was going to be bothersome to deal with, but that meant I was going to have to take some hits and get my hands dirty. I sucked my swords back into my body and marched over to the creature as I tried to pick itself up.
I drove my knee into its face, knocking it back down, and then started to boot fuck the ck stain, but then shadow grabbed me like my roots and flung me back. My roots sprung out, catching me in the air like a spider in a web.
"You are a resilient stain!" I growled as I flung myself at the creature again, tackling it to the ground. I started to feed it shots, and the creature shortened its weapon to a dagger, trying to stab me. I pinned down that arm and fed elbows into the creature''s face.
Shadows tried to grab me again, but I anchored my body to the ground this time, but they still burnt my skin.
[Dark Matter Resistance increased to 9%]
"Get off me, you brute! Fight me like a gctic be-"
I hit him in the mouth with another elbow to shut him up and continued to beat the shit out of the creature.
Suddenly, a ck spike shot out of its chest and impaled me. I winced and coughed down silver-like blood onto the shadow figure.
"Not so tough now are-"
I shed the spiked with my arm, breaking them, and punched the cock sucker in the lips again to shut him up. I was so tired of people talking, and this oozing pile of infected burning piss was no exception.
"Just say Uncle when you are tired of getting a back alley brain transnt!" I growled and continued to beat the shadow as it fought back futility.
Chapter 196 Something Was Wrong
Something was wrong.
Shalgoth stopped fighting back, but my attacks had no effect on him. I tried to stab him with my roots, but his body would just move out of the way. I was really starting to get tired of these creatures with expert-level avoidance skills.
Finally, I just tried to put him in a solid sphere. I didn''t think this thing needed air, so I left no venting.
Once it was captured, I thought that was it, but that was stupid for me to think it was going to be that easy. The sphere was sliced in half, and the ck night formed again.
"You are quite the rude creature, but I expect nothing less from something such as yourself. Are you done ying around, or is this really the best that you have?" Shalgoth asked as my mind raced.
I wasn''t powerless; I just wasn''t sure what would work on something like this. This thing was like nothing I had encountered, and the way its body seemed to burn with darkness was almost supernatural.
"If you are so strong, then why wait here for me?" I asked, trying to get something, but the ck knight shook his sword at me.
"No, No. Talking was fun, but now I want what I have been waiting for!" Shalgoth hissed and then blew apart.
Shadows started to rise around me, or they looked like shadows. From a quick scan, they were solid and made out of the same stuff that was veining the walls and floor.
Then they started to rush me, and vines burst from me to attack them, but none of them could pierce the ck humanoid creatures. I threw them into each other, but there started to be more of them, with each one knocked down.
This was getting stupid, so I ignited with fire, and the shadows screamed and backed up from me. I pumped out more fire, and the creatures were pushed back momentarily. Then they started to throw themself at me, into the fire.
Roots whipped around, but soon they were all rushing me again, not caring about getting burnt or whatever was happening to them. I flung myself back towards the exit, but it was nowpletely covered over by the ckness.
"Son of a bitch," I growled to myself as I tried to think, letting my roots fight off the creatures.
What was different about down here? There had to be a reason why it was down here and noting to find me, but what was it?!
Maybe Cecil would have the answer, the person that was still alive down here. The problem was going to be getting through these shadow people, but I had an idea.
I turned my body into the Ironman suit and then fired a particle beam cannon st from my chest. The ray cut through the creatures, and they screamed and iled in pain. I raised my hand and started to st them with short-range particle beams, keeping them back.
"You will tire soon, Star Creature! It is only a matter of time!" Shalgoth''s voice taunted me from an unseen location as I worked my way back into the main area.
The creatures were thick as flies here, but myser beams were holding them back. I had to give it to the creature; this would have killed a normal person pretty easily, but good thing I wasn''t one of those!
Still, I felt like this creature was fucking with me or something. All this power, and it still can''t evene close to taking me down? What was stopping it, or what was limiting its power?
I headed to the left, burning everything that came near me, working my way down another long hall. This floor was much bigger than the ones above, and there were some sections that were massive pit-like areas, but I couldn''t get a read on them.
None of my scans were working on anything, and I started to wonder if that was linked to what might be limiting Shalgoth. The scan was the basis for my power, and without the ability to scan, I couldn''t grow stronger.
The scans were still working enough to tell me that there were other things still alive. The farther I got from the central area, the less the ck veins were. It seemed the creature was stationed in that area, but its reach was limited.
The shadow creatures had also stopped appearing, and things got real quiet as I continued forward. I could sense things around me, but the ce was like a grid. The halls were twelve feet wide, big enough to drive arge truck through, and from the massive venttion system, they did.
I continued forward, but nothing in the area came out to bother me. I am not sure why, but I suspected that they assumed that if I could survive an attack like that, I might not be the best to mess with. Either they were diabolically plotting my defeat or just couldn''t tell their eyeballs from their assholes and didn''t care.
Whatever the reason was, I really didn''t care. I just wanted to get to wherever Cecil was and get some answers if she had any. I was struggling for ideas, and I seemed to be cut off from outside and even Eddie up above.
Unfortunately, there was something in the room before the final room that held the person I was looking for, but the door was closed, which was strange. I prepared myself to press my hand on the door, but I was suddenly blown backward by the metal door.
"Did you kill it?!" Growled a demonic voice as I threw the door off me with my roots, stood back up to freeze, and then got on guard, Roots ring out.
Alpha was standing right in front of me, of someone that looked like an imitator¡ a clone. This creature was just like Beta, but what was it doing here?
"No, the Shalgoth is still alive. Who are you?" I asked, and the massive seven-foot-tall yellowish gray demon shrugged.
Chapter 197 Mox And Cecil
"Names don''t matter. What does is getting out of here alive. I was sent as a recon, and I would like to leave this forsaken world!" The Gideon snapped, and I shrugged.
"What do you want me to do about it? I am stuck down here with you. Why were you in there with the door closed? Is the human alright?" I asked, and the creature nodded.
"Cecil is fine. She is the only one that might be able to get us out of here. Since you have a more human form, Annokale, you might be able to convince her to let you in. If we can disable the Silence, then we can be released from its shackles!" the creature dered dramatically, and I nodded.
"So this Silence thing is what is causing nothing to work? What can''t you do? You look pretty tough," I said, and the creature gave me a strange look.
"Who are you? How do you know about my Belial?! I can smell the Systeminuin on you, but it is stronger than normal!" The creature said as it advanced on me. "You smell like a certain Annokale, Omega!"
"Woah, Woah, Deformed Debby, I am not Omega. He was holding something for me and brought it. Now I am holding Tiamat''s heart. My name is Daniel Brighton," I said, and the creature stopped, narrowing its yellow eyes on me. "Now you do feel that I am worth a name?"
"Mox, Recon division for the Supreme Leader, Alpha. Praise be in his name."
"Okay, Mox, get out of my way so I can go see this person," I said, and the demon bared sharp teeth at me.
"Remember, silver tongue. I can tear into you with these teeth like you were made of flesh," Mox warned, and I nodded as my vines turned into des.
"And I can turn you into a meat tter if you don''t stop trying to tell me how small your penis is!" I growled, and Mox stepped aside, but I pointed my fingers at my eyes, and then at him, and back and forth. "Watching you! I have eyes in the back of my head!"
Just to prove a point, I grew a pair in the back of my head, but there was hair in the way, and the whole thing turned into a process. I gave up and marched off as Mox chuckled to himself.
Something about how he was so free with giving information like I was irked me for some reason. Mox was a Gideon and my enemy by all rights, but he just told me whatever I asked. I would have thought that people that essentially worked for a space demon nazi would be a bit more tight-lipped about that kind of information.
The room I walked into was a mess, and it looked like this was once a monitoring room, but all theputer stations were smashed now. I looked around, but I didn''t see any bodies, and I tried not to think about what had happened to them. I wasn''t really sure what space demons ate, and I didn''t want to think about it.
There was a lighting from up ahead, being fluorescent, and seemed to be from glow sticks, but it was behind a ss barrier. On the other side, I could see something floating in the center of the room.
I tried to use my scan on it, but nothing happened. I tried to summon other features, but nothing. My roots were still working fine, but all my intr screens and menus were gone.
I moved closer and cupped my hands around my eyes to try to get a better look since my eyes were having some trouble seeing in the dim light.
"Who are you?! Are you human?! Your eyes are super blue! You must be an alien! Darn! You got my hopes up!" An ecstatic woman fired off in what seemed like a single breath, making me jump back.
"This human is stranger than most of them," Mox said from the entrance of the room. "She is incredibly smart and very deceitful."
"I take offense to that, Pee Colored Man! New alien! Where, do, you,e, from?" The woman asked, saying thatst part one word at a time, making me p a hand to my face.
"Canada."
"That''s boring! You could have said mars or something to entertain me! Really, Canada? What brings you down to this creepy ce at the end of the world? The world is still ending, right?"
"No, I stopped that."
"You what?! You stopped the end of the world?! Then why are all the lights still off?"
"Still working on that part. Are you Cecil?"
"Depends who''s asking; I mean, you are asking, but I mean, who are you, really? Am I just supposed to trust some random stranger that I met in a dark alley? This is said dark alley," Cecil said, waving her fingers in a circle to epass the room.
How did one person fit many words into one breath?
"Listen, Cecil. My name is Daniel Brighton, and I am here to rescue you."
"Really? Awfully nice of you. Do you mind locking up everything? I don''t really want to leave this ce until that is done. You know there are some pretty scary things out there, and none of them should ever see the light of day!"
"Yes, I am quite aware of that, and that is why I am here to get your help," I said, and Cecil gave me a stupid look.
"Yeah, ''cause I just came in here to have my lunch break. Just give me ten more minutes, boss, I just sat down, and then I will tell you how we do things! Damn it! You are supposed to know how to save me! You think that I live here?! I do live in my office, but that is apletely different point, and I get caught sleeping on the monitor stations. Anyways, the point is, I don''t know what you want me to say," Cecil said, and I groaned.
How could one person say so much yet so little at the same time?
Chapter 198 Hentai Man!
"So, can Ie in?" I asked.
"The tentacle monster is asking me if he cane inside? Hell to the no! I have seen too many hentai to know where this is going! I am a virgin, and I don''t n on changing that Hentai man!"
I pped my face. Now I know how Sofia felt.
"I aming in," I said with a sigh. I didn''t feelfortable with Mox behind me, and I was here to save this girl, not do whatever she is fantasizing about.
I pushed my hands to the metal, and my body slowly absorbed into it, moved through the metal, and then reformed on the other side.
"Oh god! I am not ready for this! I was just kidding about being a virgin if that is your thing! I am well used! Wait! That is not what I meant! Gah! Please be gentle?" Cecil cried as she backed into the corner. Was she blushing?
"Cecil, Riley sent me down here to get everyone. I already saved Candace and John on the floor above," I exined with a sigh.
"So you aren''t going to prate me from every angle with those multiple tentacles?" Cecil asked in a more calm voice, almost curiously.
"No, I am not. Don''t look so disappointed," I said, and Cecil sighed.
"I mean, you are a pretty hot-looking tentacle alien. A girl has fantasies, and they get really weird when you actually start working with tentacle monsters! Then a hot one shows up and justes right in your no-no square. I just thought that it was going there," Cecil exined with a shrug, and I gave her an understanding nod.
"If it helps. Once we get out of here. We can find you another hot tentacle monster boyfriend if you want?" I asked, and Cecil''s eyes bugged out.
"There are more of you?!"
"Well, yes, but I don''t think that you want a clone of me," I said, and Cecil Blinked at me.
"Why wouldn''t I?"
I scrubbed my hand over my face and gave my head a shake.
"We are off-topic. How can we shut this thing off?" I asked.
"We don''t," Cecil said as she got up.
"You know, for a person that talks so much, you don''t have much to say about this," I said, crossing my arms.
"Not a lot to say about it. We call it Silence, but it has no effect on electronics or humans. All we know is that it restricts very dangerous enemies," Cecil exined as she walked over to me. "What are you that makes you stuck here?"
"I am not stuck, and the moment that we figure out how to deal with the monsters that are down here, I will be sending you up from this room. I am an Annokale that was created in the image of a human and lived as one for thest twenty-some years. The world ending happened, but I was meant to take control of the thing that attacked up. Now I am getting earth ready for another big series of attacks," I exined.
"So, you are like earth''s new king or something? What about humans like me?" Cecil asked.
"I am providing a haven for those that want to change. Human on-human violence ends, and death and disease to the best of my abilities. I know we will still have fights, but those will be settled with clones. Still, there are many already resisting or are untrusting," I exined, and Cecil nodded.
"Yeah, that will happen, but why make exceptions? You have the power to give everyone a choice, right? Then do that, and stick to your guns. Humanity is a scary thing to watch, and I am sure that we are on the path to destroying ourselves. What you talk of sounds like a perfect world, in my opinion. A month ago, I would have told you that it was a cute-sounding dream. Then I just watched you melt through the door, and your eyes glow brighter than the glow sticks. If what you say is true, then you are the first person in the history of man that actually has the power to make that change. If I were you, I would pursue that goal to the end of time," Cecil exined, and it was like a small part of my weight was lightened by it.
"Thank you for that. I have been having a hard time trying to figure out if what I am doing is right," I said.
"There is no right or wrong if we are trying to survive. People will die, but people are going to die if you don''t. How they die is your choice, and it is a hard one, but it is something that leaders have had to do since there were people to lead," Cecil said, and I nodded, turning to the Silence.
"So, is it that you can''t turn it off, or you don''t want to?" I asked, starting to walk over to the floating oval.
It was in the center of the room, but Cecil got between the Silence and me.
"I know how to turn it off, but we can''t, or we are all dead. I am sure that you ran into Floyd," Cecil said with arms out, and I stopped.
"Floyd? You mean the Shalgoth?" I asked, and Cecil nodded.
"I guess it''s not Floyd anymore, but that creature is using him as a body. It was in a high-security area, and It was Floyd''s job to monitor it and some other extremely dangerous creatures. They were above my clearance, so I don''t know anything about them. Floyd is the only one now, but he is dead or something. You don''t happen to have something to eat? I was in here doing some tests when the power went out and the door sealed. I couldn''t get out of here if I wanted to," Cecil exined, and I nodded and walked over to the wall.
Chapter 199 Do You Have A Girlfriend?
I pressed my hand to it and then through it to connect with Mr. Tree, but I had to st through three feet of concrete before I hit the dirt. The moment I did, I could feel Mr. Tree again, and the roots came to me as I pulled my arm back, and tree roots came with it.
"Wah?! You can control trees?! What else can you do?" Cecil asked as she rushed over to my side, grabbing my arm, her blonde hair swinging in the air.
"Anything that you can think of," I said as an apple grew from a pink flower from one of the roots. It grew over to Cecil, and she grabbed it and started eating right away as more fruits of different varieties started to grow.
"Do you have a girlfriend or a partner? I might not be much, but I can do whatever you need! This is amazing! Having you would be like dating paradise!" Cecil moaned as she bit into a peach that leaked down her cheeks.
"I have ten already," I said with a smile, and Cecil waved her hand.
"Even numbers are for squares! You need a good odd one in your life! I can not only be the odd number, but I can fill the role as your oddest girlfriend yet!" Cecil dered, swinging her half-eaten peach dramatically.
"Sorry, there is a long line of women trying to get a position that doesn''t exist. Like I said, I will get the girls to find you the perfect man just for you," I said, and Cecil let out a sigh and let go of my arm.
"Well, it was worth a try. You are the king of the world, so it doesn''t hurt a girl to try to get in on that action, right? The other girls aren''t going to attack me, are they? Do you have a bunch of Yandere? Or are they all Tsundere? You seem like the type that likes a difficult woman!" Cecil giggled.
"The harem is pretty diverse. Every girl has their own special personality that I get along with. So more than others. They will also not try to attack you, but if you run into Melody, ignore her and walk in the other direction," I said, smiling to myself. I couldn''t introduce any women to her, or another fight would break out.
That made me curious to know what the meetings must be like? I wished I could get in on them, but at the same time, I probably didn''t want to know what went on there.
"So now what?" Cecil asked, taking a bite of another peach.
"I am going to rx in the bath for a bit and think things through. There must be a way that I can defeat the Shalgoth," I said and started to create a regeneration pool in the far corner of the room.
"You are going to what? Take a bath? Right now?" Cecil asked skeptically.
I nodded as roots stretched over and started to pump out the green liquid. It had be oozier then when I first started to use it, but it also worked much better.
"Yes, the fight with the Shalgoth took a lot of me, and I have been dealing with other things as well. I don''t need to sleep; I just need to recharge with this pool. You cane in as well. I will leave a towel for you to wear so you can strip down," I exined.
"You want me to get in the bath with you? Are you sure you don''t just want to have some fun while we are at it? It can be our little secret?" Cecil asked as she casually stripped off her clothes and got into the pool. "Ooo, that feels amazing!"
"No, I just want to think for now. Once I have enough cement removed, I will make an elevator, and I will send you up to the top. I wille up with you so I can talk to my wife, Sofia," I exined as I walked over and got into the pool.
I let out a sigh and leaned back as I felt the regeneration of my energy begin. I closed my eyes and started to think. Knowing that there was a person under the Shalgoth told me that it needed a host just like the Annokale. That could mean that there might be a way to separate them, but I wasn''t sure. I wished I could have gotten a scan of the creature, but the Silence was preventing me from using any of my menus or scanning.
"If you can get Floyd out of the creature, then he might know how to deal with it. If he is still alive," Cecil said, and I opened my eyes to find her sitting beside me. "Sorry, I have been down here for a week now, and I thought that I was going to die. I just want to be close to you for now, if that is okay?"
"Sure, I don''t mind. You are strong for keeping it together," I said.
"That is because of Mox. I know that he didn''t seal the door for me, but having him here to talk to and bug kept me sane after the monsters killed everyone. It was really horrible to watch," Cecil said, and I put an arm around her shoulder, and Cecil leaned into me, closing her eyes.
Within minutes, Cecil was softly snoring on my shoulder, and I let her sleep as I created the elevator to take us up. I might have to see if Omega knew what the Shalgoth was or maybe Calishora. Her body should be ready by now.
For now, I closed my eyes and rxed as I let my body recharge for the next round with the shadow monster Shalgoth. Whatever this thing was, it couldn''t be left here, but I couldn''t let it go either. If worse came to worst, I would just go and study where it was being kept before to get a better idea of how to deal with it.
Chapter 200 Returning To The Surface
After the elevator wasplete and I had a good soak, I slowly scooped Cecil out of the water and grew a white dress on her. She was a cute girl, but I wanted to get up to see my cute girl. This trip turned out to be much more of a project than I had nned.
Once I was in the elevator and moving, I was puzzled about the Shalgoth, but I was also curious about the Gideon. I still couldn''t get over how he was so open with me about things. I needed to see if there was a way that I could try and convert him over to my side.
I knew he was a copy of Alpha, and the Astral God was known to take over his subject. That made this dramatically harder, but this Silence could be the key tobating these Astral Gods and their control of their people. If I could make small portable devices, I could start taking the people they sent to me away.
This wouldn''t work with everyone, and some would take serious work to get them to turn. That left me in the same position as the other humans. If some didn''t want to change or just couldn''t, I would be left with a choice of how they would die. The killing was always more straightforward, but is that what I was going to do?
This question kept popping up. It was almost like I was testing myself to find the best possible answer to the question by dissecting it from every angle. Though no matter how I looked at it, giving people the choice was the best option, and they could decide their own fate. Talking with Cecil had helped, but talking with Candance had made me question if I shouldn''t be trying to do more because I had the power to.
The elevator stopped and opened to a smiling Sofia with Riley standing at attention beside her. The man looked like a stone.
"Papi, what did you find now?" Sofia asked as she gave Cecil a look over.
"One of the survivors. Riley, did Candace get brought up yet?" I asked, looking at the soldier, and the man nodded.
"Yes. I came over here to thank you from the bottom of my heart for getting her out of there. You really don''t know how much it means to me. You are a MAN of your word in my books, and I will follow you to the sun''s surface if you say we can do it. Times are changing, but if you are at the head of that change, I would like to be part of it," Riley said, offering me a hand that I shook awkwardly as Cecil slowly woke up in my arms.
It was nice to hear him entuate the man part, considering that he wasn''t to keen on calling me that before.
"Is that real sunlight?" Cecil asked slowly as she put a hand up to block her eyes as I walked out into the warm sun.
I stopped and set Cecil down. People rushed over and helped take Cecil, but she turned to me.
"I am going to see you again, right? This can''t be thest time, right?" Cecil asked with a desperate look in her eyes.
"Papi, what were you doing down there that this girl is crawling all over you?" Sofia asked, giving me a look.
"I didn''t do anything, really. I just saved her, but she and another monster have been trying to apply for spots in the harem," I said with a sigh, rubbing both hands over my face before turning to Cecil. "Yes, you will being back with everyone to the Central Great Forest. I will have to talk to youter, though. Sofia, let''s go for a walk; I need some more sun."
Cecil nodded and left with the soldiers, and I walked over to the long runaway that ran down the length of the base, north to south. Sofia followed and came over to take my hand.
"Are you okay? What happened down there? You disappeared when you entered thest floor. I had been monitoring you, but then you just vanished," Sofia exined, and I nodded as I soaked in the sun.
The regeneration pool was good, but the sunlight was like drinking an energy drink, but all the perks with no crash. The rays soaked into me, and my System and body felt like they were filling back up with energy. I hadn''t realized how much energy I had used down there, but the fight with the Shalgoth made me use a lot, and I was powering Eddie.
"The first floor was just a pain, but the one I was just on has a monster like an Annokale, but the opposite of one if that can be said. The name was Shalgoth, but I couldn''t scan it. There is a device on thest floor called Silence, which restricts the abilities of strong entities like me, and that alien," I exined, and Sofia nodded but looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
"The opposite of you?" Sofia asked.
"I think so, but I couldn''t scan it because of the Silence. I can still use my abilities, but my HUD menus and scanning get weaker the closer I get to it. It''s to the point where I can''t even pull them up when I am next to it. I took a lot of damage from it, giving me resistance to Dark Matter. What do you know about that?" I asked, and Sofia shrugged.
"It is a hypothetical substance that is supposed to make up eighty-five percent of the universe. The cosmic glue, or something like that. Not really my area of expertise, but if you gain resistance to it, then it is quite a bit less hypothetical," Sofia exined, and I nodded, but that didn''t help me.
"Well, that is all good, but do you know how I can stop it?" I asked.
"How to stop something theoretical until thirty seconds ago? Sorry, my brain doesn''t work that fast, Papi. Do you think that we should leave this for right now? If it is stuck down there, we should just leave it for now. It was being contained before when the power was on, so it might be something we need power for," Sofia suggested, and I nodded as we stopped at the end of the runway.
Chapter 201 A Mythical Entity
"Yeah, this feels like a boss fight, and I don''t think I am ready for this one yet. I beat the shit out of it, but it just shrugged it off like it was nothing. It created an army of shadow figures that reproduced faster than I could kill them if there was anything to kill in the first ce. I even tried shing through it, but its body became incorporeal, my de going right through it," I said, rubbing my hand on my forehead, but Sofia took it in her hand.
"Papi, there are some things that you aren''t going to be ready for. Just be happy that this one is contained for now. You were already able to save some people, and Mr. Tree and I had everything loaded into a massive crate on the hangers. There was a lot. You had better just start thinking about how we are going to get that back," Sofia said as she came and wrapped her arms around me. I returned the hangover and closed my eyes.
I hated hitting walls. I should be able to conquer anything, but Icked the one thing my System thrived on. Information. Without knowing anything about this creature, I was fighting it blindly, and that was just asking for trouble, but I hated to leave it.
The Shalgoth was clearly a deadly creature, and getting loose would be the worst possible situation. Even if I didn''t know the full extent of its power, I had to assume that it wasn''t bluffing from thements it had made.
"I guess you are right. What are the dimensions of the crate?" I asked, then added, "It doesn''t matter the size; I can just make a disc with a crystal wall around it to fly us back. I will make sure to go slower this time."
"That sounds good, there are a lot of people that need toe back with us, but there are a few that you will have to deal with. They are more like the general whose neck you broke. I know you have had a long day, but these people need to be dealt with," Sofia said, looking up at me with a knowing look, and I sighed.
"Can''t people just get in line for paradise?" I asked, and Sofia snorted.
"Hell or paradise is a matter of opinion, and the people that have been in charge their entire lives don''t think that should change," Sofia said as we broke apart and started to walk down the runway.
"How many are there?" I asked.
"Including the troops standing with them, fifteen of about two hundred. They are bunkered off in one of the dual-level bomb shelters," Sofia exined, and I nodded.
"Simple enough. So I just have to get through two floors?" I asked, but Sofia shook her head.
"No, they are on the first floor, but what is under them is important. That is where the trove of valuables they have collected! No one knows exactly what is down there, but from what I have gathered from the people who worked here, it is a treasure from the aliens'' crafts. I don''t know about you, but that sounds like the mother load and what we came here for. All the other stuff is very nice, but it sounds like we need to investigate, eh, Papi?" Sofia asked, elbowing me in the side.
"Mighty Canadian of you there, senorita! Well, you don''t have to twist my rubber arm very hard for this. After the hell that I just went through, dealing with some irritated humans might be a nice change of pace. I will go deal with them, but I will check out the bunker alone first and do some scans to ensure it is safe. After that, I will call you down. What is Eddie up to?" I asked after exining.
"He is still down there, but he sealed the floor and then moved up a floor. Now he is helping Michael get all the nts sent up. I hear that the Xeno-Botanist has some space weed, ording to Eddie, so I am slightly excited. Maybe we can roll one up when we get back and try it out before we get freaky?" Sofia asked, and I grinned.
"The space hippie is gonna give us some space reefer? I am there! You know, I always wondered if there would be dope on others. I mean, I am sure that there are millions, if not billions, of different things that could get you messed up recreationally," I said as we neared the trees, and then I noticed the massive wooden crate that was twenty feet tall and about as big as a football field. "Jesus Christ, Sofia! That fucking thing is huge!"
"That''s what she said!" Jackughed as he walked over to us but then put up his hands in defense. "You aren''t still mad about the robot tank, right?"
"No, I am sure that nothing was done intentionally, but it was oddly suspicious timing. Still, we are all alive, and I learned that we need better tech to mess with that stuff," I said, and Jack sighed as Binder walked over.
"How did things go down below?" Binder asked as he joined us.
"Many deadly aliens were trying to kill me, and I found one I can''t beat. Some kind of Dark Matter creature," I said, and Binder''s eyes went big.
"You mean a Shalgoth? A mythical entity that slowly consumes worlds by covering them with darkness that burns everything in its path?" Binder asked with a worried look that I didn''t like.
"Yeah, that sounds about right. Do you know anything about it or how to defeat it?" I asked, and Binder''s worried look intensified.
"How would you stop the sun if it decided toe and consume the if it was alive?" Binder asked, and I groaned.
No such thing as easy when ites to my life.
Chapter 202 In My Defense
"I want you to get all the info you can about this thing that might be useful when we get back home. You canmunicate with settlements all over the world like ours, so I am sure that you will be able to talk with other people. See if you can dig anything up," I told Binder, and he nodded.
"I will do the best I can. There are many new weapons for me to look over as well," Binder said, and that reminded me about their Systems.
"I guess that I can give you both your Systems now," I said and reached a hand to Binder, but he stepped back with his hands up, confusing me.
"I think that you should give us some time to study what we are working with here. Once I understand what we have found better and cross-reference it with what I assumed, then I should be ready," Binder said, and Jack nodded.
"Yeah, I am with Binder. I mean, I want the thing, but he is right. Now that we have the stuff, I would really like to get a better look at what I am going to be working with. Once I understand that stuff, like Binder said, versus the stuff that I already know, you might be able to give me something fancy, right?" Jack asked, and I nodded with a smile.
"Very good ideas. I am d that you both are thinking ahead about these things. I would have just given you the Systems and called it a day. I am d you suggested getting to know your chosen fields a bit better," I said, and Binder nodded, but Jack just shrugged.
"I am smart, but not in the way this fe is, so I will stick with his n. Might be going with the flow, but it is what it is," Jack said, and I tipped my head to the side with a shrug and slight sideways look.
"Not bad to flow a wellid path. You understand why he is doing it, and it is a good n, in my opinion. It would be a problem if you didn''t understand and were really just going with the flow. This is more like going with the path best followed," I said, and Jack nodded appreciatively.
"I''ll just pretend you called me smart and call it a day," Jackughed, and I joined him.
"Are you done? I am hot out here, and I want to know what is in that bunker, Papi. I want to do some exploring so go clean the ce out!" Sofiained, and I nodded.
"Yes, lead the way," I said, and Sofia and Riley started to march east.
I followed them until we reached a half-barrel building about the size of the crate that Sofia had made, nearly two hundred feet long and fifty wide. I groaned to think about how much more was going to have to be packed in.
"You had better not be groaning about all the treasure we are going to have to take from here! You didn''t even help with the first load!" Sofia growled as we looked at the bunker.
"That was because I was getting eaten by monsters," I replied, but Sofia gave me a look.
"Eddie told me that he was the one getting eaten while you talked with that pig woman! All she talks about is wanting to breed you!" Sofiained.
"In my defense, I had to watch the other four in her party make their heads explode," I said, and Sofia made a disgusted face.
"That sounds horrible!" Sofia said, and I nodded.
"She did it to make herself too stupid to question, so I fixed that problem. Now she thinks that I owe her a new race of creatures to order around," I said with a sigh.
"More pigs? Are they tough? Maybe we could make an army out of them?" Sofia asked, and I shrugged.
"I am more concerned about figuring out how to integrate that node in their brains into our own. If we could do that, people wouldn''t even need Systems to be powerful. Paired with my own to control people if they get crazy, we could make humans nearly to the level of Gods. Something like that would take a long time to aplish, but now we are gifted with that time," I exined, and Sofia nodded.
"That is if we can get out of this sr System and away from the people trying to kill us," Sofia replied, and I nodded with a sigh.
Thinking about what our future was going to be like or how it could make the current issues seem so trivial. These people that were hiding in this bunker right now still seemed to think the world was the same as it was before. It was sad, but I was going to have to deal with these people ordingly.
"Head back, and I will call you over after I have cleaned up and confirmed that it is safe," I said to the two, and they both nodded, leaving me alone.
Once they were gone, I walked up to the end of the building, which looked like half a massive cement pipe sitting from the ground. I scanned the building, and I could see that there were some slits where people were standing behind watching me. I could see right through the building, targeted everyone inside, and then walked up to the singlerge, heavy-duty door.
"We don''t want any of your kind around here, Alien! Leave now, and you may get to do so with your life!" A soldier snarled at me through a slit in the door.
I looked past the soldier, and there was some kind of energy weapon set up on the other end of the building. It was pointing at the door, so I assumed this was what they had to stop me.
The weapon wasn''t like the others I had seen, and this one was ck and yellow in a hexagon shape. It looked like it might have been made by bees if they had higher human intelligence.
"What about if you all just put down your weapons, turn off the bee cannon, ande out in a single file line?" I asked hopefully.
Chapter 203 Those That Resist
"Yeah, I bet that is what you want!" The voice shouted back.
"Don''t waste your time; nothing is going to be able to break through that door!" Another voice said, and I sighed.
I had tried the peaceful route, honest effort. Now was for the other route, the less friendly one.
"Fine, but don''t say that I didn''t warn you all," I said as I walked up to the door, cing my hand on it. The thing was almost a foot thick and probably took two people to move, but that meant nothing to me.
My body melted into the door and flowed through the cracks to the other side, staying a liquid.
"He disappeared!" The man that had been yelling at me called out as I spread out all over the room.
I was hoping that I could change some people''s minds, but I was already sensing that was not going to be possible. The men in this room had stalwart minds that seemed to be brainwashed. These must be the elite soldiers that they trained to follow all orders without fail.
"What is this stuff?! Watch out! There is silver spreading every wear!" One of the men yelled, but it was toote.
Silver roots burst from all over the room, grabbing the people one at a time as the gunfire started to go off. I dragged each of them into the thick metal walls and then left them. Once they were all gone, there was one fat General left shaking behind the turret.
I had been scanning the cannon, and it appeared to fire a barrier of some sort that could be released remotely. That remote was on this general, and I wanted to get it off him before I stuck in with the rest.
"Show yourself!" The General screamed, and I emerged from the floor directly beside him, and the man froze.
"I would have let you all live and have great lives, but in the end, you just couldn''t let go of the scrap of control you gained. What was the price? Everyone lives that you used to get here, right? I can feel that you are the type to push another into oing danger to save yourself, right?" I asked, and the General gritted his teeth.
"You will learn one day, you son of a bitch. Sometimes, a man has to stand up for what he believes in," The General growled, and I rolled my eyes.
"Even when you know that you are about to die, you still hold that you made the right choice? Isn''t there a scrap of you that thinks you could have handled this differently?" I asked.
"That''s the difference between you and me, freak. I am a man of my word, and I stick to my guns. Can you say the same?" The General snapped, and I sighed.
"Some people will resist change, some will fight it, but change is inevitable. Your problem is that you have built a castle, and now it is the only thing you can see," I said, and then the man was ripped down to the ground to join the rest of his team, pulling the switch from his pocket as I did.
Then I walked over to a chair and sat down.
This was not what I wanted to do, but the task was done now, and there was nothing more to be done about it. I had hoped that I could have saved some of them, but once I had touched them all, I knew that wasn''t possible. The things that humans did to each other made me sick, but I couldn''t save everyone.
I scanned around and found the door to the next level and got out of my chair. Once I got over to the door, it seemed that there was no way to open it without power. This door was much thicker than the other door, but thickness meant nothing to a person that could melt any metal.
I ced my hand and slowly turned the door to liquid metal, making a few papers and books nearby catch fire. After putting them out, I moved the melted metal from the floor and shaped it into a cube to cool in a ce where nothing would spontaneously catch fire.
Scans of the floor below were hard, but that was because everything was covered with sheets, so I headed down the stairs. What really surprised me was that when I got to the bottom floor, where there was another door, there was light.
I scanned the bright white light, and it turned out to be a crystal that had pure energy stored in it. They were made by an unknown race, ording to my System, and there wasn''t much info on them.
I had briefly gotten excited. I thought that something down here might have been blocking the Annokale above the earth that was blocking electricity. Turns out that it was just alien tech, but they did make for pretty lights.
I ced my hand on the door and melted it, forcing the metal to just crawl up and around the frame of the door to get out of my way. This made the entrance hot, but it would be cooled down enough by the time Sofia got down here.
The ce was filled with more lights, but everything was covered in sheets. The ce gave me the feeling of finding a secret Nazi bunker, and I guess that this was the equivalent. Considering that we were in one of the most talked about ces in history, it should have some goodies. If this ce wasn''t filled with untold treasures, I was going to be pissed.
"First things first, I need to get all these damn sheets off," I said and started to walk down the line, collecting sheets as I went.
When I was done, I let out a long sigh, but this wasn''t my normal sigh. This was the sign of a teenager that just said the most beautiful thing in the world. There was only one thing in the whole ce that I knew what it was, and that meant we hit the jackpot!
Chapter 204 Sci-Fi Noises And Silence
After all the sheets were off, I did another room scan, but my System was acting haywire again like it had been doing underground. I searched around, but it didn''t take me very long to figure out what was causing this.
Another Silence was in the center of the room, but it was tucked in between some crates. Even after getting the nkets off the stuff, most of the things were in sealed crates. I first needed to know if this ce was safe for others, but I could do nothing without my scanner.
I moved some of the crates out of the way, but one of the boxes was dramatically heavier than the others. I decided to open it up, using my roots to pry the sealed top that was nailed down. Once I lifted the top off, I looked inside, finding that it was filled with small gray metal discs with tiny tes going around the edges. They almost looked like cement cutting des.
I picked one of them up and flipped it over in my hand. The disc was extremely light, but both sides looked the same. I tried to press around on the item, but it wasn''t responding to anything I did, so I put it back for now. There was a good chance that the Silence might be affecting a bunch of the things in here.
Once I moved everything from around the floating oval, I made a few circles around the Silence. It was white, but it was segmented to give it a futuristic look, with blue liteing from the cracks. There was nothing on the sides in the way of buttons, and neither was there anything on the top.
I was tempted to go get Cecil, but I wanted to see if I could get it to work for me. This was probably a bad idea since messing around with alien tech had not gotten us very far in the past, but I was a slow learner.
Still, this thing was nothing more than a floating pylon to me at the moment.
I reach my hand over the top of it, about to put my hand down on top of it, but then a holographic projection of a circle with three buttons on it. The buttons each had strange writing on them, but my System disy wasn''t there to trante them. I pulled my hand back, and the menu vanished, putting it back again to have it reappear.
"Dammit! I just want to start pressing buttons!" I groaned, almost ready to kick the stupid thing.
"Papi!"
"Damnit, Sofia! Get back up top! It is not safe down here yet!" I snapped as I whirled around to see Sofia, Jack, Binder, Riley, Candace, and Cecil. "Jesus Christ! Do none of you know how to listen?!"
"Don''t be such a stickler, or how much longer do you n to stand there and yell at that thing?" Sofia returned, and I rolled my eyes.
"Everyone, keep your hands off things until I can scan over everything! I am looking at you, Jack!" I growled, pointing multiple roots at him.
"Has he used those tentacles on you?" Cecil asked, leaning into Sofia, but she shook her head.
"Not yet, but when we get back-"
"Sofia! You don''t need to answer every question that you are asked!" I snapped, but Sofia just red at me for cutting her off, and I rolled my eyes. "Cecil, can youe over here and shut this off? I don''t want to start pressing random buttons, but I can''t scan anything with it on."
Cecil left Sofia and came over to me, cing her hand over the Silence. The menu appeared, and she pressed the one with the shortest text at the top.
The moment that she did, all hell broke loose.
Hums, whirls, and every other Sci-Fi noise that you can think of, filling therge long bunker.
"This doesn''t seem good," I said, but Cecil shrugged.
"It''s just noise. Most of the things in here use power sources that aren''t even on this or in our sr system. Using the Silence is the only way to turn most of the things off. The actual dangerous stuff is below the tenth level of the main bunker that I was in," Cecil exined, and everyone started to look around.
I kept my eye on all of them, but I was also doing a full scan of the room, and my System was cataloging things. There was also a message that I was due for another Growth Spurt, but this time I was given a couple of options. They were special buffs that would help my System immensely, but the options were constantly changing as the scan was in process.
"Below the tenth? There is nothing below the Tenth floor, and I can pull up an almostpleteyout of the bunker, minus the tenth floor. I can see that there is nothing but concrete and dirt after thest floor," I said, and Cecil Exined as Sofia came over to my other side, taking my hand and leaning into my shoulder.
"Thest floor is beyond strange, and I have only been to the entrance once. I can''t really tell you exactly what it is because I don''t think anyone knows. There was a device that was found on an alien craft that was shot down, and we call it the Dimensional Cube. How it does what it does, no one knows. What it does is creates a space that can be up to one hundred miles cubed, or that is the best we can get. This space is not on earth or even in this reality. It is like another dimension, and that is where it got its name," Cecil exined, and I made a surprised face.
"Wow, that big? What does it do to hold people?" I asked, thinking about how it might be used to keep people safe in the case of a catastrophic event.
"That is still up for debate. As I said, we don''t know much about it, but only one person was allowed in there. They don''t speak anynguage that we have ever heard or can trante," Cecil said.
Chapter 205 UWW
"They are an alien?" Sofia asked, but Cecil shook her head.
"No, Wayne Cash is the man''s name, but everyone just calls him Cash. Each time he goes inside and thenes back out, he speaks a differentnguage and is a different age. Others have been sent in, but theye back with shattered minds, some of them screaming unendingly," Cecil said with a small shiver, making Sofia re up at me.
"What?!" I asked, pulling my head back to disy my shock at the look that I was getting.
"I know exactly what you are thinking! You are not going in there!" Sofia snapped, and I nodded.
"No, I am not that stupid. I would never go into a ce like that in my own body. I will go in a clone or send Eddie," I said.
[Go fuck yourself, Hoe! I am already doing your job! Do something yourself for once!] Eddie snapped, and Iughed out loud, making both girls give me a look.
"Looks like I will be just sending a clone. Eddie didn''t seem to be thrilled about being sent in as a guinea pig," I chuckled, and Sofia rolled her eyes.
"I don''t know what part of you he is, but I think it should have rolled down your mother''s leg," Sofia said, and we all started tough.
"Alright. Let''s start looking around, and try to let me know if you find anything dangerous, okay?" I asked.
"Does this count as dangerous?" Jack asked as he lifted up a gun that was almost as big as me. It had three barrels, each six inches wide, but Jack was holding it up with one hand from its small pistol grip.
My system brought up the scan for the weapon, and I ordered Jack to put it down.
[Target: Gideon Belial Destabilizer Pistol]
[Traits: Varied effects. Destabilization caused atoms to be unglued, increasing the entropy. Depending on the target, effects range from melting, falling apart, exploding, or converting into gas, depending on how much the atom''s entropy is increased.]
"Don''t touch that, or you are going to turn someone into a pile of goo, or worse," I warned Jack, and he put the weapon down right away.
I walked over and picked up the weapon myself, marveling how weightless it waspared to its size. I did another scan over it, but then my system targeted something on the gun that wasn''t part of it. One of the small gray discs.
[Target: Anti-Gravity Discs]
[Traits: Attach to anything to surround the object with a 0g field that blocks other gravity sources. WARNING: Caution when using on living creatures. Anti-Gravity disc removed all other gravity effects, including ones that bind you to the.]
"Hey, Sofia! Check that big box by the Silence. There should be one filled with gray discs. Those make things light, so you can use them for moving around big things. Think of them like fancy carts or forklifts. We will have to do some research on them, but I think you will make good use of them," I called over after setting the gun back down.
"Yes, those will be very handy when unloading the crate. We could even use them on people to make them lighter," Sofia said as she found the box and pulled out some discs to look at.
"No, that is too dangerous. These things block all other gravity, so one wrong move, and you would be headed for space," I exined as I started to look around, stopping at a closed box that had something that looked like a weapon in it.
"Oh, well, I can see how that might be a problem, but you are right that they will help out a lot. I was trying to think of ways to move things around. Mr. Tree could help with some of them, but there are things that we got that even the roots had to drag out because they were too heavy," Sofia exined as I pried the lid off the crate.
Inside was something that looked like a rocketuncher made by aliens, and it was close, but this wasn''t a weapon. I ran another scan over the long tube as I lifted it out with my roots, but I still couldn''t believe what this was.
[Target: Heavens Harvest Launcher]
[Traits: Target plot of area up to a quarter mile square. Fire the payload after selecting the crop. When the targeted area is stuck, the chosen crop grows within one hour and is ready to be collected. Heavens Harvest Collector Sold Separately. Find more at [email protected].]
Thest part of the traits left me with way too many questions that I had no way to get the answer for. UWW? Universe Wide Web? Space inte was a thing?
To think that we would be the only people with amunications system like the inte was pretty silly, but it was still crazy. Thest thing that I expected when scanning these things was to see an ad for the ce that makes and sells the items.
This was just another reason for us to get working on getting the power back on. I had no idea how this UWW worked, but I was beyond excited to see what kind of information might be floating around out there.
Do aliens have FB or IG? God, I hope not, but maybe aliens are smarter than us all. They are probably still using MySpace and MSN like back in the good old days.
Whatever the inte looked like out in space, it was just one of the countless new mysteries that I couldn''t wait to solve!
"Sofia! I found traces of Alien Inte!" I called over, and Sofia gave me a look and then looked at the cannon in my hands.
"You found it in a weapon of mass destruction?" Sofia asked, giving me an unimpressed look.
"This isn''t for making things go boom! This thing makes things go bloom! And there is a website address where we can buy more!"
"What is it, Space Wish?" Sofia snorted, and I scowled.
"No, Intergctic Agronomics dot tom. It popped up in my scan, so it has to be legit," I said, and Sofia shrugged.
"Useless until you find a Space Router. Come over here, and stop ying with the guns. I found some gold, but I can''t scan it," Sofia ordered, and I rolled my eyes as I walked over.
Chapter 206 Lycan The Lychon
The crate in question was filled with strange god devices that looked like fancy belt buckles. That also kind of looked like the Morphing devices I remembered seeing as a kid.
Before scanning them, I grabbed one of the devices and stepped back from Sofia with a grin.
"Papi, what the hell are you doing?" Sofia asked, not looking impressed, but I didn''t care. My inner child was screaming for this.
I might not have been around when the first ones came out, but I had watched them as kids. I grabbed the device in both hands and pushed it forward, striking a pose.
"It''s Morphin time!" I called out, and the device exploded into a tiny golden piece that became alive.
I snapped my scan on and zoomed in on some of the pieces that were transforming and self-replicating in the air around me. The pieces started to create a shell around me, but it was nothing like what I had thought it would be.
[Target: Guardian Knight Morphing Armor Suits]
[Traits: Golden armor created by Goldra, Legendary Armor Designer. Self-replicating AI will bind to the host and will gain greater forms with the consumption of tinum. Suits can be removed and stored in small devices. Multiple devices can bebined to create greater forms, but synchronization is required with multiple hosts. Failure to achieve this state will result in death for those out of sync. More information can be found at m222.gd.tom.]
"Sofia! Look at this shit! I am a god, damn golden knight! Do I not look cool?!" I asked as I looked at my body, which was still being covered in golden mecha-knight armor.
"That might be useful for fighting, but I guess I don''t get to melt them down now," Sofia said with a sigh and turned from the crate to leave me with the armor. Not like I could follow her.
The suit had me pinned down, but I could melt myself out of the suit. Definitely not some fast thing like on the show, nor was the armor it was creating on me. This was more like something that you would expect to see in a fantasy game.
I looked over at the box, and there were ten more of these GK-MAS Devices. Once this thing was done fitting itself to me, I would have to try and put it away. I would have to find some time when I got back to test everything out, but this was not really the ce for it, nor the time.
It took about ten minutes before my entire body was suited up. After my face closed over in the darkness, a screen spread over my view, giving me a perfect view of the outside like the helmet had been pulled back.
I moved my body a bit, tested the joints, and even tried to stretch, but it was like this suit was a part of me. The metal close to my skin was soft to the touch, but when I struck it, it went hard instantly. The rest of my armor was weightless, but I did feel like it was giving me extra strength and speed.
Again, this wasn''t a ce to get a full feel for it, so I toyed around until I figured out how to get the suit off. Once I figured it out, I was surprised by how fast it returned to the small device. Just out of curiosity, I tried to put the device on again, this time just signaling with my mind that I wanted to use it. The device exploded again, but this time the suit was formed in seconds like a scan going over my body.
"Now that is more like it!" Iughed as I took the suit off again, but I stored the device inside my body just like my memory crystal.
"Did you just stick that thing inside of you?" Jack asked as he came over to see me.
"Yeah, I am like a walking broom closet. What''s up, you find something good?" I asked, and he shrugged.
"Weird. Hard to say if it is good or not, but I figured this one I should keep my hands off," Jack said, and I nodded, sending mental instructions to Mr. Tree to take the box of Gk-MAS Devices up top with the other things.
Sofia was already sending up many of the boxes, which was good, but I would have liked to get a peek at all of them. The trouble was that we would be here for a week if I got into every box, which wouldn''t be bad if aliens weren''t set to invade.
Calishora''s sisters would being this way, and at some point, Beta would reach earth. The problem was that I didn''t know when the sisters were going to get here. I had to assume that it was going to be much sooner, within a month or two, but I wasn''t sure. More questions for Calishora when she got out of my head, but it would have been nice if she could have just talked to me like Omega did.
Once I got over to the crate in question, I walked up to it while Jack stepped back. When I was over the top of it, I could see when he might seem a bit worried about it. There was a metal egg covered in segmented tes and glowing red lines.
It looked like the light wasing from the center, but it was hard to tell. I moved around the box to try and get a better look at the light within, but it seemed to move out of sight as I tried.
"That light inside of it seems to be alive or something. I don''t know what it is, but do you think it might be one of those space dragons?" Jack asked me as he came back over, but I shook my head.
The scan wasn''t done yet, but this thing was not organic or notpletely. Whatever this thing was, the scan was taking its sweet time with it.
"Not somethingpletely alive, but there are some signs of lifeing from inside. I am still waiting to see what my scan says. Sofia! I found a glowing red egg! Come here!" I called over, and Sofia came jogging over.
"An Egg? Why would someone store an egg down here?" Sofia asked as she reached forward to touch it, but I grabbed her hand.
"Just wait. Whatever this is, it is waiting for something or someone. From my scans so far, this is a Lychon, but it is in an incubation stage right now, waiting for someone that can imprint it on it. Once it does, it will remain with the partner and protect it with Lychon''s life. Still don''t know what it is, just a name and information, and oh boy is there a lot to go through," I said, letting go of Sofia''s hand, but the moment that I did, she stretched out and grabbed the egg. "What the hell do you think you are doing?!"
The egg started to glow brighter while Sofia still held it. I still didn''t have the full scan on, but now my screen was a wall of text and shing warnings.
"Target Sofia Diaz, human. Imprinting...Complete."
The voice was that of a small boy, but this thing was a lot more dangerous than anyone knew! I tried to grab Sofia''s arm, but the egg burst open like the GK-MAS had, but this time it was forming a massive mecha-wolf that nearly took my arm off as I ripped it back.
Roots burst from my back and shot at the machine, but it hopped back. As it did, itnded on its back feet and stood up like a person, three long lightsaber-like ws extending from its right paw nearly three feet long.
"Target Daniel Brighton has attempted to assault my imprinted master. Now, I will defend her and destroy you!" The robot wolf told me in a monotone voice like the cleaners.
"NO! Bad doggy! Sit, Lycan!" Sofia snapped, and the seven-foot-tall robot retracted its red lightsabers and sat down obediently.
Now it was back to looking like a normal mecha wolf... normal, yes, this is what this was!
"Dammit, Sofia! I told you not to touch it!" I growled, rounding on her.
"What?! I wanted a pet! I saw that you got a new one! Growl is it?!" Sofia snapped back, and I tossed my hands up.
"I told you to wait so I could see what it was at first! Do you have any idea what this is?! It is a killer guard dog! It is meant for people that don''t go around others! Ever! This thing is going to try to attack anyone that even disagrees with you!" I snapped.
"Really? Why didn''t you get me one of these already, then?! Do you know how much easier it will be to get people to work with Lycan around?! AH HA! That little Aiko had better watch out now!" Sofia cackled, and I groaned.
"You really need to be put over myp when we get home. I am going to spank you until you can''t sit for a week!" I growled, and Sofia started to giggle like it was the funniest thing in the world.
"Target Daniel Brighton is threatening my imprinted master. I will destroy the target!" Lycan announced like this was on the to-do list for today, and I groaned even more.
Chapter 207 Totally Dog
"Leave Papi alone! He is allowed to talk to me like that!" Sofia snapped as I red up into the glowing red eyes of the mecha-wolf. It had its light saber lifted and ready to strike.
"Just fucking try it, doggo. I dare you!" I growled at it as my Roots undted around me dangerously. This hunk of metal was dangerous, and I was about two seconds away from turning it into pieces of metal.
"Threats from a lower life form that is not my master do notpute. This means that you are irrelevant, even if my master thinks otherwise, Daniel Brighton," the machine said to me, but this time I could hear a condescending tone in its voice.
"Sofia, I am just going to disassemble this thing to take it back. I think there is something broken in it," I growled.
"No, Papi! Down boy! You two are going to have to learn to get along!" Sofia snapped, and I turned to her with narrowed eyes.
"Listen here, woman," I said and pointed my thumb behind me. "That is the dog, not me. Why the hell should I get along with this rude and malfunctioning robot?"
"I am working at peak performance, and all of my systems are running clean. I am also not a dog, Papi. I am a Lychon. Lycan, the Lychon," the robot said from behind me, and I whirled and poked the robot in the chest.
"Only your master calls me that. Do you even know what that means? For a robot, you are not very clever," I said, and the red light narrowed on me.
This thing was starting to speak more clearly, and it was picking up on the way we talked to modify its own speech. I hated to admit it, but it was pretty damn cool. I still hated the pieces of shit, but maybe I could turn it into a talking coffee maker or something.
"You are going to get along with him because I get along with them. You will do this because I do whatever you ask of me. This is the thing that I want, so this is the thing that I will have," Sofia said, and I turned around with a sigh.
Damn woman got me there, but it wasn''t like I had begged her to be with me. Still, I couldn''t imagine life a different way now that she was in my life.
"You are right, but you are going to have to train him. You also can''t sick him on Aiko. I am actually worried that he might hurt someone. Please remember that, and don''t make me regret not destroying this thing. No matter how cool or interesting this is, it is an extremely dangerous weapon. These are made to guard things or people that are alone. From what I have scanned over in the mountain of information about them, they are treasure guards. The only person that they are supposed to interact with is their master. Everyone else is to be killed," I said, and Sofia nodded.
"Yes, I know; I read what you scanned. All over your scans are redirected to me so I can archive the information. There is not very much we can do right now unless we can figure out what is powering him. Right now, all we can do is scan him, but there are too many things inside of Lycan that I have never seen before. I will have Abrol Viejo keep a close watch on him and keep Lycan away from the others for now," Sofia said, and I let out a long sigh.
"Should we leave? I think the lightsaber ws are nice and all, but I am not really interested in seeing how they work on human flesh. I kind of wished that I took that System now," Jack said from the other side of the bunker. Binder was over there as well.
I turned back around and looked at the Lychon that was still staring at me.
"Do you have a way that prevents you from killing people? As it stands, humans are not to be killed unless they are deemed threats. Do you have a safety setting?" I asked, and Lycan stared at me for a long moment.
"What was the purpose of my activation?"
"It was a mistake. Sofia pressed her hand on you before I could finish scanning or reading what your purpose was. There are only three options here. One, you act like a guard dog for Sofia and only attack aliens that try to attack her. Humans and Annokale will not attack her. Two, you turned yourself off for now until we can fix you to not be so aggressive. Thest choice is I turn you off, and I don''t want to have to destroy you. You are pretty cool, but I care about my people and their safety," I exined, and Lycan stepped back and went all the way down to sit like a wolf on its haunches.
"Sofia Diaz. Is it your wish that I protect all humans and Annokale?" Lycan asked, and she nodded.
"Yes, I think that is a very good choice. Is that good now?" Sofia asked me, and I sighed.
"So you''re just going to act good now? Call me pessimistic, but that seems mighty convenient," I said.
I really wanted to believe him, but just saying it meant nothing to me when this thing could potentially kill people.
"You can connect with me via eye-to-eye retinal scans. You have the ability to scan, so point your scanner directly into my retinal cameras," Lycan exined, and I did as he said.
Suddenly, there was an information packet in my HUD, but it was red. Imanded my System mentally to try to scan it, but there seemed to be nothing wrong with it. I paused for a moment and then opened it, deciding that I needed to see what it was, trap or not.
The information that I received was incredible. It was a full blueprint of Lychon 8.99 and over eight hundred and ny-eight others. I now had blueprints of even the first model that was ever created, but that wasn''t it. Not only were there the blueprints, but also videos of strange red aliens with fire on their heads. They were exining how to build the robots and other exnations of why they did certain things.
At the end of it, all was a system report that confirmed that Lycan was now set to protect all humans and Annokale from all exterior threats. Now I was just confused.
"Why did you give me all this?" I asked.
"Long ago, those people that you saw were my creators. They were a mostly peaceful race that strove to know themselves safe. This is why I was created, I know this, but then the Gideons came and tried to enve the Foria. They were too strong, but the Foria refused to be ves. They ignited the sun with a special device, causing it to supernova, killing everyone. I was sent to a far-off outpost, but it was destroyed when I arrived by Pirates. Then the craft I was in was captured by Grays, and they crashed here. The one that created me is gone, but I know that they would not want this to go to waste. I misjudged you, Annokale, but I still don''t like you. Even so, I think that you have the power to make more of me and possibly even better. From my scans, there are a lot of humans and Annokale on this," Lycan exined, and I nodded.
"See, Papi? Lycan is a good boy now! And wow! That is a lot of information! I am always amazed at how much our heads can hold! Look at all these! We are going to have to get someone to make these! When we get back, I will start looking with Gaia to find the perfect person to give the System!" Sofia exined.
"I think the human brain has something like two and a half million gigabytes of storage in it, but we aren''t really human anymore. I mean, all of you that have systems that I gave is, but you all have broken past all human limits. Who knows how much stuff we can jam in here!" Iughed and then let out a sigh. "I really think this is enough fun for one day. What do you say we pack everything up and head home? You guys can go over this stuff at home where Mr.tree can be closer at hand to help."
Today had been one hell of a day, and I had seen some crazy shit. Now I just wanted to go home and hit the tub for a bit before settling down with some space weed and Sofia. Then there would be the other fun after. That is, as long as the space dope didn''t annihte us. I wonder if I should see if Victoria wants to join?
"I think that would be a good n. I could use a good soak before we rx, and I am sure you would like one," Sofia said as she came over and slipped under my arm, hugging my side.
"You bet I do! Hey, do you think we could smoke the space dope with Vic and her parents? I am sure that they would love that!" I asked.
"Oh? I almost forgot about that! Yes, If the other girls want to join, that would be good too! There is a lot of it, and it is always better to smoke with friends, am I right, Papi?" Sofia giggled, saying thest part in an American ent, and Iughed.
"Totally dog."
Chapter 208 Everyone Will Get A Choice
Once everything had been hauled up top, I grabbed one of the gravity discs and pped it on the side of the football field sized crate that was packed full. The massive crate slowly started to float.
I let out a whoop and then pped the corner of the crate, sending it spinning. Luckily, it spun directly at Riley, and the soldier stopped it with one hand, but he looked amazed.
"That is pretty wild. I wasn''t sure if it was going to be that easy to stop," Riley said as I grew roots totch onto the box.
"Yeah, these gravity discs are something else. I wasn''t sure that it would work. Kinda makes me want to go deep sea diving for wrecks. I mean, if I had time," Iughed, and Riley nodded, but he looked to have something on his mind. "What''s bothering you? You look to have something on your mind."
"That is the case. Remember how you asked me to stay? Well, I don''t want Candace to stay here with me, but she is refusing to leave without me," Riley said in a tired voice.
"Bah!" I said, waving a hand. "Mr. Tree can guard the ce. The others can''t get out from the lower levels, and you are going to help me. I think I am going to need someone like you to help me deal with some of the humans. I don''t really see any way but my own to work, but maybe I need fresh eyes on the problem. I also need someone to help with training," I exined, and Riley sighed.
"Well, that does make things easier. I was going to see if you could convince her to go with you," Riley said, and I barked out augh.
"I am guessing she didn''t talk about our little meeting?" I asked, and Riley shook his head.
"No, she just told me that you saved them. Why? What happened?" Riley asked with a confused look.
"Well, nothing horrible, but she doesn''t seem to think that I am doing everything that I can. Candace thinks that I should be using my powers to help more people. I told her that I wasn''t that person, so I don''t think that she would listen to me any more than you. Still, that problem was an easy fix. Better to bring everyone back with us," I said, and Riley shrugged.
"I can see her point, but after spending time around you and learning about what ising, I am on your side. You are going to have to make some hard choices, and you don''t have a lot of time to make them, by the sounds of things," Riley said, and I nodded.
"That is the cold hard truth of it. I n on putting out a broadcast that will hit everyone on the. Once everyone knows what I require and what ising, they will have to make a choice. One thing I will be making crystal clear is that everyone decides for themselves. I will not have people making choices for other people," I exined, and Riley gave me a look as Sofia walked over.
"How are you going to make it so everyone can do that? There are going to be groups that will bind themselves to religion and other leaders," Riley said, shaking his head.
"Don''t worry about that. Everyone will get a choice, and anyone that stops them will have trees to deal with. Even as we speak now, Daniel had people all over the world delivering seeds like these trees. In about a week, we will be connected with the entire world," Sofia exined.
"Oh, well, I guess that is the way to do things. Still don''t really get it, but I am not paid to. Hell, I am not paid to do anything anymore. How do you deal with money?" Riley asked curiously, and Iughed.
"No one has to work, so there is no point in it now. There will be jobsing up, but the people that are doing them will bepensated. If you want clothes, food, furniture, or anything really, for the most part, the forest will provide it to you. There are also people that do specialty things, and they trade their work or just give it away," I exined, and Riley grinned.
"That sounds too good to be true. What about the people that you have working as trainers?" Riley asked.
"You mean his wives? Katie and Marley are in charge of the challenger dome, and once you see the ce, you will be asking to work there for free. There is no money because we are all working together. If you need something, you just ask. There are rules, but the trees are the ones that reinforce them," Sofia exined, and Riley let out a sigh.
? "I guess I am just going to have to see the ce to be able to believe you. I can see why you might be having trouble getting people to join you. What you offer sounds too good to be true, and that usually is the case," Riley exined, and I nodded with a smile.
"Sure. Babe, can you get everyone ready? Once I have the disc made, I will need to get everyone on, and then I will make the wall and roof," I exined, and Sofia nodded.
"Yes, Papi. I have had enough aliens for one day, but I have the dragon girl''s body in a pod packed away. I think we can take care of that tomorrow," Sofia said and gave me a kiss before heading over to the trees to round everyone up.
I turned back and stepped back in surprise, and then plugged my nose.
"God, you smell like dirty pussy mixed with shit, and you look just as bad!" I eximed as I looked over the silver master chief that was covered in red and white slime that smelled horrible.
[Target: Micoriadra Mucus]
[Traits: Expelled by Micoriadra nts to ward off those that would seek to pick from its hanging fruits. Non-toxic substance, but it has a highly offensive odor. Can be synthesized to make a perfume that is coveted by many.]
Chapter 209 [Bonus ] Cobra Chickens!
"Don''t even start with me. Some stupid nt snotted on me, and the shit won''t wash off. I was ready to choke out that damn botanist forughing so damn! Then I put him in a headlock, and the smell made him puke, and he has it on him now. That will teach the son of a bitch tough at a six-and-a-half-foot tall metal man!" Eddieughed, and I walked around him until I got the right angle. "What are you doing?"
"Cleaning you off, but I have to make sure I don''t kill anyone," I said and raised my hand, cing my palm towards Eddie.
"Why do I have a feeling that I am not going to like this?" Eddie asked.
"Probably because you are psychic," I said with a grin and then roared, "me On!"
Fire burst from my palm like a cone of Dragonfire, bathing Eddie in the roaring torrent of mes. Eddie just stood there, but even though his face was a mask, I could tell that he wasn''t impressed.
"You should try to think of your own damn lines! Stop stealing them from other tv shows, friggin loser," Eddie growled after the mes stopped, and he was left glowing red and radiating heat. So much that everything around him looked distorted from the heat waves for a short while until he cooled.
"I will work on some when I am not busy saving the world," I said, and Eddie shook his head.
"Whatever, can we go back already? I kind of miss the bossdy bossing me around. She never asks me to do anything like this bullshit, nor does she ever ask me to clean the forge while it''s on from the inside. You could learn a thing or two from her, you know?"
"Keep talking, buddy, and you will be riding back with the Micoriadra!" I warned, and Eddie groaned.
"Just send me back around and take your metal. I have had enough for one day," Eddie said, and Iughed. He really had helped me out a lot down there.
"Thank you. I mean it. You were a lot of help, and even though you are me, it was nice to have someone around. If you ever want to get out of the shop when I head out, give me a shout," I said with a smile.
"Don''t go getting all soft on me, Pops! Fucker. Yeah, it wasn''t that bad. Not like I can feel pain," Eddie said with a chuckle.
"I can change that for you," I warned, and Eddie put up his hands.
"Real funny. You really know how to motivate people! I bet you have people asking toe with you all the time!" Eddie mocked, but then he went stiff and fell over as I sent him back to the clones he was using with Firaga.
I absorbed Master Chief and got to work creating the disc that would carry everything and one back to the Central forest. People were starting to gather around now, but my mind was already off in another ce.
I had learned so much here, and there was a Growth Spurting. That was what I needed, but I hoped that it would be enough. I needed to take down the final Annokale to get power back, but this one was different from the others, ording to Octavia. Taking this thing down might require more than one growth spurt, but did I have the time to waste?
There were so many little things that needed to be considered, but destroying the Darkar gship had messed everything up. Now there was no telling when they woulde, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. That damn dragon god was going to learn that I was not the person that she wanted to fuck with, whether I had her heart or not. I would not be letting her children go.
One of my only real regrets about killing Calishora''s main body was that Tiamat would get that part back. Still, I have Calishora and soon three more of her sisters. I didn''t care how much time it took; I would win each of them over and get them to switch sides. That was the ultimate fuck you to Tiamat, and I wanted to give that to her more than anything in the world.
Alpha was another story, and there was still a lot I didn''t know about both of them. One thing was clear to me; Alpha was the smarter and more collected of the two. He hasn''t tried to contact me, and he also remained calm as we talked, even after I grabbed his neck. That painted a clear difference between the two, and that made me worry. People like that were much more dangerous than someone that was willing to throw everything at you.
I was going to have to keep all my senses dialed up, but I was hoping that I could get some more information out of Mox. Unfortunately, I didn''t want to risk bringing him up yet. There were too many unknowns with the Shalgoth and whatever might be in there. Once the power was back on, I would be back and figure out how to deal with the rest of whatever was left down there.
"Daniel? Aren''t we supposed to be inside before the wall and roof? Are you okay, Papi?" Sofia asked, and I blinked in surprise as I looked up at the strange metal and crystal ice cream sandwich flying saucer. Yup, alien, for sure.
"Sorry, I was just thinking about things that areing up," I said and made the crystal open up into arge doorway.
"Well, try to pay attention when you are flying back. I don''t think there should be anything but birds, but I don''t want you to get distracted and fly into a flock of cobra chickens! Those hissing beasts would make a good monster!" Sofiaughed, and I frowned at her.
"Are you talking about the goose?"
"Papi, just get everyone home. Yes, that is a cobra chicken. Have you not seen the videos?" Sofia asked, and I shook my head. "Gah! You need to get the inte back up and running! I want something to do while I am waiting for test results! Abrol Viejo doesn''t tell very good jokes."
"Mr. Tree doesn''t talk."
"Then ask sometimes! They try pretty hard, but you will see," Sofia said, and I shrugged, then turned to the gathered people.
"Everyone aboard!"
Chapter 210 Dragons Rage
Tiamat was beyond annoyed.
"Daughters! Report at once! What is your status?! How far from the are you?!" Tiamat snapped, and her three daughters, Gilliadra, Korrenka, and Lindemia, appeared before her in humanoid forms.
They were covered in golden dresses and their golden Licanta that each wore on their heads. The Licanta were special crowns that they wore if they had to be around others to contain their overwhelming power. Without them, even the Male Drakar would start to sprout growths and then slowly die a horrible death ten times worse than radiation poisoning.
"Galliadra should be the closest, but Korrenka and I will arrive a dayter. Since we are going alone, the trip time has been reduced to just over a week. I am sure Galliadra will be dead by the time we get there, but I assume that Korrenka will take care of things. I have been studying the information you sent to us about Calishora. Pity that she has been lost," Lindemia exined, and Tiamat nodded but also growled.
"That brat betrayed me and chose to join the Annokale. This thing has to be part of him, that one that started this all. Star child. If you find Calishora, make sure that she is killed," Tiamat snarled, her face bing more humanoid as she did.
"So Calishora of all people betrayed us? Really? Come now, mother, there must have been a mistake? Cali was your most trusted daughter!" Galliadra eximed.
"It was that man, Daniel, the Annokale! He tricked her into not blessing me! And she fell for it! One of my oldest children!" Tiamat screamed and became more human-like, to the point where she was starting to look more like her daughters.
"Mother, you are getting too worked up! Look at yourself!" Korrenka eximed as she walked forward and took her mother''s hand. "We will make sure to kill Calishora, and we will bring your heart back. You heard Lindemia, I will return with it. I am your favorite daughter, am I not? I will not disappoint you like the others."
Tiamat looked at Korrenka and sighed. This daughter was always very good at what she did, but she always seemed to have a worried soul. Tiamat wondered who the mother was whenever Korrenka visited with her the way she doted on Tiamat.
"Korrenka, stop suck holing mother. You are probably going to end up as another one of this creature''s pets, just like Cali," Galliadra said, and Korrenka whirled around, shifting into a more dragonic form, her body bing blue, glowing with astral light.
Galliadra was a hot head and closest to Tiamat''s own temperament. The girl always threw everything she had at a problem, and Tiamat could respect that, but that always came with the downside of less thinking. This usually led to Galliarda getting in many close calls.
"You had better not die, scum. I am sure that you will be the first to fall, and you will be used as the creature''s furniture! If you don''t die, I will make sure I kill you myself. You and I have a score to settle!" Korrenka hissed, and Galliadra also transformed.
"You think that getting to spend a few million years away from me is going to give you an edge? Once I am done destroying the, I wille for you again. We can have another repeat of thest time when I nearly killed you!" Galliadra snapped back.
"Are you two done yet? I don''t care about your idle squabbles! I only wish to hear your reports. Leave my sights! Lindemia, stay," Tiamat ordered, and the other two disappeared.
Out of the three, Lindemia was the strongest and most reliable, but she was extremelyzy, taking exorbitant amounts of time. Tiamat overlooked this because the jobs Lindemia was asked to do were always done exactly how they were supposed to be, almost always exceeding Taimat''s original request.
"You wish to speak to me, Great Mother?" Lindemia asked, and Tiamat nodded.
"Yes, I have a new task for you. I need you to go to the and find out everything you can about this creature. I need to know its weaknesses and how to destroy them. This thing has ruined my ns for far too long, and I will not rest until it is dead," Tiamat said, her voice full of venom.
"Yes, mother... but what do you mean? You talk as if we will lose?" Lindemia asked, and Tiamat looked away as she sat on her throne.
"I have seen a vision, my child. A vision of my death. I will not let thate to pass. I have ruled for too long, and I will not be denied my immortality. You must find a way to kill this creature, or else all is lost," Tiamat said, and Lindemia nodded, her face serious.
"I will not fail you, mother. I will find a way to kill this creature," Lindemia said, but Tiamat shook her head.
"I need you to return with a report. Calishora was ripped from her body, and then he used it to destroy an entire ship hundreds of light years away. Not even I can do that!" Tiamat snapped, and Lindemia stepped back.
"What are you saying?" Lindemia asked.
"That I need answers! You are going to get them and return them to me! Do not die!" Tiamat snapped, and Lindemia nodded and disappeared, looking confused.
Tiamat then turned her attention back to the that was billions of lightyears away and the creature that was causing her so much pain. She would make it suffer before she killed it. She would make it wish it had never been born.
And she would start by killing its little pet, Calishora. Daniel thought that he had won, but Tiamat would not let his crimes go unpunished! Her name still rang in her mind from being trapped by him!
"You think that you can take what is mine from me? I hope that you grow attached to her, so it hurts when my daughter tears her apart in front of you!" Tiamatughed maniacally.
Hundreds of billions of light years away, Daniel, Sofia, and the rest got back from their trip to Area 51. Things were going smoothly, but as Tiamat cursed his name, Daniel sneezed.
Chapter 211 [Bonus ] Damn, I Was A Lucky Man
"Someone is talking shit!" I said and rubbed my nose.
"Like that is surprising. You should be sneezing all the time!" Sofia said with augh as we watched the massive crate being unloaded.
"Just wait; the sneezing shall intensify once I give everyone their ultimatum! Come on. Let''s go deal with Cali and then the space weed. Did you get the stuff already?" I asked, and Sofia nodded with a big smile.
"Don''t you seem like the excited one today, Papi! I didn''t know you like the stuff that much!" Sofiaughed, and I shrugged.
"I like to rx, and I used to smoke it with Vic''s parents when I would visit. We really haven''t had much in the way of rxation time, and I needed to keep my wits up. Now, I think we have got a good start on things, and I can take a short break," I said, slipping my arm around Sofia and walking into a basket that Mr. Tree made for us.
"That is fair. I need the stuff to focus most of the time, or I get in a bad mood, or I did. Now I can fix those problems in myself, so I just smoke ''cause I like the feeling," Sofia said as we were lifted up the side of the R&D Great Tree.
"I never asked, but I assume you did. Did you make your own ce on top of the tree?" I asked, and Sofia nodded as we looked out as night started to set in.
"Yes, I have thest five floors as my living area. I already sent Lycan up there," Sofia said as she leaned into me. "It is really pretty, isn''t it? You really have created a paradise."
"For now, but I am hoping that we can keep at least this forest above ground. We will have to figure out something that will protect us here, but I can''t imagine losing this ce. It really has be home to me," I said, looking at the lights that were starting to turn on. I thought the ce looked even more beautiful at night.
"I am sure that we will be able to figure something out. This ce is home for all of us, but you are the one that makes it a home. Without you, this dream and ce would never exist. I don''t think that I tell you this enough, Daniel," Sofia said, turning to face me. "But Even though it has only been less than a month, I really do love you. You came in and turned my upside-down life right side up, and you have given me such amazing powers. You brought life to the thing that everyone told me was a waste of time. You have given my life real meaning, and I can''t thank you enough for that."
I wrapped my arms around my little green Spanish woman and kissed her passionately. Every one of these girls was special, and it was nice to hear her say such things to me. I loved our banter, but the feeling of real love in your arms was real magic, filling me full of joy and happiness. Iined, but damn, was I a lucky man.
? Soon, Mr. Tree lifted us back to Sofia''s floor, where I had met all the people on her list. There was still more I had to do with them, but that was for another day. Thest thing that I had to worry about today was sleeping in an incubation pod that was sitting awkwardly off to the side of the room with the golden table in the center of it.
"So, what do you think is going to happen with her? Do you think that she will be able to ept this body?" Sofia asked as we walked over, and I looked back at her.
"What do you mean? We are going to put her into the body, and that will be it, right? The body is stable right now, so what is the worry?" I asked in confusion, but Sofia shook her head.
"She is a million-year-old space dragon that we are just going to throw into a modified version of the lowest form of her kind, from what I understand. Do you think that she is just going to be fine with this? I don''t know that much about dragons, but I know that if you put me into a deformed ugly man that was turned into a woman, I would not be impressed," Sofia exined, and my eyes widened as I looked back at the body.
"You kidding, right? She is a bombshell for being a dragon woman! How could she not like that body?" I exined but narrowed my eyes at the strange golden hat Calishora''s new body was wearing. "What is the pointy hat for?"
"That is called a Licanta, and it is used to hold in her cosmic radiation. I am not sure if she will have any, but from what we know about them, the normal ones have a lot of radiation pouring off them at all times. This was the best I coulde up with for now. As for her body, that is your opinion, not a million-year-old space dragoness. All I am saying is that you should just be careful with her at first. This is all going to be a dramatic change for her," Sofia exined, and I sighed.
"Well, I am d that you did this. I would have very likely overlooked that," I said, and Sofia came over and patted my shoulder.
"It''s okay. That is what I am here for. You can''t be expected to know or remember everything. As much as everyone else thinks you are an alien, all of us girls know you are still really only human," Sofia smiled, and I kissed her and turned back to Calishora''s body.
"Okay, let''s get this girl in her body and head to the party at Vic''s. I told her we would be over after we were done here!"
asionally missing content, please report errors in time.
Chapter 212 3D Not Dick Maneuvering
The capsule opened up, and I looked down at the pink, dragon-like woman. I hadn''t thought about if she would be able to handle this body or not, but I did ask her if she wanted to do this. It would be pretty silly if Calishora were toin now, but she was Tiamat''s daughter. Single-handedly one of the most unreasonable creatures in the universe.
"What are you waiting for, Papi? Don''t tell me you are ogling her again?!" Sofia scolded as she came over to stand beside me, but I shook my head.
"No, just thinking about what you said. I am sure that this will be a big change," I said as I pushed my red Memory Gem to the surface of my forehead.
"Yes, but we will never know if you keep standing here. Come now, Papi, vamos!" Sofia ordered, pushing me yfully, and I grinned, touching two fingers to the red gem that was like an intricate red diamond.
"Stop pushing me around now while I do this. Maybe be prepared to hold her down. We have no idea what she will be likeing out of my head. She was literally left to y in my memories, so god only knows what she will have been doing. I can''t tell unless I go in there, but I sent a mental message to it that will bring whatever she was doing to an end," I exined, and I waited for Calishora''s consciousness to be pulled to my fingers.
"You mean that you could essentially store us in there if something bad happened?" Sofia asked, and I nodded.
"Yes, that is a great use for it in the future if the need arises," I said, closing my eyes. She was resisting me.
Calishora was holding onto whatever reality that she was in, but she had already had more than enough time there. She could have lived a few hundred years, but for someone that has lived millions, it might still be nothing.
Finally, I was able to pull Calishora out of the Memory Gem, and I transferred it into the new body. Her eyes snapped open, and Calishora started talking.
"I don''t want to leave! I want to stay here with¡ Where am I? Is this another life? Why? I wanted to stay in that one! Why can''t I change it back?!" Calishora asked, but then she sat up and saw me. "You are¡ Where is this?"
"Wee back to reality. Sorry to pull you out of whatever you were doing in my memories. It seems that your time there was well spent?" I asked, and Calishora nodded, looking away from me, and then to Sofia.
"You are Sofia. You are one of the newer girls, right? Melody, Katie, and Anya are the Originals?" Calishora asked, and Sofia nodded excitedly.
"Yes! Look, Papi! She already knows the hierarchy! She is going to make a great starting point for what I have nned!" Sofia said and thenughed, but a bit too manically for my liking.
"What are you talking about?" I asked, and Sofia stoppedughing and walked to offer Calishora her hand.
"How do you feel, dear? Is anything out of order with your body? Any aches or pains?" Sofia asked, ignoring me.
"Feel? Fine. I am not sure how you were able to do this white a male body, but it is impressive," Calishora said as she took the offered hand and stepped out of the capsule pod. Then she reached up to touch her head, wincing as she felt the Licanta on her head.
"Sorry, I wasn''t sure how to make it, but in time I can make you one that you like," Sofia said, but Calishora dropped her hand and shook her head.
"This is doing what it is meant to; I can feel that my cosmic radiation is being contained. I am sure that it doesn''t look as bad as I imagine," Calishora said as she continued to look over her new body.
"I think it looks good on you," I said, and Calishora turned to me with a hopeful look.
"You think so?" Calishora asked, and I nodded, making her smile, and then looked away to one of the window openings.
She ran over to look out and gasped as Sofia came up beside me to take my hand, getting close to me.
"Looks like someone has spent a lot of time with a certain someone. I am guessing that you really didn''t think about that when you locked her in your head? How long did she spend with you? One hundred years? A thousand? Million? We will never know, and from the looks that she is giving you, she isn''t about to tell," Sofia said, and I sighed.
"No, I really didn''t think about that part. There are a couple things that I didn''t really think about with this," I said, mashing my palm into my forehead, but Sofia patted my arm.
"Don''t worry about it, Papi. Now, let''s go to the party. You can introduce Calishora to everyone since she is already sure to be well acquainted. This is going to be interesting," Sofia said with a smile, and I rolled my eyes.
"Of course, you would get a kick out of this. Just wait till Melody hears about this! Gah, Anya is going to kill me! Then there is the bit about Kitsune! Gah!" I said, but then Sofia pinched me. "Owe, god dammit! Why always resorting to violence?!"
"Because you areining again. Stop worrying about the things that are out of your control. You have bigger things to worry about, but now we are not doing any of that worrying!" Sofia growled and grabbed me by the face, kissed me, and then red at me. "Get your shit together, Papi. We are going to smoke some space weed and have a much-deserved break! I don''t want to hear anything about the end of the world! Vamos!"
"What is space weed?" Calishora asked as she walked back over to us.
"Ho, Ho, Ho! Papi! We are going to give this girl a first-ss experience in this new body!" Sofiaughed, but I frowned.
"Really? She just gets a new body that is the first ever to be a creature, and you want to feed it some random drugs?" I asked skeptically.
"We can fix it if we break it, Papi! Stop being such a stick in the mud!" Sofia said and then turned to Calishora, who looked confused, and rightfully so. "The space weed will help rx you."
"Says you. We haven''t even tried the stuff yet!" Iined, and suddenly Sofia had a golden slipper in her hand.
"One more word out of you, and I will chase you to the party with this!" Sofia snapped.
"Promise?" I asked, and then ducked as Sofia swung at me, and I scooped her up. "Stop being so wild, Hermosa, or I am going to put you over my knee. I can''t have you setting such a bad example for Cali. Come here, and I will pick you up."
I opened my arm as Sofia smacked my cheek with her slipper and then dropped it down to catch it on her foot. Calishora gave me a questioning look and then pointed at herself as Sofia wiggled around to getfortable.
"Yes, you silly. Victoria''s farm is a few miles away, so I will get us there faster," I said, and Calishora nodded slowly and came over.
I bent down and picked her up under the legs, and she grabbed my shoulder, but it was like she had done it before. Just how many times had this happened? It was still hard to wrap my head around.
I walked forward, and the wall opened up to reveal the nighttime vista of the central forest. There were lights of all colors all over now, and even the paths between the trees were lit up with people walking across them. I could feel their happiness and contentment, almost like it was my own now that I was back here, and it was aforting feeling.
The entire time I had been gone from home, I questioned if what I was doing was right, but now being back made me realize something as I walked to the hole. The people that were here were happy because of the life that I had created for them. People were going to learn to ept that or not.
This was the point that I made my choice, and it may forever mark me going forward, but someone always had to make a choice. This time everyone would be allowed to make it, but there would be no favors or exceptions to the rules. Moving forward meant change, and it wasing whether people wanted it or not.
I jumped from the tree and thrust my hips forward, and two not elongated penises shot out, grappling the trees to either side. The three of us wereunched forward, and my not dicks let go and retracted, and I pulled back for my next 3d, not dick maneuvering thrust!
Life was hard, but life was good.
Chapter 213 Got Em!
"AHHH!!" Sofia screamed as we flew through the air.
I spun with the girls in my arms over a walking bridge, and metallic dragon wings burst from my back. They spread open and caught the winds as we arc over the other side.
Sofia was holding on to me for dear life, but I had both girls'' vines in. Calishora lightly rested her hands on my shoulder the entire time, looking forward with what seemed to be a fond smile.
The pink dragon girl had been calm and collected, but I was sure that she was used to doing much crazier things. That, or she was just so used to it that she knew that I wouldn''t drop her and just enjoyed the trip. That was still troubling, but Sofia had told me that I didn''t need to worry about it.
"Are we done yet, Papi?!" Sofia demanded as we slowly descended.
There were a bunch of people on the ground, but they were all ones that I knew. The girls were all there, but so were the Annokale Generals and most of the girls'' parents. It was really nice to see everyone in one spot, but it was really strange to see the people that raised these girls all looking the same age.
This must be how elder Elves felt when they looked at all their people. Soon age wouldn''t mean anything, and only your level of knowledge would have a bearing. With the advancements we were making, everyone would be able to have equal chances to be as smart as they want.
"Yes, we are here," I said as I touched down, setting both girls down and retracting my roots.
"Wee to the party, you young whippersnapper!" Henry Pactor, Melody''s grandfather,ughed as everyone started to gather, but Sofia hopped back.
"Te voy a matar!!" Sofia screamed, and her slipper flew into her hand.
I dodged the first two, thinking that was it, and turned back to Henry.
*Thunk!*
"Doh!" I eximed as I was dinged in the head and then off my feet as a rocket-powered solid gold slipper hit the side of my head.
I thumped on the ground, and the grass didn''t even catch me. Rolling over, I groaned and opened my eyes as I popped the slipper print out of the side of my head. Sofia was standing over me with her hands on her hips, ring at me.
"What did I tell you about driving like an idiot when I am in the car? Try that again, and I will send the fleet of slippers to kick your ass around the forest, lo entiendes?" Sofia growled, and I smiled.
"Sure, babe, but you have to admit, that was a little bit fun, right?" I asked with a grin, but it melted when Sofia raised a hand, and the golden slipper flew into it.
I grew a white g from the tip of my finger and waved it, making Henry fall overughing.
"That is what I thought! Come with me, Cali. I will introduce the other girls to you. Who knows what obscene things he might try next! Puta!" Sofia snapped and stalked off with Calishora, who was looking back at me.
"Well, you just never learn, do you?" Victoria asked with crossed arms, but she didn''t look quite so dinosaur-ish.
"Never learning and not wanting to learn are twopletely different things... What happened?!" I asked as I hopped up.
"Oh? You mean, why don''t I look like a fucking dinosaur with a turtle shell? Because the system lets me control when I look like that, thankfully," Victoria said.
She was wearing a green dress that was covered in small gems. She was even wearing a crown that was strange, but it looked really good on her, but I missed the Bowsette look. The princess was the one she wanted, so I guess I would just have to wait till I got her alone again.
"Well, as long as you are happy, I am happy. How are things going here in your gardens? Sofia was going wild when I wasing in, so I didn''t really have a good chance to look at things. I can feel that you have started with the fire flowers, but that is about it," I exined as I dusted myself off. I didn''t have to, but I like to do some things that made me feel human.
"About that. I think they might need work. You can talk to my father about it. Let''s just say that the first trial resulted in a trip to the regeneration pool. I think you might need to do some editing," Vitoria said, patting me on the shoulder as Henry shook himself.
"Wow! You sure deal with a lot of things every day, don''t you?!" Henryughed, and I nodded with a grin.
"What have you been doing?" I asked, and Henry shrugged with a grin.
"The wife mostly, but I go for a walk every now and then. She tells me that we have plenty of time, but a fuck is a fuck, and if you pass even one up, you are sure to never catch up!" Henryughed, and both Victoria and I rolled our eyes.
"d to see that you haven''t changed!" Iughed, and Henry nodded.
"I will always be the same. The girl seems quite happy with you as well. I always wondered about her, but you two really belong together," Henry chuckled, but Melody was walking up behind him.
"Worried about me? And why is that? Dear grandfather? Or do you have somewhere important to be? I am sure that grandmother would like to know about you telling everyone about your private time?" Melody asked, making Henry be very scarce, very fast.
"Hey, you! It feels like it has been ages since I have held my little Queen!" I said as I rushed over and scooped Melody up in her cute yellow dress. "You look amazing!"
"I know; everyone helped me to make sure I looked good; we all got prettied up for you," Melody said, putting her hands on my cheeks, pulling me into a kiss that was savored.
Chapter 214 [Bonus ] Canadian As Fuck, Eh!
"So, how did the round-up go?" I asked after we pulled back from each other.
"Good, but let''s get over to everyone! You need toe and make a speech!" Melody said, still holding my face.
"What? Why do I need to make a speech?" I asked, not liking the sound of this. I really didn''t like doing this.
"Not a long-winded one! Just one of those, we havee so far, but we still have far to go. I know that you are working on new divisions and getting other projects going, but everyone has been hard at work as well. I just think that you should show a little appreciation for that," Melody said, and then kissed me, squirmed out of my arms, and then went over behind Victoria.
Melody pushed her right into my arms that she was just in and then gave me a look that bounced from between Victoria and me. It ended with narrowed eyes and a thumb drawn across her neck. There were far too many ways to read this wrong and not enough to read the sign right.
"Sorry. That woman is so pushy," Victoria said, but I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her forehead.
"You look beautiful, like a real-life Princess Peach, but in your own style. The dress looks really good on you, too," I said with a smile, and Victoria leaned in to rest her head on my chest and wrap her arms around me.
"Thank you," Victoria said and smiled warmly.
We stood there for a moment, and then Victoria pulled back from me. She took me by the hand and led me around to the back of her house, where everyone had gone back.
"Eh!" Everyone called as we walked over, and I smiled broadly. Canadian as fuck, eh. These really were my people.
"Eh, back to you all! Thank you all foring out!" I said as Victoria let go of my hand and went to sit with her family on a sectional sofa. "We have had a crazy few weeks, but we have made it! Things aren''t really going to get much easier from here, but I want to thank you all for your hard work. I know that each of you has been doing your parts, and I would love to hear about them! Tonight is about rxing, so let''s try to have a good time! There is also some special weed that we are all got to smoke, or those that want to try it out!"
Everyone cheered, and then the music started to y, and I looked around to see where it wasing from.
"What do you think? I don''t know what you listen to, but I had Octavia store up the music from each world we were on, so there are some strange things on this," Omega said as he pped a strange-looking boom box that looked more like a bomb. Octavia was with him, and she nodded to me as I came over.
"Nice, I would like to hear something from another world!" Iughed, and Omega grinned, giving me a knowing look.
"Be careful what you ask for! Some alien music is more powerful than the psychedelic drugs that you are about to smoke. It can take you on a real adventure from thefort of your listening chair!" Omegaughed, and I looked at Octavia questioningly, and she nodded.
"Yes. Some of the songs don''t really sound like much, but they use special sound waves that make your brain create images and scenes. It is also very dangerous. It can be used to ce thoughts in people''s minds," Octavia exined with a straight face, and Omega cleared his throat.
"Yes, there is that, but no need to bring that up today," Omega said, seeming to want to change the subject, but this was curious.
"It will get talked about some time," I said, and Omega sighed and then motioned to Octavia.
"There was a race that we took this music from that was being controlled in this form. When we tried to do what we did, the ruler became frantic and made a mistake when they broadcasted the music. They told the people to kill the invaders, but they were so brainwashed that they couldn''t tell the difference between us and each other. They ended up destroying their world after tearing it apart. Things got so bad that we were forced to retreat," Octavia exined, and I sighed.
"That is scary but a valuable lesson. Having control is important, but people still need to be able to think for themselves. Still, maybe hearing one of those songs while smoking might be pretty cool. Been a while since I really let go of reality. I don''t know if we can call ourselves safe, but I think that this is a break in the fighting," I said with a grin, and Omega shrugged.
"Sure, but maybe we will save that one forter. I think that you still have people to see, right. You might want to keep your head on your shoulders for now," Omegaughed, and I joined him.
"Dan!" Katie called, and I turned to see her standing with Marley, but Riley and Candace were also with them.
"I will talk to you twoter!" I told Omega and Octavia and headed over to the group. "Hey! d to see you could make it!"
"After the time we had at the base, I was more than d toe and rx. Candace wanted to get to work, but I guess there is nowhere set up for her yet," Rileyughed, and Candace scowled.
"I just think that we could be doing something better with our time," Candace said dryly.
"Don''t worry, Miss Candace. Tomorrow Sofia will have a ce to work, and believe me, she will get you working if that is what you want to do, but Riley is right. You two deserve to have a short break; we all do," I said, and Victoria came over with a ster of mugs and wine sses. "Looks like we even have drinks!"
Chapter 215 What?
I was walking through a dense forest; the trees were so tall that they blocked out the sky. The ground was covered in a softyer of moss.
I had been sitting on a couch before this, but that was all I remembered. I felt like I was being watched. I turned around and saw a pair of glowing eyes staring at me from the darkness.
I froze. I didn''t know what to do since I was missing one of my arms and the other had two hands. The eyes started to move closer to me. I started to back away.
I turned and started to run but was forced to watch my feet run away without me. Then I was running along a tall cliff made out of rock candy. It looked good, so I stopped and licked it.
I didn''t know where I was going. I felt like I was being chased. I looked back and saw the eyes following me.
I got up and started running down the beach, but when I remembered I had to pee, I ran faster. I came to a clearing and saw a castle in the distance. I ran towards it because the likelihood of there being cheaper seats was very good.
I looked back, and the eyes were gone, which was good since I was naked. Having people watch me was awkward.
I reached the old-looking castle and went inside. There was a terrible storm outside, but now I was in a long corridor. I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around and saw a maning toward me. He was wearing a ck cloak and carrying a staff.
He stopped in front of me. The man looked at me with his piercing blue eyes. Then he raised his staff and pointed it at me.
I felt a surge of energy go through my body, and I was lifted off the ground and thrown backward. I hit the wall and slid to the ground but felt no pain.
I looked up, and the man was gone, but I hadn''t really liked the vor of ice cream that he had offered anyways. I got up and started to explore the castle. I came to a door that said, "Right Angles Only!" and opened it.
I went inside and saw a man sitting in a chair. He was wearing a red robe. He had a long white beard. He was smoking a pipe. He looked at me and smiled. "Come in, my son. I have been expecting you."
"You know me? I asked, and the man''s face swirled and then pulled back together.
"Of course, I know you! You are Daniel! You were sent by the Slurpee, right?" The man asked as sailboats started to form from the smoke of his pipe.
"Slurpee?" I asked in confusion as I tried to think, but my brain kept bringing me back to the man''s face that had started to twist.
"Come inside! Everything will make sense!" The man said and went back inside. I tried to follow, but when I entered, I was standing in a long dark cave, and I was holding a torch.
"Where am I?" I asked as I looked around. I saw the man in the red robe standing in front of me.
"You are in the dream world. You have been chosen to receive the gift of the slippers." The man said as he held out a pair of golden slippers to me.
"What are these?" I asked as I took them from him.
"These will give you the power to travel between worlds. You can go anywhere you want and do anything you want." The man said as he started to fade away.
"Wait! What about the eyes in the forest?" I asked, but he was gone. I went to put on the slippers, but I was already in the water, so there was no need for them.
"Daniel, what are you doing in the water?" Someone asked, and I turned around to see a massive man standing on a dock before me. He was so tall that his head was covered by clouds.
"I don''t know," I said, and that was the truth.
"You are supposed to be saving the princess from the porcin god! Toiletis!" The tall man boomed, and I nodded, standing up from the sand I was sitting in.
"Sure, I guess," I said, not really sure what was going on, but this was probably what I was supposed to be doing, but where had the big guy gone?
I looked around the desert, but there was nothing but dunes and trees that looked like swirling lollipops. Nothing really stood out as being strange, but then I remembered that I had left my oven on!
"Son of a bitch!" I snapped, wiping my ass quickly and getting off the bus bench. I started to run home, but then I heard someone calling my name, and turned to see that Snoop Dogg was in the back alley.
"Daniel, my man. You are tripping some serious balls right now. You need toe and sit down, homie," Snoop Dogg said, but then a big hand reached down from above, grabbed snoop in a pinch of the fingers, and then lifted him up.
I watched as the rapper was dropped into a long paper with many other people, and then it was rolled up.
"You want to try a hit?" A purple tiger asked me as we sat on a couch in his shitty basement apartment, and I shrugged.
I took the joint and then remembered that I was supposed to write down a list of things. I turned to the bottle of ketchup that was standing over me and took the offered pen. When I turned back, I started to scratch my name on the moon''s surface with the big stick I had just been handed.
"What is that supposed to be?" Davey Havoc asked me.
"It is a mortgage to Days of the Phoenix," I said, and he nodded as I finished dripping blood from a rock on red paper.
"You really know what you are doing!" Sheryl Crow told me, and I nodded as I rode a unicorn that was wearing skates.
nis Morissette was standing with her, but I never knew that they were a couple. I was starting to feel pretty lucky. They were just about to call my name toe onto the stage.
"Yeah, you really deserve one, Daniel," Kermit the Frog said as I stood up and got ready to walk to the end of the nk. I had really messed up this time.
Once I made it to the end of the nk, there was another, and then they just kept going, so I kept walking. There was no point in looking back since moving forward was all I could do.
"Daniel!"
I looked around but wasn''t sure where the sounds hade from. All I knew was that this boat was not going to paddle itself down this gravel road.
"Daniel!"
There was that sound again! Did they not know that I was hunting chess boards right now? I looked back at my target, and the checkerboard was taking a bite out of some human-shaped grass.
"Papi!"
*Smack!*
My eyes snapped open, and I shook my head hard as reality started to m back in on me. The girls were standing over me, but they were all grinning.
"What happened? Where the hell was I just now?!" I asked in confusion as I tried to remember what had just happened.
"You smoked some space weed, and I told you not to take such a big hit! This is your fault, Papi," Sofia said with her arms crossed.
"Did I do anything wrong?" I asked, and Melody giggled.
"No, but I really wish we had the power so we could have recorded it! You were saying some pretty strange things!" Melody giggled, and I groaned.
That was messed up but kind of fun. I had been so out of it that all the crazy shit that had just happened and I had seen looked normal. That space weed was not for recreational use, or maybe it was, but in much smaller doses.
"Am I the only one that got messed up this bad? I asked as I slowly sat up, and both Melody and Victoria rolled their eyes.
"Both Henry and my dad, Frank, are on the ground rolling around. I think they are both going to be like that for a while. They saw you and decided that they should be able to keep up now that they have young bodies. At least no one is drinking, and you were all stuck like turtles on your backs," Victoria said with a smile, and I rubbed my head.
"Well, that was more than enough for me for a while. How was your time?" I asked, and Victoriaughed.
"You think that I would try that after watching you all? I am just d that you are fine. Some of the stuff you were talking about didn''t make sense, but strangely, Calishora kept everyone calm and said you would be alright. I would have asked you about it, but Sofia said that she is going to exin everythingter when we have our meeting," Victoria said, and Sofia and Melody nodded.
"You might as well rx with the boys for now, but stay out of that space weed! Drink some alcohol, so you are ready when wee back to go home, got it?" Sofia said, giving me a look, and I nodded with a grin.
Chapter 216 The Harem Meeting
A short whileter, twelve women left the party and headed to a secret location only known to them and the trees. Ten of these girls were the ones that had all been chosen to stand at Daniel''s side.
Melody, Anya, Katie, Marley, Gaia, Sofia, Victoria, Amy, Firaga, Chelsea, Kitsune, and Calishora all walked into a room that was filled with arge wooden table. It had chairs surrounding it, and each of the girls to a seat with the three originals at the head of the table.
Once everyone was settled in, Melody pushed her chair back and stood up, looking around the room. She had never imagined that things would be like this, but she had always known that Daniel was special. There was no way that she could keep one man like him to herself. Melody''s n had been to just have her and the other two, and they used to have meetings like this in the dorms. Back then, it was just who would get to spend time with him and when. Now, there were quadruple women and far more problems than they could have ever imagined.
Just not with the harem of women.
"So! We are all here tonight to celebrate the wild two weeks we have had and talk about some things that have happened and that areing up. There are two new girls here, and we will get to talking about them, but first. I would just like to thank you all for being understanding in this. I always have pushed for this, but the other girls have not been for it," Melody exined, and Anya sighed beside her.
"I have gotten used to it, mostly. Now that I have seen where we are going and just how long we are going to be around, this seems a lot more reasonable. If it were just me with him, there would be many things that I wouldn''t be able to do with him, and I would be left alone. At least now I know someone will always be there with him and here with me. You girls are starting to grow on me like sisters," Anya exined, and Kaiteughed from the other side of Melody.
"Yeah, I thought Melody was strange at first, but having you girls around really helped out in school and everywhere. The fact that we all loved the same guy and all got to have him was something that I thought was something you only see in shows. To have it all work out and more now is pretty cool. Having Marley around me makes it easier when I don''t see Daniel for long stretches of time. You all make it easier," Katieughed, and the girls nodded and then looked down the table.
"Thanks brings us to the rest of you. Some of you are still getting to know Daniel, but some of you have gotten close quickly. For those that haven''t had that much time, Daniel will be able to give more of it when we are en route and away from everything that is trying to destroy the earth," Melody exined, and Chelsea giggled.
"Yeah, we know he is busy, but there is so much stuff to do that it is easy to forget that I am even waiting for my time about that. I wanted to talk to you all about Kitsune. As you can see, she has a very nice body and is a loving being in human form. I want to ask if we can add her to the harem thing. I just don''t want to do that kind of thing alone, as weird as that sounds, and Kitsune has been through everything with me," Chelsea said, putting her hand in Kitsune.
"I don''t know, I don''t want to be the only fox around, and I like being a human," Kitsune said, and the girls all looked at each other.
"We will vote on it, but I think it would be good to have you as part of this. You have been with us from the beginning, and it would be nice to have another girl around that is close to us," Katie said, and the girls all nodded.
"All those in favor of Kitsune joining us, raise your hand," Melody said, and all the girls around the table raised their hands, including Kitsune.
"All those against," Melody said, and no one raised their hand.
"Kitsune, wee to the harem," Melody said, and Kitsune smiled as she was pulled into a hug by Chelsea.
"Now, let''s talk about the other new girl," Melody said, and the girls all turned to Calishora.
"She is a bit of a mystery, but we will get to the bottom of it. I have a feeling that she will be a great asset to us. She was in Daniel''s mind for a very long time, and that means that she knows all of us very personally. This is going to seem strange at first, but I think it would be cruel and unfair to Calishora if we did not let her join. This is Daniel''s fault for putting her in there without thinking first," Sofia said, and the girls all nodded.
"All those in favor of Calishora joining the harem, raise your hand," Melody said, and all the girls around the table raised their hands.
"All those against," Melody said, and no one raised their hand.
"Calishora, wee to the harem," Melody said, and Calishora smiled.
"Thank you," she said, and the girls all turned to each other and started talking.
"Is that really all there is to it?" Kitsune asked, and Melody turned to her.
"There is more to it than that. I have talked with Cali, and it was like talking to a sister that I never had. You have been wonderful for Chelsea when she needed you, and we all know that you will do the same for Daniel if he needs it, right?" Melody asked, and Kitsune nodded.
"I just don''t want to be a burden," Kitsune said, and Melody shook her head.
"You are not a burden, and you never will be. We are all here for each other, and that is what makes us family," Melody said, and the girls all nodded. "Now, we should talk about the iing problems. Cali''s three sisters. Daniel is going to try to capture them, I am sure of that. I think we should make a division for Monster Girls. This way, Daniel can do the same thing with them as he did with Calishora. I don''t think that they need to sleep with him, but I think that might be a good way to try to win them over. Can you give me your input on this, Cali? You know your sisters best."
"Yes, but they will not be like me in how I was able to be persuaded. Galliadra, Korrenka, and Lindemia are fierce creatures that have been in my mother''s favor since before I existed. Galliadra is immensely strong and might just try ramming the. She always shoots first and asks questionster. Korrenka is calcted and ns for events long before they happen, but she panders to my mother. I think it even makes Tiamat sick sometimes. Thest sister is the most dangerous, in my opinion. Lindemia is ruthless and will be my mother''s final strike. I know that Daniel is strong now, but I don''t think he realizes just how soon they are going to be here. I don''t think that we have more than a week," Calishora exined, and everyone in the room went deathly quiet.
"A week?" Katie said in a choked voice, and Calishora nodded.
This information hit everyone hard, but they had all been in a much shorter time crunch than this before.
"I am sorry, but that is the truth. They are going toe, and they are going to try to kill Daniel. I don''t think they will care about the rest of you, but I could be wrong. I just don''t know them that well," Calishora said, and the girls all looked at each other.
"This changes things," Melody said, and the girls all nodded. "We need to be prepared for this, and we need to make sure that Daniel is ready. I think we should all talk to him and tell him what is going on. He needs to be prepared for this, and he needs to know that we are here for him. We are his harem, and we will protect him with our lives."
"Agreed," the girls all said, and they all stood up.
"Now, let''s go find our Daniel and tell him what is going on," Melody said, and the girls all nodded.
They all left the room, and they went to find Daniel. They all knew that this was going to be a difficult time for him, but they were all ready to support him. They were his harem, and they loved him. They would do anything for him, and they would protect him with their lives.
Chapter 217 General Upgrades
The girls had mostly disappeared, but there were still the Generals.
"It feelsss like it hasss been forever sssince thest time I sssaw you!" Meckel eximed as she came over to the group of Annokale Generals.
"Do not overstep yourself just because Katie and Marely are not here. We stand with him, not in his way, remember?" Angelise warned, and Meckel sighed a hissing noise.
"The fire is nice," Goldar said with a smile, and Pykeughed, pping his shoulder.
"You can say that again! I can''t believe this is the world that we stopped on, and everything changed! I am d that things worked out the way they did. Thesest few days have been a big eye-opener for me and, I am sure, the others. The Challenger Dome is pretty humbling!" Pykeughed.
"That also can be said again, but Tim and I are doing pretty decently! Both of us are on the fourth floor already!" Beltzerughed with his arm around Tim, who scowled up at him.
"You only just made it to the fourth. I am already on the second door with Goldar, but this one seems to neutralize a lot of my powers," Tim said.
"It is good to see you all here! I wanted to hear about how all your training went! It sounds like things are going well!" I said as I waved for them toe over and join me around a fire that we started in a pit that I made.
The group gathered to stand around, Cyndia, Angelise, and Meckeling to stand over beside me. I tried not tough as both the women scolded Meckel until she stood on the other side of Angelise. She had decided that since the other girls had taken sides, she would stand behind me.
"Sorry about that," Cyndia said, and I smiled.
"No worries. How is training going with you all?" I asked, and Cyndia sighed, which was not a good sign.
"For some better than others. I think that I am not really suited for fighting, or at least not in the ways that we are trained in," Cyndia exined, and I nodded.
"That very well could be, but I would like you all to be able to get to the fourth floor. You don''t have to attempt anything past that, and I will transfer you to different work. As some of the most powerful Systems that we have, I need all of you in the best shape and fully capable of defending yourself, then the people around you. I know that this is hard, but there is merit in this all, and I believe in you all. We are all one big team and a family. That means I want to make sure that you are all properly prepared to make sure that none of you die," I exined, and everyone nodded.
"I see. That is going to be hard since my system doesn''t really give me many ways to get around or defend. I think that half my time is spent in the regeneration pools. Those courses are grueling!" Cyndiained, and I grinned.
"That they are. Let me see your hand," I said, offering my own.
"Oh? I mean, if you want to hold it, I guess that is okay, but I am not sure what the other women will think about it," Cyndia said with a yful smile, and I rolled my eyes as she slipped her soft small warm hand into hers.
I closed my eyes, and Cyndia''s Acid System appeared in front of me. Once she was strong enough, there would be very little that she wouldn''t be able to eat, though. The System was fine, and she was progressing along nicely with it, so I switched screens.
I opened my eyes as my System pinpointed different ces in Cyndia''s body. Each of them disyed what the System was about to change.
"I am going to give you a body enhancement if that is okay with you? I will do it for everyone if they want. It is just going to help strengthen your body and heal better; that, and you will be able to do everything from seeing father to running faster," I exined, and everyone''s faces lit up, but I should have already done this.
They had all been working hard at training, but now this would give everyone an extra boost.
"Yes! Please!" Cydia eximed, and I activated my System.
Cyndia shed, and her body changed slightly, but the major changes were ones that could not be seen. Cyndia let go of my hand, staring down at her own.
"What did you do to me? I feel amazing! Like I am apletely new person!" Cyndia eximed, and I nodded with a smile.
"Yeah, I really should have done this right off the hop. I hope that none of you got hurt badly during it?" I asked, but everyone shook their heads as I turned back.
"No, your girls are pretty good at making sure that no one gets seriously hurt. Only bruised bodies and egos! Haha!" Hellyleughed, and I grinned.
"Good to hear!" I said and then turned to Angelise, who was about to put her hand out to me, but Meckel pushed her out of the way forcefully.
"Do me firssst!" Meckel begged as she grabbed my hand, but then she shed.
"All done, next!" I said, and Goldar came and pushed her out of the way roughly, sending the snake woman flying. Mr. Tree caught her, and Goldar chuckled.
"I love those trees. I don''t think you need to give me an upgrade since you just did me, but I do love chucking these bunch when they start to get annoying!" Goldarughed, and Iughed with him.
"Just make sure you don''t do that to normal people. Mr. Tree will deal with them," I said, and then the gold man nodded to me.
"Don''t worry about me, boss; I am just keeping the kids in line, hehe!" Goldar chuckled and moved out of the way as Angelise stepped up to me. Her poor hair was a mess now.
"That woman got what she deserved. She is going to have to learn her ce one of these days!" Angelise snapped as she straightened her hair, and I smiled.
"How is the training going for you? Are you going to stick with it for the whole week? Or are you stopping at the fourth floor?" I asked as I offered her my hand.
"Quiet? I am a Valkyrie, and fighting is what I am good at. This is really a dream for me, and I will probably spend more than a week here. I might even ask the girls if I could build a house to be closer. The courses are always changing, and the farther you go, the more they adapt to you. If I couldplete this thing, I would be an unstoppable force," Angelise said with a determined smile, and I nodded, putting a bit of work into her Valkyrie System.
I gave her wings and a new ability that would allow her ess to more weapons and skills. If Angelise nned on bing the best that she could be, I would make sure that her dream came true.
Angelise shed, and angel wings formed on her back. She let go of my hand with surprise and tried to spin around to see them.
"You gave me wings?!" Angelise eximed with delight.
"If you n on bing an unstoppable force and training all the way to the end, I can only give you my highest blessing. You know what you want, and I can feel your drive and the power of your soul! Every one of you has this drive, but you need to find your direction! Find it! Together, we will be more!" I said, and everyone cheered as roots passed around drinks to everyone.
"So, what do you have for me?" Pyke asked, and I raised an eyebrow.
"How has training been?" I asked, and Pyke rolled his eyes and let out a groan.
"Can we just not talk about it? Without Dogra around, I just get what I need twenty percent of the time if I am lucky. R-N-Gesus has been a cruel bitch, and Murphy has been working overtime on metely. I think I am losing my edge or something," Pyke sighed, and I patted his shoulder.
"Your system is a strange one, but I can help you out with that, but I have one more question. What happens after training week?" I asked, and Pyke looked off to the side with a shrug.
"I don''t know. Even if you fix the system, what is the point? It''s cool, but, I don''t know, hard to exin," Pyke said, and I nodded.
"What if I changed the way the system worked?" I asked, and Pyke looked up at me hopefully.
"What do you mean? Like how would you change it?" he asked, and I smiled.
"Do you like guns? Or melee weapons?" I asked, and Pyke grinned.
"Give me a gun, and I am happy!" Pykeughed, and I grinned.
"Sure, but this time we are going to change the way that your system works and use the chaos of randomness to your advantage and everyone else''s disadvantage!" I said and offered my hand to Pyke.
Pyke grabbed it, and he shed and then stepped back from me as a strange ck pistol covered in glowing red cracks formed in his hand. His clothing changed and became a ck hat with a wide brim, a ck trench coat, and a leather suit that was covered in red cracks.
"Hot damn! You really gave me a makeover!" Pykeughed, and I grinned as Pyke''s new System shed across my screen.
[Chaos Trigger System activated!]
Chapter 218 Danger Incoming
"So what is this thing supposed to do?" Pyke asked as he looked over the strange pistol in his hand.
"From what I understand, when you fire the gun, it will create tunnels that will make everything inside of it be chaotic. From this, you will be able to use that chaos to your advantage. I really don''t understand it much past that, but I am sure that you will figure it out," I said with a grin.
"Daniel!" Melody called from behind me, and I turned around to see her and the other girlsing back from their meeting. I was curious to know what it was that they talked about during the meetings.
"Yes?" I asked, turning around as the group came up to me.
"We just learned something that I think you are going to want to know right now!" Melody said, and Sofia came up beside her.
"Yes, Papi. This is pretty big," Sofia said with a worried look on her face that all the other girls seemed to share.
It was not a look that I liked, and I was starting to get a pit in my stomach.
"Well, spit it out," I said, and they stepped back to let Calishora through.
"I am almost certain that it will take no more than a week for my three sisters to get here. From theirst known locations, Galliadra will be the first one to arrive, but the other two will be no more than a day behind. Regardless of when they show up, you can count on them not working together," Calishora exined.
I nodded my head, trying to take it all in. Even with them working together out of the picture, I was more worried about what they could do on their own.
"I see. Well, that changes things a bit," I said, and they all nodded their heads in agreement.
"It most certainly does," Melody said. "You are going to have to deal with whatever is stopping the power ASAP. Calishora was telling us about some of the things that they are capable of on the way over. We need to get the people off the surface of the and get them into safe ces as soon as possible. The creatures sound really scary, Daniel."
The look Melody gave me told me that she wasn''t ying around. She was a pretty brave person, but she actually looked worried.
I nodded my head, understanding what she was saying.
"Yes, I will get on it as soon as possible," I said, and she nodded her head.
"Good. We will do what we can to help, but our main priority is keeping the people safe," she said, and I nodded my head in agreement.
"Of course. I will keep you updated on what is going on," I said, and she nodded her head.
"Thank you, Daniel," she said, and they all turned and walked over to some open sofas to sit down.
I watched them all sit down for a moment before shaking my head and turning back to Pyke. This was a shit storm and a half.
"It seems like we have our work cut out for us," I said, and he nodded his head.
"That is an understatement," he said, and I could see the worry in his eyes.
"Well, we will just have to deal with it the best we can," I said, and he nodded his head slowly.
"Do you know what these things are capable of? I know that you are strong, but the things that you fought before are nothing. I heard about the Shalgoth that you faced. That thing is worse than them, and I am surprised to see one here. That thing was worse than them, but they had a Silence to control it. That won''t work on them. You should go talk to Calishora. She will exin to you what ising. Their scale is hard toprehend, and their abilities are even more destructive. Your wife was right when she said we need to clear the," Pyke exined as Beltzer and Tim walked over.
"Pyke is right. Those creatures are something that you can''t imagine. They have the ability to fold two points of space together and smash everything between. They can pull things from hundreds of miles around into a single point and breathe cosmic radiation while being able to chew and w through anything. That is only what they all can do. As far as we know, each of them has special abilities beyond that," Tim exined, and I sighed but offered them both a hand.
"Thank you for the information. It is good to know what we are up against," I said, and they both nodded their heads, taking my hands. Both of them shed with light and then smiled.
"That feels much better!" Tim said as she let go of my hand and leaned into Beltzer, who also let go of my hand.
"I think we are going to have to put the training on hold for now, don''t you think?" Beltzer asked, but I shook my head.
"No, this is the time when I need you all to give it your very best. I will be doing the fighting, but we still have no clue about what Alpha''s n is. If Tiamat is sending her daughters here sooner, there is a good chance that Alpha will do something simr. It would be smart for him to attack while I was distracted by the sisters. This is why I need you all to get strong enough to be able to defeat or safely hold off the Gideons if they do attack. We have to be ready for everything," I said, and Beltzer nodded.
I turned back to Pyke, who was looking at me with worried eyes.
"So, what do we do now?" Pyke asked, and I sighed.
"I am not sure. I need to talk to Calishora and get more information from her. After that, we need to start making ns. We need to get the people to safety, and we need to find a way to stop those things. I am not sure how we are going to do that, but we will figure it out. For now, we need to focus on the people. We need to get them to safety," I exined, and Pyke nodded his head in agreement.
Chapter 219 Way Too Broken
I turned and walked over to the girls, who were all sitting on the sofas and talking quietly. I sat down next to Melody, and she turned to look at me.
"What are we going to do, Daniel?" She asked, and I sighed.
"First, I need to find out as much as we can about them. This is alling pretty fast, but we have things in ce. Starting tomorrow we are going to start sending out messages with the trees. There is no way that we are going to be able to get everyone underground, but I might have an idea if I can get the power back on. It is going to require me to work fast, but if I can make the special dimensional boxes deep in Area 51 work, then we will have the perfect way to keep people safe. Still, the biggest problem is that we are going to have less than a week to cram everyone on this into boxes," I said with a long sigh.
The others also nodded their heads, and I could see the worry in their eyes. This was a lot to take in, and I was not sure how we were going to do it. But I knew that we had to try.
"Calishora, can youe over here for a second?" I called, and she nodded her head before standing up and walking over to me.
"What do you need?" She asked, and I waved for her toe over.
"Do you think that you can tell me a bit about your sisters? I was told about your basic abilities, but Tim said that you each have special abilities, right?" I asked as Melody moved over for Calishora.
"Yes, that is correct. We each have abilities that are unique to us. For example, I can control space. I can make things bigger or smaller. I can also make things closer or farther away. My sisters have abilities that are just as powerful, if not more so. Galliadra can control time, and Korrenka can control matter. With our abilitiesbined, we are nearly unstoppable," Calishora exined, and I nodded my head, trying to take it all in.
"I see. So, if you were to fight me, what would happen?" I asked, and she shrugged her shoulders.
"It would be a close fight, but I would eventually win. My ability to control space would give me the advantage, as I could make you bigger or smaller or even make you closer or farther away. There is really no way to fight against it," she exined, and I nodded my head.
"I see. What about the other sisters? What can they do?" I asked, and she sighed.
"Galliadra can control time. She can make things move faster or slower, and she can even make things move backward. She can also make people age or get younger, but not just people. She can age material, but she can not undo it, as in turning it back to before it was in a solid state. That is Korrenka''s ability. She can control matter, and she can make it do just about anything. She can make it bigger or smaller or even change its shape. She can also make it move, but not like me. I can make it move in space, but she can make it move or change the matter. It is hard to exin, but basically, she can change what a thing is to something else, or even make things blow apart. With our abilities, we are nearly unstoppable," she exined, and I nodded my head, trying to take it all in.
This was insane.
How were you supposed to fight against someone that could just make you explode? Or someone that could control time?! Even Calishora''s abilities seemed like something that I had no way of dealing with. These powers were just way too broken.
"I see. What about your other sister? What can they do?" I asked, and she sighed.
"Lindemia is the worst out of them all, but there isn''t a single soul but my mother that knows what her true powers are. She is by far the strongest of all of us, and even the other sister," Calishora exined, and I shook my head, putting it to rest in my hands.
I had no idea how I was supposed to fight against something like that. This was just way too much. There was no way I could win against something like that.
"I see. So, what am I supposed to do now? I can''t just sit here and do nothing," I said, and she shook her head.
"You are not alone in this. I will help you. I will teach you how to use your abilities. With my help, you will be able to stand against my sisters," she said, and I nodded my head, feeling a little better.
At least I wasn''t alone in this. I had someone that could help me.
"Thank you, Calishora. I really appreciate it," I said, and she nodded her head.
"It is no problem. I am happy to help," she said, and I nodded my head.
"Oh yes! Daniel! I forgot to introduce you to your two new harem members! Woohoo! I know that this isn''t the time for that, but it happened, so you might as well know about it," Melody said dramatically, and I rolled my eyes.
"You are right, this is definitely not the right time for this, but there isn''t going to be a right time for anything for a while, I don''t think. Since you said two, I will assume Kitsune is one, but who is the other?" I asked, and Calishora smiled at me warmly.
"I told you. I am here for you, and I will help you the best that I can. I don''t know if I can teach you how to use my abilities, but I will try to teach you the best that I can," Calishora said with a smile, and I nodded my head in approval.
"Well, there is a line of women that are going to be pretty disappointed, but I am not here toin. Hell, I just work here!" Iughed, but I was stewing about all of this inside.
Chapter 220 Make Love To Me
I made sure to get all Generals their upgrades, but when I got to Diamo, I fortified his system so his crystal could block out the Cosmic radiation. Not only that, but I had thought of an interesting way of doing things for now.
"Once the core and mantle have been reced with the Micro Star, we will have to contain it with what we have gathered. There are a couple different uses for the star, but with your crystal, we can make giant orbs around the settlements," I exined.
"So, you create a sphere around the settlement that would cut off the radiation," Diamo said.
"Exactly. Not only would it keep the people safe, but it would also be a power source." I said.
"How so?" He asked.
"Well, the star is constantly giving off energy, right?" I asked.
"Yes, that is correct." He said.
"If we can harness that energy, then we can use it to power the settlement," I said.
"I see. That is a very interesting idea. I will have to look into it further." He said.
"I think it could work," I said.
"I will make sure to look into it," Diamo said, and I nodded, then turned back to the girls.
So much was going on with the three space dragonsing now, but trying to get everyone working on it right now was pointless. Everyone needed some rest, and Sofia and I needed some time alone. There was talking and fun at some point, but the two of us needed to do the talking first.
Each of these creatures possessed insane powers that made my powers seem like cheap tricks inparison, but I still had things like Word Incarnate. I thought I would also have Calishora helping me as I looked over at her and the rest of the girls. My eyes fell on Victoria, and then I remembered her asking me to fix her System.
I walked over to her, and she looked up at me with a smile. "Yes?" she asked.
"I think I figured out how to fix your System," I said.
"Oh?" she asked.
"Yeah, it should be simple enough," I said.
"I see. How long will it take?" she asked.
"A few minutes. Come, I can do it while we walk. I am not really going to get much time to see you after today, so I would like to get some now before Sofia, and I leave," I said, offering my hand to Victoria.
After a moment, she took it, and I helped her up. We started walking north through the garden and away from the others, and I started to work on her System. It was not too difficult, but it took a little bit of time.
"There. It should be working now." I said.
"Thank you." She said, and I could see her open up her System Menu to take a look.
"Anytime," I said.
We continued to walk in silence for a little while, and then Victoria spoke up. "Are you scared?"
"Of what?" I asked.
"Of what is toe?" she asked.
"A little, but I am more scared of what will happen to the people here. I do not want to see any of them get hurt." I said.
"I see. I am scared as well, but I know that you will protect us." She said, leaning into me.
"I will do my best," I said.
"I know you will." She said as she pulled back, smiling. It was really nice to see Vic like this. Happy and acting cute.
We walked in silence for a little longer, then reached the edge of the garden. I stopped and looked out at the tree city beyond. It was so different from when everything first started. Everything was so new and fresh, and now it was all going to change.
"It is so beautiful," Victoria said.
"Yes, it is," I said.
"I never thought I would see something like this." She said as she looked out at everything around us.
You could look in any direction and see things you never thought possible. There was the stadium off in the distance, the Challenger Dome, and all the great trees with bridges running all over the ce at different heights.
"I never thought I would either," I said.
We stood there in silence for a little while longer, just taking in the view, and then I turned to Victoria. "I am going to protect us, but I can''t save everyone. I have been thinking about this a lot today, and now the sistersing isn''t making it easier," I said.
"I know. I wish that I had a solid answer, but I don''t, and I don''t think that any of the girls do. This is something that you are going to have to choose, and you are going to have to rely on the choices that you make. We can''t stop what ising; only you can, so you need to make a choice," Victoria said, and I nodded my head.
"I know. I just wish that it was not so difficult." I said.
"I know, but you are strong. You can do this." She said with a warm smile, taking my hand in hers.
"I hope so," I said, smiling back.
We stood there in silence for a little while longer, just looking out at the tree city, and then I turned to Victoria. "I should get going. Sofia is waiting for me," I said.
"Yes, you should. I will see youter." She said, turning to me.
"Yes, you will," I said as I moved in to kiss her. Our lips met, and we kissed for a moment before we pulled away, and then I turned and started to walk away.
"Be safe," Victoria called out to me.
"I will," I called back to her as I continued to walk away.
"Hey, I was wondering where you went off to," she said as I sat down next to her.
"I went to see Victoria," I said.
"Oh, how is she?" Sofia asked.
"She is good, but we need to talk," I said.
"About what?" She asked.
"About the sisters and what we are going to do," I said.
"I don''t know. What can we do? We can''t stop them, and we can''t save everyone." She said, and I knew that was true.
"I know, but I am not going to just sit by and let them kill everyone. I am going to try and stop them, but you are right, and I can''t save everyone. Gah!" Iined, and Sofia came over to cuddle with me.
"It is a long day, Papi. Let''s go back home and talk about it in the morning. I know the world''s ending, but this is like the second time in two weeks. I am starting to get used to working overtime, but tonight it is you and me, right, Daddy?" Sofia whispered in my ears as she kissed up my neck, and I grinned.
"Yes, Hermosa, tonight is about you and me," I said as I pulled her into my arms and headed home.
Once we were back in the R&D Tree, we headed up the elevator until we got to Sofia''s floors, which counted as the top four floors of the tree. The entire ride up, Sofia kissed me while I cradled her in my arms. The moment the door opened for the elevator, I groaned.
"Wee home, Master, and strange Annokale," Lycan said as he sat on his haunches ring at me. He was fixed, but I still held my reservations about this robot dog.
"Lycan, I thought I told you to call me Sofia." She said as she pushed past him, and I followed behind her.
"It is not my ce." The dog said.
"I don''t care, now call me Sofia, or I''ll have your programming rewritten, so you have to." Sofia threatened, and the dog''s ears perked up.
"Yes, Sofia." The dog said, and I chuckled.
"I see you still have your hands full with him," I said as we entered her home.
"You have no idea." She said as she walked over to her closet and began to undress.
I sat down on the couch and watched her as she undressed, revealing her toned and tanned body. She had a small waist, wide hips, andrge breasts. She was absolutely gorgeous, and I felt my manhood stir as I watched her.
"I''m going to take a shower. Do you want to join me?" She asked, and I nodded as I stood up and began to undress.
I followed her into the bathroom, and she turned on the shower before she stepped in. I followed her in, and she pressed her body against mine as the water cascaded down over us. We kissed passionately as our hands roamed each other''s bodies, and then she took a step back.
"I want you, Papi, but not like this. I want you to make love to me, not just fuck me." She said, and I nodded as I turned off the shower.
I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my waist before I grabbed one for her and helped her to dry off. I then took her hand and led her into the bedroom, where I gentlyy her on the bed. I kissed her passionately as I slowly crawled on top of her and entered her.
We moved together, our bodies slick with sweat and water, and I quickly found my release. However, Sofia was not done, and she rolled us over so that she was on top. She began to ride me, and I soon found myself on the brink of orgasm once again.
I grasped her hips tightly as she rode me harder and harder, and then she cried out as she came. I followed suit soon after, and then she copsed against me, but I kept moving.
"Papi, what are you doing?" She gasped out.
"I told you, tonight is about you and me. I am going to make love to you all night long." I said, and she moaned in response as she wrapped her legs around me, and we continued, Sofia crying out as I drilled my cock into her.
I rolled over with her in my arms and gently ced her on the bed. I then began to explore her body with my mouth, and she moaned loudly as I teased and tantalized her. She cried out as I brought her to orgasm, and then I quickly entered her once again.
We continued like this all night, and I lost count of how many times I made here. She was exhausted by the time I finally let her rest, and shey in my arms, panting and sweaty.
"I thought you said that tonight was about me?" She said, and I chuckled.
"It is, but I am not going to deny that I enjoyed myself as well," I said, and she grinned as she snuggled closer to me.
"I love you, Papi." She said, and I grinned.
"I love you too, Hermosa," I said, and then we fell asleep in each other''s arms.
Chapter 221 Your Mother Is An Evil Bitch
I rolled over with her in my arms and gently ced her on the bed. I then began to explore her body with my mouth, and she moaned loudly as I teased and tantalized her. She cried out as I brought her to orgasm, and then I quickly entered her once again.
We continued like this all night, and I lost count of how many times I made here. She was exhausted by the time I finally let her rest, and shey in my arms, panting and sweaty.
"I thought you said that tonight was about me?" She said, and I chuckled.
"It is, but I am not going to deny that I enjoyed myself as well," I said, and she grinned as she snuggled closer to me.
"I love you, Papi." She said, and I grinned.
"I love you too, Hermosa," I said, and then we fell asleep in each other''s arms.
The next morning, we woke up and made love again. Today was going to be filled with many things, but I wasn''t going to have time for this, so I made sure that we enjoyed each other to the fullest.
I indulged myself in her body, and she let me do whatever I wanted. We explored each other, and we came up with new ways to make love. She was insatiable, and I loved it.
Eventually, we had to get out of bed, and we got ready for the day. I knew that she had a lot of work to do with the people that I had given Systems to already, and I would have to swing byter to give out a few more Systems.
I was going to be busy today as well, so we parted ways after we made love onest time. We both showered quickly, and then I headed out, heading towards the first ce that I needed to be.
"Fancy seeing you here," Omega said after the roots set me down from being thrown from the R&D Tree.
"Well, I think that you and I need to have a talk. I am sure that you heard about the sisters," I said, and Omega in Brad Pitt''s body nodded.
"Yeah, that is something else. I know that you were pretty confident in being able to fight them. I was right along with you, but this time crunch is going to make it a clencher!" Omega said, and I groaned.
"That is a slight understatement. Do you know what they can do?" I asked, and Omega scoffed.
"You think I wouldn''t? I mean, I don''t know anything about Lindemia, but no one does. The other two are pretty scary, but you are much scarier; you just haven''t reached that point," Omega exined, and I sighed.
"That doesn''t really help me now," I said, putting the crook of my hand to my head.
"Yes, well, luckily, you have me," Omega said with a smirk. I looked at him questioningly for a moment before realization dawned on me.
"Oh! You want to help?" I asked excitedly, and Omega shrugged as if it was no big deal.
"Well, someone has to," Omega said as if it was obvious, "Besides, you are going to need all the help that you can get."
"So, what form of help does thise in?" I asked, and Omega grinned like he had just tried ice cream for the first time.
"Octavia. Her and your new wife. Calishora will definitely be an invaluable resource. Honestly, I have to say that you did a really good job there," Omega said, pping me on the shoulder, but I gave him a look.
"Letting her live infinite lifetimes with me was not in my ns," I said, and Omega sighed.
"Next time, just lie to me," Omega said with a sigh, and Iughed.
"I will try to, but I make no promises," I said, and Omega sighed.
"Well, at least you are trying. That is more than I can say for myself," Omega said, and then he snapped his fingers. "One more thing."
He produced a bag from behind his back that was filled with all sorts of potions and vials, "I made this concoction for you." Omega handed the bag to me, and I took it hesitantly, looking inside. "Just drink it when you go into battle," Omega said as if it was no big deal. I looked up at him questioningly, and he shrugged again as if this was an everyday urrence. "It should help... some," Omega finishedmely, and I sighed as I put the bag over my shoulder.
"That was even more sketchy than the first time that I met you!" I growled, and Omega rolled his eyes.
"You are never going to let that go, are you?" He asked, and I shook my head.
"Nope! You tried to kill me!" I eximed, and Omega sighed.
"That was a long time ago, and I have since made up for it," Omega said inly as if it should be obvious. I crossed my arms over my chest and gave him a t look. "Fine, don''t drink it then," Omega said with a huff before turning away from me and disappearing into a puff of smoke.
That was new, or maybe it wasn''t. I don''t know; I had stopped trying to keep track of everything that happened in this world a long time ago. I turned away from the spot that Omega had just disappeared from and made my way toward where I was supposed to meet up with Calishora.
The space dragon was supposed to start teaching me right away to get me prepared, but I had no clue what that meant for me. She had lived in my mind for untold years with me, and now she was with me just like then, but I didn''t have those memories. It felt like I was starting from scratch in some ways, but I wasn''t too worried about it.
After all, I had faced down things that were a lot scarier than not knowing what the future held.
The first thing that Calishora had me do was to harness my systeminium and use it to create a shield around myself. It was harder than it sounds since I had never really tried to control my systeminium specifically before, but with her help, I was able to get the hang of it pretty quickly. This was thanks to my already been using it in different ways so much.
Apparently, space dragons were one of the best at using systeminium due to their unique nature. That made sense, but it was more than just being part of Tiamat. They were attuned to the ebb and flow of systeminium itself, which gave them a natural affinity for using it.
Calishora had me do all sorts of exercises with my metal while she watched on and gave me pointers here and there until finally, she nodded in approval. "You have a natural talent for controlling the systeminium," she said after we finished over seven hours of training. "But," she added, and I stopped, looking at her. "You need to learn how to use it for more than just protection."
"What do you mean?" I asked, and Calishora sighed as if this was going to be a long exnation. "I have time," I said, trying to reassure her, but she still looked hesitant.
"It is not that I do not want to tell you. It is that I am worried about what will happen once you know," she said finally, and my eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"What do you mean?" I asked again, and Calishora took a deep breath before beginning her story.
"You see, when Tiamat first created the systeminium, she did so with the intention of it being used as a weapon. A tool to end conflicts quickly and efficiently without any loss of life," Calishora exined, and my mind began going through all of the different ways that systeminium could be used as a weapon. "However, over time, she began to realize that systeminium could be used for more than just destruction."
Calishora continued on after taking a moment to gather her thoughts, "She started using it for other things such as healing and creating things instead of just destroying them." The dragon paused again as if she was unsure if she should continue or not before sighing deeply and continuing on anyway.
"Tiamat soon realized that the possibilities were endless with systeminium and that it could be used for good as well as for evil. She started to worry about what would happen if others ever got ahold of it and used it for their own purposes."
"That is why she ced the seal on the systeminium and created the space dragons," Calishora said finally, and I furrowed my brows in confusion. "We were created to protect the systeminium and make sure that it was never used for evil."
"And yet, your mother is an evil bitch that is trying to conquer the gxy," I sighed. "It seems like she didn''t do a very good job."
"Tiamat is not evil," Calishora said defensively. "She is just... misguided."
"And what about you? Are you also misguided?" I asked, and the dragon was silent for a long moment before sighing deeply.
"I do not know anymore," she finally admitted, and I nodded in understanding. "But that does not change the fact that we were created to protect the systeminium."
"And what exactly does that mean?" I asked, and Calishora furrowed her brows in thought for a moment before answering.
"It means that we are attuned to the systeminium and can sense when it is being used for evil purposes. It also means that we can use our own power to nullify the systeminium if need be."
"But you are using it for evil purposes. How do you tell the difference?" I asked, trying to press this. I needed to know how they were differentiating between what was good and evil. "How do you know that what your mother is doing is wrong?"
"Because she is using the systeminium for destruction and not for creation," Calishora said simply as if that should be obvious. "And because we can feel the pain of those who are being harmed by her actions."
"What about those who are being harmed by your actions?" I asked pointedly, and the dragon was silent for a long moment before sighing deeply.
"This is different," she said finally, but I could tell that she didn''t believe her own words. "The systeminium was never meant to be used in such a way."
"And yet you are using it," I pointed out, and Calishora furrowed her brows in frustration. "It seems to me like Tiamat didn''t do a very good job of protecting her precious weapon."
"That is because she was betrayed," Calishora said quietly, and I sighed.
Everything came back full circle, but this did give me a different outlook on Tiamat.
Chapter 222 Mimic
"So Alphose betrayed your mother, Tiama, but before this, you are saying that she was good?" I asked skeptically.
It wasn''t impossible to see Tiamat as a good person at one point, and maybe when she was Tiama, she might have been better. Unfortunately, the look on Calishora''s face didn''t really say that she had been that much different.
"My mother... There was a point where she was better than this and a point where she even considered changing her ways. Golden Alphonse showed up and swept her off her feet. Together the two of them swept through gxies, and we would consume everyone one of them together. Then he asked her toe to a ce that he had discovered just before they met. Eden, and then home of the Forbidden Astral Fruit. I am pretty sure that my mother loved him, but Alphonse didn''t feel the same way, and that is what started this all. He just meant to use her," Calishora exined.
"So, Alphonse used your mother to get his hands on the Fruit. That is what started it all," I summarized, and Calishora nodded her head. "And then he betrayed her."
"Yes," she said quietly before sighing deeply. "But that is not all."
Calishora took a deep breath before continuing on with her story, "You see, when Tiamat found out about what Alphonse had done, she was heartbroken. She loved him dearly and trusted himpletely. To find out that he had been using her the entire time... It destroyed her."
The dragon paused for a moment as if lost in thought before shaking her head and continuing on, "Tiamat became consumed by rage and set out to destroy everything that Alphonse held dear. She wanted him to feel the same pain that she was feeling."
"And you think that this makes her evil?" I asked skeptically because it sounded more like revenge to me than anything else. "Because from where I am standing, it sounds like she was just defending herself."
"You do not understand," Calishora said, and I furrowed my brows in confusion. "Tiamat is a dragon, and as such, she is incredibly powerful. With her power, she could have easily destroyed Alphonse without all of this coteral damage."
"So why didn''t she?" I asked, and the dragon was silent for a long moment before sighing deeply.
"Because Tiamat wanted Alphonse to suffer," she said finally, and I furrowed my brows in understanding. "She wanted him to feel the same pain that he had caused her."
And that was when it clicked. Tiamat wasn''t just seeking revenge against Alphonse; she was also seeking vengeance against the entire universe. She wanted everyone to feel the same pain that she was feeling.
"That is why your mother is evil," I said finally, and Calishora nodded her head. "Because she allows her emotions to control her actions."
"Yes," the dragon said quietly before sighing deeply. "And that is why we need to stop her."
"But how?" I asked, and Calishora furrowed her brows in thought for a moment before answering.
"I do not know," she admitted, and I sighed deeply.
Stopping Tiamat was going to be incredibly difficult, especially if we didn''t have a n. But maybe, just maybe, we coulde up with something, but she wasn''t the problem. The three sisters that wereing were. I will think about Tiamat another time.
"Let''s switch gears here. Where are starting to head off in the wrong direction," I asked and created chairs for us to sit in. "Tell me some more about Galliadra. She is the hothead, so I assume she will be the first to attack. You said that she can control time, but is she really that powerful?"
Calishora thought for a moment before answering, "Galliadra is the most like our mother and runs headlong into everything. Her ability to control time is only subject to an area, but she can affect a one-hundred-mile radius from her. Ranged attacks are going to be an option, but she is very fast and adapts well. While a hot head, she knows how to fight. The time abilities give her a strategic advantage that we will have to be wary of."
"So, we need to hit her hard and fast before she can use her abilities," I mused out loud, and Calishora nodded her head. "And the other two? What about them?"
"Lindemia is our strategist and usually calms Galliadra down when things get heated. Her ability is unknown, but she is known for her fighting skills that are unrivaled. She is one of the only Dragons that doesn''t use her abilities to fight, or if she does, we don''t know how," the dragon exined, and I furrowed my brows in thought.
"You said Lindemia would best, and since we don''t know much about her, we will just push her to the side for now. Other than getting good, there isn''t much I can do to prepare for something like that," I said with a sigh, and Calishora got up and came over behind me to start massaging my back. "What about Korrenka? You said that she can control matters and even make people blow up. Now that sounds like a terrifying ability."
"Her abilities are very powerful, and she is the most levelheaded of us all. When our mother goes too far, it is Korrenka that steps in and tries to talk some sense into her. Korrenka is the most loyal of us all, and she always dotes on our mother. Even Tiamat tells her that she doesn''t like it when her children pander to her, but Korrenka just ignores her," the dragon exined, and I shuddered at the thought of someone being able to make people blow up.
"So we need to be careful with her as well," I said slowly, and Calishora nodded her head. "But other than that, do you have any suggestions on how we can beat them?"
Calishora was silent for a long moment before answering, "I am not sure. Our mother created us to be nearly unstoppable. We are faster, stronger, and more intelligent than any other creature in the universe. This training is all I can do for you, but you are going to have to figure out how to defeat them. I have no doubt that Tiamat probably told them all to make sure that I was dead as well."
"Of course she did," I sighed, and Calishora came around to sit in front of me. "I just wish there was something more that we could do."
The dragon ced her hand on my cheek and looked into my eyes before saying, "You are going to have to be the one that defeats them, Daniel. I cannot do it for you. This new body you gave me is really nothing like my old one, and none of my abilities work anymore."
I had already tried to make a System for Calishora when I was on the way over with the description that she gave me, but I just got an error each time telling me the System was already in use. I had tried the other two sisters'' abilities as well, but my System kept giving me the same message.
"I need to get a hold of one of your sisters before I think I can fix you, but that makes me wonder. I just tried to make your abilities into a System, but it says there already is one. That makes me curious to know if I might not be able to use the powers the same as I can with the other Systems I have created. Can you try and use one of your abilities?" I asked, and Calishora furrowed her brows in thought for a moment before she nodded her head.
"I can try," she said slowly before closing her eyes in concentration. After a few moments, she opened them back up and shook her head. "It is not working."
"Hmmm... That is interesting," I mused out loud before standing up and pacing around the room as I was deep in thought. There had to be something that we were missing here, but I just couldn''t put my finger on it.
"What are you thinking?" Calishora asked, and I turned to her with a sigh.
"I think that there is something we are missing here," I admitted, and the dragon furrowed her brows in confusion. "I just wish I could figure out what it was."
Suddenly, an idea popped into my head, and I snapped my fingers as it clicked. "That''s it!"
"What is it?" Calishora asked, but I was already on the move. There was something that I needed to check on, and if my hunch was right... Well, let''s just say that things were about to get interesting.
? "Give me a moment," I said as I closed my eyes and concentrated.
I requested for my System to send me information about the Systems that were already created, and my eyes snapped open. I had everything that I needed the entire time in my head already or in my System. All I had to do was look at it from a different perspective.
"The answer has been in front of us the entire time," I said as I turned back to Calishora with a grin on my face. "It is time for round two of training."
"What do you mean the answer has been in front of us the entire time?" Calishora asked, and I gestured for her to follow me as I began walking back towards the training area.
"Well, more in front of me. I am your mother''s heart, so I am connected to her and all Systems. While I can''t give you your power back, you can teach me how to use yours and your sister''s!" Iughed.
Calishora''s eyes widened in understanding as she realized what I was saying, "But how? You have never even used our abilities before."
"Well, that is the beauty of it. I can just ess your memories and learn from them," I exined as we entered the training area, and Calishora nodded her head.
"So you are going to try and mimic our powers?" she asked, and I nodded my head. "That might actually work."
"It is the only thing that I can think of that might work," I admitted, and Calishora nodded her head.
"Alright, let''s get started then," she said with a sigh before closing her eyes in concentration. "I am going to try and show you how to use my power first."
I closed my eyes as well and reached out toward Calishora''s mind. It was easier than I thought it would be to ess her memories, and soon I was seeing everything from her perspective.
Chapter 223 Re-Living Anothers Past
From my vantage point, inside Calishora''s head, I could see the memories she had reyed in her mind. I saw the first time she used her abilities to destroy a. The was inhabited by a peaceful race of people who had no idea what wasing for them. Calishora appeared in their sky without warning and began to fold space around the. The''s inhabitants were pulled apart and sucked into the void that Calishora had created. I can hear their screams even from here.
I saw the next memory she was reying, and it was of a star going supernova. Calishora was there, using her ability to control how close or far things are in a confined space, to keep the star from destroying thes in its system. She breathed in, sucking the star''s energy into her lungs, and then breathed out, redirecting the star''s energy away from thes. The star''s light was extinguished, and thes were saved.
I saw Calishora''s most recent memory now, and it''s of her using her abilities to destroy a fleet of ships. The ships were armed with weapons that could have caused a lot of damage to her. Calishora didn''t want to take any chances, so she used her ability to make things bigger or smaller to make the ships bigger. Then she used her ability to control how close or far things were to bring the ships closer to her. Once they were close enough, she breathed in and out, sucking the ships into the void she had created.
Each one of the memories was different, and I was having a hard time saying that it was all evil. There were times that she actually saved the, not destroyed it, but as the memories went farther, I could see that they still enved the entire race. It was not short of confusing.
The next memory was of a great battle. Calishora was fighting against another space dragon. I could feel the anger and hatred that she had for this other dragon. The battle was fierce, and neither of them was backing down. They were both using their abilities to try and gain the upper hand, but it was a stalemate.
Eventually, Calishora got the upper hand, and she used her ability to control how close or far things were to bring the other dragon close to her. Then she used her breath to suck the other dragon into the void she had created. I could feel the triumph that she felt as she watched her enemy be destroyed.
The final memory that I saw was of a that Calishora had just destroyed. She was standing in the middle of all the destruction, surveying her handiwork with a satisfied look on her face.
As I looked back at all the memories, I could see themon thread between them all. Calishora enjoyed destruction and chaos. She loved being the one in control and having the power to destroy entire civilizations. That was her purpose, and she was good at it, but could I really me her? She was a space dragon, after all, and this was the way that she had been raised.
If I had my way, I would change Calishora and her three sisters. Hell, if I could, I would try to even change Tiamat. After hearing everything and looking at her story from different angles, I was starting to dislike her less. Tiamat was a hot head, but it was clear that she had wanted to change at one point, but Alpha fucked that all up when he betrayed her. This made sense why Alpha could get under her skin so much.
Looking back at Calishora''s memories, I could see the pain that she had been through. She had been used and abused by those in power, and she was just trying to survive. I didn''t agree with the way she was going about it, but I could understand it.
In the end, I saw Calishora for what she really was: a victim of circumstance who had been turned into a weapon. She wasn''t evil, per se, but she wasn''t good either. She was somewhere in the middle, and I could see the potential for her to change if given a chance.
My eyes opened, and Calishora looked away from me right away. I could see the pain on her face because she would have had to see that all just as I did. I felt bad for her, but I also knew that this was the only way. This might have been for me to learn, but I wanted to teach her that she didn''t have to be this way. That there was another way.
"You were forced into this life," I said as I walked up to Calishora, who still wouldn''t look at me. "You didn''t have a choice. But I''m giving you one now. You can continue to do what you''re doing, or you can choose to change. It''s up to you."
"I don''t want to be like that or ever have to do anything like that again," Calishora said, finally looking at me. "but I don''t know how to change."
"I''ll help you," I said. "But it''s not going to be easy. You''re going to have to want to change first and foremost."
Calishora was quiet for a moment before she nodded her head. "I want to change," she said softly.
"Okay," I said with a smile. "You making a choice to be different is the start. I don''t want to kill your mother or sisters, and I n on finding a way to change them too, but we''ll start with you. Now, I have an idea of how some of your abilities work, so I want you to guide me as I try to use them."
Calishora nodded her head and stepped closer to me. I could feel the determination emanating from her. She was ready to start her new life, and I was ready to help her. The two of us were closer than before, and I was starting to feel a pull from her as I stared into her eyes. Our faces slowly moved together until our lips met in a soft kiss.
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Chapter 224 [Bonus ] Feeling Proud
I could feel the love that she had for me, and the moment that our lips connected, it was like they were the only lips that I had ever known. I knew that Calishora had spent countless years in my mind, living a life with the girls and me, but the way we kissed was timeless. It was like we had always been kissing, and we never stopped.
My heartbeat quickened as I realized that I was in love with her. It was a sudden but all-consuming feeling. I loved her with every fiber of my being, and I would do anything for her.
Calishora pulled away from me, and I could see the love in her eyes as well. "I love you," she said softly.
"I love you too," I said back to her.
This feeling was strange, but as we pulled apart, I knew that she would always be there for me. It wasn''t like I loved her more than the other girls, but I couldn''t deny that this connection was much different than the others.
"Okay, as much as I would love to keep going with this kiss, we have an invasion to prepare for," I said, and Calishora nodded.
"Right, the invasion," she said with a look of determination. "We need to find a way to stop my sisters."
"And we will," I said. "But first, you need to teach me more about your powers, and I need you to put me through the wringer. We don''t have a lot of time, so today, I want you to train me until I beg you to stop. I have a Growth Spurt that is ready to go, and that is like leveling up for me, but I want to make sure that I learn as much as possible, so the Growth Spurt is more effective."
"Okay," Calishora said with a smile. "I think I can do that."
"Good," I said. "Now, let''s get started."
For the rest of the day, until dusk was upon us, Calishora put me through a brutal regiment of mental and physical training. Each one of the things that she had me do bring me closer to my goal, and when the sun went down, I made my first attempt.
"Okay, I think I understand now," I said, breathing heavily as I extended my hands forward.
"Remember what I just taught you. Your mind is already split, so once the field is up, everything must be controlled with thought. Our powers are not like yours, but you do have the advantage of being my mother''s heart. No matter the power, you should be able to use it, but you have to be careful. This ability can allow you to shrink a star; if you are strong enough, You can make it small enough to absorb. Our power has limitless potential," Calishora exined, and I nodded as I closed my eyes and summoned a bubble around myself.
Nothing happened at first, and I was about to give up when I felt a change. It was like something clicked in my mind, and suddenly I could feel the bubble around me. It was smaller than I had wanted it, but it was there.
"Good," Calishora said with a smile. "Now try to make it bigger."
I focused on the bubble and willed it to growrger. At first, nothing happened, but then I felt the bubble expand outward. It grew until it was big enough to epass the entire area that we were in.
"Wow," I said, looking at the bubble in amazement. "I did it."
"You did," Calishora said with a proud look on her face. "But this is only the start. Now I want you to make that rock move to you and then make it bigger."
I looked at the rock that Calishora was pointing to and focused on it. I willed it to move closer to me, and at first, nothing happened. I was starting to get frustrated when suddenly, the rock began to move. It floated through the air until it was right in front of me.
"Good," Calishora said. "Now make it bigger."
I focused on the rock again and willed it to growrger. At first, nothing happened, but then the rock began to expand. It grew until it was twice its original size.
I was really starting to get annoyed that it wasn''t working the first time. You would think that I could get it right at least one of these times.
"Perfect," Calishora said with a smile. "You are progressing well."
"I feel like I''ve only scratched the surface," I said, looking at all the rocks around us that I could use my abilities on.
"You have," Calishora said with a nod of her head. "but you have already aplished more than anyone else I have ever seen." She looked out into the distance for a moment before she turned back to me and said, "I think you''re ready for your next test."
"What is it?" I asked, feeling a little nervous about what she was going to say.
"I want you to try and make one of those rocks orbits around you," Calishora said. "It''s a bit more difficult than just making it move or grow, but I think you''re ready for it."
I nodded my head and turned my attention to the rock that she was pointing to. I focused on it and willed it to orbit around me. At first, nothing happened, as usual, but then the rock began to move. It floated in a circle around me until it was orbiting my head.
"Good," Calishora said with a smile. "Now try two rocks."
I nodded my head and focused on the second rock. I willed it to move, and just like before, it began to orbit around me. The two rocks circled me until they were both orbiting my head at the same time.
"Bazinga! I got it!" I said and started to summon more rocks. Soon there were eight of them.
"Be careful," Calishora warned, but that was the moment when two of the rocks collided.
I tried to recover, but I lost concentration and was hit in the face with two rocks, and one got big and dropped on my foot. I cursed out a string of obscenities, and the field I had created dispersed, and the rest of the rock fell as Calishoraughed at me.
"Oh, it''s not funny," I said, holding my foot; that was perfectly fine.
"Yes, it is," Calishora said between fits ofughter. "You should have seen the look on your face."
"It''s not funny," I repeated, but I was starting to see the humor in the situation. "I think I''m going to have a ck eye."
"Your face looks better than before," Calishora said as she walked over to me and wrapped her arms around me. "Just be more careful next time." She kissed me softly on the lips and then said, "Now, let''s go soak. You must be sore after all that training."
I nodded my head and followed Calishora away from the training area. As we walked through the soft grass, I couldn''t help but feel proud of myself. I had made a lot of progress today, and I was one step closer to being able to stop her mother and sisters.
Chapter 225 Calishora
Together, we headed to a Great tree that was close to the ce we were training, but we just walked over, not using the grass. Since Calishora was new to the harem, I had yet to give her a ce. Kitsune would just stay with Chelsea, but I think it was time that I moved them out of Amy''s tree and got them their own ce.
The sun was setting on the Central Great Forest, and the colors were beautiful as they shined through the leaves of the trees. I turned to Calishora and said, "I''m going to make you a ce of your own."
"Really?" she asked, her eyes lighting up.
"Yes," I said with a nod of my head. "You''re part of this harem now, and you deserve your own ce." I took her hand and led her back toward my tree. "Come on, I''ll show you where you can put your new home."
Calishora''s new home was just as beautiful as she was, set at the top of the tree. It was made out of white birch wood with vines wrapping around it. The inside was just onerge room with a bed in the middle and a small table next to it. On the other side of the room was a door that led out to a small balcony.
"Do you like it?" I asked as I walked over to her and wrapped my arms around her waist.
"It''s perfect," she said as she turned in my arms and kissed me. "Thank you, Daniel. This is just like the ce that you made me when I was inside your mind. It feels surreal."
"I wanted to make it perfect for you," I said as I looked down into her eyes.
"You always make everything perfect for me," she said as she kissed me again. "I love you, Daniel."
"I love you too," I said as I kissed her back. "Now let''s go inside and christen your new home."
We walked hand in hand to the bed. Out of all my experiences with the girls, all of them had been mostly human, besides Gaia and Firaga, but this was different. Calishora''s body was covered in glittering pink scales, and her head was blue and purple, but her shoulders turned up into points. Even though she was a space Dragon, she was still radiant and beautiful.
I slowly pushed her back on the bed, and Calishora moved with me like we had done this countless times, and we may have, but this was the first time I was experiencing it. I was more than excited, but I didn''t want to rush it. I wanted to savor every moment, so I took my time exploring her body with my hands and lips.
Calishora was lost in pleasure as she writhed beneath me, her hands running through my hair and over my back. She moaned softly as my mouth moved down her stomach and lower until I reached the juncture of her thighs. I lightly ran my tongue over her most sensitive spot, eliciting a moan from her lips.
I grinned up at her as she opened her legs wider for me, giving me better ess. I took full advantage as I explored her with my tongue and lips, teasing and pleasing her until she was moaning uncontrobly and wing at the sheets. Her body tightened around me just before she came undone, calling out my name in ecstasy.
I kissed my way back up Calishora''s body before settling between her thighs. She wrapped them around my waist tightly as I pushed forward until we were joined together intimately. We both sucked in a deep breath of air before we began to move together in perfect harmony, our bodies knowing what the other wanted without having to say a word.
We moved faster and faster until we were both on the brink of explosive orgasm; then Calishora''s eyes turnedpletely ck except for two purple pupils that stared into mine intensely.."Take me," she demanded in a throaty voice that sent shivers down my spine. "Make me yours."
Suddenly, a fire started to burn in me, and carnal excitement rushed into me as I stared into her ck eyes. I grabbed her hips tightly as I pounded into her hard and fast, giving her what she wanted. The fire in me was growing hotter and hotter until it was an inferno, but I didn''t care. All that mattered was giving Calishora the pleasure that she needed.
The room was filled with the sounds of skin against skin and our harsh breathing as we moved together. The smell of sex and sweat filled the air until it was almost too much to bear, but neither one of us wanted to stop. We were both lost in ecstasy, our bodies moving on their own ord.
Then, without warning, the inferno inside me exploded, and I was consumed by pleasure as I came undone inside Calishora. She tightened around me as she found her release momentster, and we clung to each other as we rode out the waves of pleasure.
Calishora pushed me back and forced me to roll onto my back as she got up, her eyes still ck as she mounted me. I felt her body tense up as she grabbed my wrists and ced them above my head. She began to ride me hard, her hips moving in perfect circles as she took me deeper and deeper.
The pleasure was intense as she moved faster and harder, her body a blur of motion. Then, just when I thought I couldn''t take it anymore, Calishora bit down on my neck hard, sinking her teeth into my flesh.
I cried out as pleasure, unlike anything I had ever experienced before, coursed through me. It was so intense that it was almost painful as my body was consumed by pleasure. I could feel myself getting close to the edge, but I didn''t want it to end.
However, Calishora had other ns as she quickened the pace and brought me to the brink of an explosive orgasm. I could feel my body tensing up as the pleasure built inside me until it was too much to bear. Then, I wasing undone as pleasure exploded inside me and rushed through my body.
Calishora rode out my orgasm with me, her body tensing up as she found her release momentster. She copsed against me, and we were both lost in ecstasy as we clung to each other. Finally, when the waves of pleasure subsided, Calishora rolled off of me andy next to me, her eyes still ck.
"Wow," was all I could say as I stared up at the ceiling, trying to catch my breath. "That was intense."
"It was," Calishora said breathlessly as she turned to her side to face me. "This is how it was each time, but we aren''t done yet."
Calishora got off me, and her scale started to glow pink as she got on her hands and knees, using one hand to spread her ass open. I could see her asshole pulsing as she waited for me, and my cock twitched in anticipation.
I got on my knees behind her and grabbed her hips as I pushed forward until I was buried deep inside her tight hole. Calishora moaned loudly as she felt me stretch her open, and the sound was music to my ears.
I began to thrust in and out of her, going faster and harder as the pleasure built inside me. I could feel her tight walls gripping me tightly as I pounded her hard, and the sensation was incredible.
Calishora''s moans wereing faster now, and I could tell that she was close to the edge. I quickened the pace even more until she was screaming my name anding undone around me. Her orgasm triggered mine, and I filled her asshole with my cum as I came undone inside her, but I reached forward and pulled her wrist back, making her fall forward as I switched back to her hot pussy.
"You''re insatiable," she gasped out as I pounded her hard, the bed creaking with every thrust.
"It''s your fault," I said as I pushed her over the edge into ecstasy. "You make me so damn horny."
Calishora''s body was shaking as she came, shaking as I pulled her back into me, and I followed her over the edge momentster. We were both lost in pleasure as we clung to each other, our bodies trembling with ecstasy. Finally, when the waves of pleasure subsided, we copsed onto the bed, exhausted from our lovemaking.
Calishora and Iy in bed afterward, panting and trying to catch our breath. The sheets were tangled around us as we clung to each other, unwilling to let go just yet. Finally, when we had both calmed down, Calishora rolled over and stared at me with her bright blue eyes.
"That was amazing," she said breathlessly. "I never knew that it could be like that."
"I know," I said as I ran my fingers through her hair softly. "It''s because we are meant to be together." Calishora smiled at me before she leaned forward and kissed me gently on the lips. "I love you." She smiled wider and said those three words back to me before she kissed me again; then, we fell asleep in each other''s arms.
Chapter 226 Do You Have To Leave?
Once morning came, I slipped out of bed quietly, kissing Calishora gently on the forehead before I left. I had to meet with Octavia about the final Annokale that was blocking the power of Earth.
I headed to a wall that opened up, and I jumped up as wings burst from my back, the sunlight hitting me and recharging me as I caught a warm draft and glided through the Central Great Forest. Octavia''s Great tree was a little ways away from me, so I was able to enjoy the scenery a bit before I had to focus on my destination.
The Central Great forest was a beautiful ce that was teeming with life. The trees were so tall that they reached up into the sky, and there was a bright green canopy that blocked out most of the sun. The leaves rustled in the breeze, and the branches swayed, creating a symphony of sounds.
I spotted some animals darting between the trees, and I even saw a few fairies flitting about, which was new. As I got closer to Octavia''s tree, I began seeing more signs of life; lizards were sunning themselves on the branches, birds flying through the air, and even some dragonflies zipping around.
Octavia''s tree was massive; it was easily twice as big as any other tree in the Central Great forest. Her home was built into the top of the tree, and there were balconies and walkways all around it. Octavia herself was sitting on one of these balconies when I arrived, and she smiled when she saw me flying towards her.
Inded gracefully on the balcony next to her, folding my wings behind me as I regarded her with a smile. "It''s good to see you," I said warmly. "You look well."
Octavia nodded as she stood up and walked over to me before she embraced me in a hug. "It''s good to see you too," she said softly before she pulled away from me slightly and took my hand. "Come inside," she said as she led me into her home. "We have much to discuss."
The part that I was taken into was the same as before, it had a massive map of the world, created from a root that grew up from the table in the center of the room. This time, there was arge glowing green crystal that was floating above Earth, and Octavia released my hand before she walked over to it.
"This is the final Annokale that is blocking Earth''s power," she said as she pointed to the Crystal. "You must go and destroy it."
I nodded as I stepped closer to the map and looked at the Crystal. I could see Earth in the distance, and I knew exactly where I had to go. "I''ll soon, but I have to go through my Growth Spurt again. This should help me get to a point where I can take on the Restriction System," I said, and she nodded.
"Be careful," Octavia said as she came up behind me and ced a hand on my shoulder. "This is not something you will get a second chance at. That System is not like any of us, and I don''t even know what powers it. It is not an Annokale like us. I would tell you to ask Omega, but he never created us intentionally. Only when an Annokale was captured was a System given to them. The Restriction System is as old as Omega from what the records show."
I nodded as I turned to look at Octavia. "I''ll be careful," I said before I hugged her gently. "Thank you for everything."
"You''re wee," she said as she hugged me back tightly before she released me. "Good luck." I nodded at her before I turned and walked out of the tree, spreading my wings as I leaped off the balcony and took flight. My next destination was my pool at the top of Amy''s great tree, but it wasn''t that far away.
I was really high up, jumping from Octavia''s tree, so I only had to glide for a bit before I reached Amy''s great tree. I could see her home just before the top, and Inded on the balcony before walking inside.
"I''m going to take a quick dip," I called out as I started to peel my clothes off. I stopped here because I was hoping that I might be able to convince her toe to rx with me for a bit in the pool.
"Okay, I''ll be down in a minute," she called back as I finished taking my clothes off and walked out of Amy''s ce and then up to the pool.
I jumped in, enjoying the feel of the water as it enveloped my body. I swam around for a bit before Amy arrived and jumped into the pool with me.
We kissed as we surfaced, and then we started swimming around together. We didn''t say much; we just enjoyed each other''spany as we yed in the water. Eventually, we made our way to the edge of the pool, where we sat on the edge and let our feet dangle in the water.
The sun was just starting to lift into the sky, and the light was shining through the leaves, creating a dappled effect on the water. It was beautiful, and I couldn''t help but pull Amy close to me as I wrapped my arms around her.
"I missed you," I whispered as I stared into her eyes.
She smiled and said three words back to me before she kissed me gently on the lips. "I missed you," she said softly when we parted.
"I love you too," I said as I ran my fingers through her hair softly. "Today is a big day." Amy nodded as she rested her head against my chest.
"I just heard that you were at Octavia''s, so I assumed you were going to be dealing with the power. Are you sure that you''re ready for this? I mean, you haven''t even been through your Growth Spurt yet." Amy looked up at me with concern in her eyes.
"That is why I am soaking with you. After this, I am going to go somewhere private to meditate for a bit and then focus on my Growth Spurt. Octavia has faith in me, so I am going to do this." I looked down at her and smiled. "Plus, I have you toe back to and everyone else, so I have to make sure that Earth is safe."
Amy smiled and nodded as she leaned up and kissed me gently on the lips. "I believe that you will make it, but are you in a really big hurry?" Amy asked me as her smile became yful, and she mounted me, pushing down her pussy to press against my cock, which was already half hard just from holding her.
"Not if you don''t want me to be," I said as I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her close to me.
She smiled and kissed me deeply as she began to grind against me, and I could feel my cock getting harder with each movement. Amy reached down and grabbed hold of my shaft, guiding it inside of her as she sunk down onto me with a moan.
The water sshed around us as we began to move together, and Amy''s moans got louder and more consistent as she neared her orgasm. I could feel my own release building up, but I wanted Amy to get there first.
She cried out as she came, her body shaking against mine, and I let go soon afterward, pumping my hot cum deep inside of her. Amy bit down on my neck, making me moan, and then whispered softly.
"More... Please... You don''t have to be gentle likest time." Amy begged me, and I grinned as I pulled her up into a sitting position on the edge of the pool.
I pushed her legs back so they were resting on my shoulders before I grabbed hold of her ass and lifted her up slightly. Amy cried out as I pounded into her hard, the water sshing around us violently now. Amy''s moans wereing fast and consistent now as she was clinging onto me tightly, her nails digging into my back.
"More," she begged me, and I obliged as I fucked her even harder, feeling my own orgasm grow nearer and nearer. "Harder," she said, and I pounded into her as hard as I could, thinking that she might break if I went any harder.
Amy''s pussy was gripping onto me tightly as she came again, and I let go soon afterward. Amy''s orgasm seemed to trigger my own, and I groaned as I came, my body shaking against hers, spilling my hot cum deep inside of her.
We sat there for a few moments, just panting and trying to catch our breath before Amy finally spoke. "That... was... intense," she said between breaths. "I think I''m going to have bruises."
"I''m sorry," I said as I gently brushed her hair out of her face. "I got a little carried away."
Amy smiled and shook her head. "No, I liked it," she said as she leaned up and kissed me gently on the lips. "But, now you need to focus on your Growth Spurt so we can get rid of that final Annokale."
I nodded as I pulled out of her and helped her to stand up before we got out of the pool.
Chapter 227 Mrs. Tree
After I was dressed, and Amy and I kissed some more, she headed back down, and I walked to the edge of the tree, wings bursting from my back. I jumped off the edge, and as I flew, the wind caressed my face and flowed through my hair. I loved feeling free like this; it was one of the few times I could truly rx. After a few minutes, I reached the spot I was looking for andnded on the ground in front of arge tree. Sitting down, I took a few deep breaths and started to focus on my power.
I could feel the energy inside me swirling around, waiting to be used. It was always there, but it was hard to control sometimes. Especially when I was emotional. But now, calmed and focused, I reached for that energy and started to direct it outwards.
Slowly at first, then faster as confidence grew, thin silver roots burst from my body and into the ground around me. They wrapped around the tree trunk tightly before disappearing underground again, only to reappear further down. All in all, there were seven of them in a circle, with me in the center.
As they connected with other trees nearby, sending out small shockwaves of power that made leaves rustle and branches sway, I could feel my influence growing exponentially. It would only be temporary, though, unless¡Ipleted the Growth Spurt ritual that would make these changes permanent within a global radius from where I sat now cross-legged with my eyes closed, picturing verdant life everywhere.
I pushed even harder, and at the same time, I activated the Growth Spurt ritual. I could feel the power flowing through me now and into the ground. The roots were bing thicker and more numerous as they stretched outwards, connecting with more and more trees.
Flowers and all nt life burst forward as the earth started to rumble. The air itself was charged with electricity as the power built up and was released all around the world. At that moment, I could feel every tree, every nt, and every de of grass as they bent to my will, but this was far from over.
Suddenly, a surge like nothing that I had ever felt before coursed through me and filled me full of power like nothing I had experienced to this point. Light filled my eyes as I tipped my head back and let out a roar that shook the very foundation of the earth.
Then everything slowed down around me as the energy condensed inside of me. Then, it burst outwards in a final release that sent roots tearing through the ground and trees toppling over as they were uprooted. The earth was shaking, and the wind was howling as the power continued to flow through me and into the ground.
It was like a dam had broken, and the power that was unleashed was unimaginable. Trees started to grow at an elerated rate, flowers bloomed, and the earth was alive with energy. It was beautiful and terrifying all at the same time.
I had gone as far to the edge of the forest as I could because I had felt that this time the Growth Spurt was going to be different. And I was right.
As the trees around me grew taller and thicker, they started to merge together, their branches entwining to create a massive canopy that blocked out the sun. The roots of the trees also started to grow upwards, wrapping around the trunks tightly before disappearing back into the ground.
The ground itself was starting to ripple and bulge as more and more roots pushed through. Vines also shot up from the ground, wrapping themselves around anything that they could find for support. And all of it was happening so fast that it was hard to keep up with.
I could feel myself losing control of the power as it ran rampant through the world, but I couldn''t shut it off even if I wanted to. It felt like there was a will behind it now, separate from my own; almost like¡the forest itself was alive and growing ording to its own design.
The ground itself started to crack and rise up in ces as mountains were born in an instant. The earth was alive with energy, and it was alling from me. I could feel myself losing control now as the power consumed me. Images of growth exploding all over the world filled my mind until it was all I could see.
But then, as quickly as it had started, it stopped. The power receded back into me until I was left trembling on the ground with sweat pouring down my face. It was over. I had done it. The Growth Spurt wasplete, and now my influence extended to every living thing on earth.
My body felt strange, but it was more than that; it was like I had be one with the earth. I could feel the life force of every nt and animal pulsing through me, and I knew that they were all connected to me now. I was their protector and their leader. But now I was exhausted.
"Daniel!" I heard Melody''s voice call, but as I turned to look at her, my eye became caught on a body emerging from a tree.
"I am over here, Babe!" I called as I watched in fascination as something I had never seen before pulled out of the tree. The body was human-shaped, but that was where the simrities stopped.
Its skin was rough and bark-like, with leaves and vines entwining themselves around its form. The head was featureless except for two glowing green eyes. It was like looking at a walking, talking tree.
"What the hell is that?" I heard Melody say from behind me as she came to stand beside me.
"I¡I don''t know," I replied as I stared at the creature in front of me. "But whatever it is, I don''t have control of it."
"That isn''t a good thing, Daniel!" Melodyined, but I shook my head.
"No, this is a part of the forest, so it is a part of me, but I just can''t connect to it like I can with everything else right now," I exined as I walked forward and extended my hand out with my palm facing the creature.
"I am Daniel, an Annokale," I introduced myself. "Who are you?"
The creature tilted its head to the side before taking a step forward and cing its hand in mine. As our skin made contact, I felt a jolt of power run through me and into the creature. Suddenly, its form started to change and shift until it was standing in front of me in the guise of a beautiful woman with long flowing hair and green eyes.
"My name is Mr. Tree," she replied with a smile. "And We are d to finally meet you in person like this, as you would say."
"WHAT?!" Melody screeched from behind me, and then she rushed up beside me while I was still connected.
There was no doubt that this was the same Mr. Tree that I had been helped by countless times since I had received my powers. Still, seeing her as a woman was more than surprising. You know, considering I had been calling it Mr. Tree, this was a bit of a shocker.
"It''s¡um¡nice to meet you too," I managed to say as images crashed into my mind of everything that we had done together, making me wince. The feeling of everything everywhere all at once and everything that had happened before mmed into me, making me fall to my knees, but I didn''t break out of the connection.
"I''m sorry, Daniel, I should have warned you," Mr. Tree said with a concerned look as she squatted down in front of me. "But I wanted you to understand."
"Understand what?" I asked as I felt the power recede and the connection break.
"That we are one now," she replied simply as she looked down on me. "You are the protector of the earth and all life upon it. We will always be with you, Daniel."
"Like how much one?" Melody asked, and that brought me back, knowing what she was about to say.
"W-We are connected... but... not like that, for fucks sake! Stop trying to add the world into this harem!" I growled shakily as I got back to my feet, hand still pressed to Mrs. Tree.
"Oh,e on! This one is special! She is like Gaia! Come on! You can''t tell me you don''t want the chance to give every tree in the world a good hugging?" Melody asked, wiggling her eyebrows.
"A good hugging?"
"Do not listen to this woman!"
"No, don''t listen to Daniel. This man has no clue what he wants, so we will put it to the council when we next meet!" Melodyughed evilly, and I let out a long groan.
Chapter 228 Fighting
"I had better get toe along on one of these council meetings sometimes," I said as I stood with one woman in each arm, but Melody shook her head.
"That is our time, and you wouldn''t be able to find it if you wanted to! Only we girls know, right... Mrs. Tree? We really need to work on a new name for you! Hmmm, what about Vera?" Melody asked, and I looked over at the other beautiful creature that was in my arms. That name felt silly, and now looking into her yellow eyes, I was reminded of the sunrise in the morning.
"What about Dawn?" I asked, and Mrs. Tree smiled up at me and then leaned her head into me.
"I like that. Dawn is our favorite time of the day. The fresh warmth from the light and the hope for a new beginning."
"Okay, then it is settled. From this day forward, your name is Mrs. Tree... I mean, Dawn," Melody said with a wink as she leaned over and kissed me on the cheek before jumping into the air and flying off. I couldn''t wait till after this was finished. I was going tie her down and then tickler her until she pissed herself while I fucked... nope!
That was starting to make me horny, and I had something to fucking kill that wasn''t Melody''s pussy! I needed to go take down thest Annokale, but I also needed to soak. The Growth spurt had given me much but sucked all my energy in return. I want to have to test out my power on someone after, and I knew two people that would be willing to help me.
"Would you like toe with me?" I asked, looking down at Dawn, but she tipped her head.
"I told you that we are one now, and you are going to need my help to defeat this Restriction System," Dawn said to me in a matter-of-fact voice that surprised me.
"What? How are you supposed toe with me?" I asked with a frown, but the Dawn merged into me and disappeared.
"Just like this," Dawn said as her head grew out of my shoulder.
"Okay, that''s not weird at all. Still, are you sure that you want toe up with me? It is going to be dangerous up there in space.
"I have been alive for a very long time, Daniel. I know danger when I see it, and this is something that we need to do. Together," Dawn said as she looked at me with her bright yellow eyes.
"Well, if you insist, what can you do to help?" I asked as I looked around at the intense disy I had created.
"I can help you to grow, Daniel. To be the man that you are meant to be," Dawn said as she looked at me with a smile.
"And how are you going to do that?" I asked skeptically, but she just chuckled softly.
"You will see," Dawn said mysteriously as she leaned her head against mine and closed her eyes as I sighed. This... Tree... had been a woman for less than half of an hour, and she already had the word games down pat.
I guess I shouldn''t be surprised, Dawn should really be like Gaia, but she has been able to feel and touch the world and the people within it. Gaia was only able to watch from above, but I had a feeling that she was more than just a woman.
"So, what do you think of your new home?" I asked as I looked around at the destruction that I had caused. It looked like a battlefield after a war. Trees were uprooted, massive bs of stone jutting up, and the ground was torn up everywhere.
"I think that it is beautiful," Dawn said as she looked around with an awe-filled expression. "But you are missing the home part, aren''t you?"
"Yeah," I chuckled, and everything in the area started to smooth out, and a house slowly started growing up from the ground in front of us.
"Wow," Dawn said as she looked at the two-story home that quickly finished taking shape. It wasn''t anything fancy, but it wasfortable and would do for now till I could build something better.
"So, this is where we are going to be living?" Dawn asked as she looked up at me with a smile, and I nodded my head.
"Yeah, this is your new home," I said as I put my hand on her cheek, but then turned to look towards the Challenger Dome. "Let''s go see what Marley and Katie are doing. They might want to join us for a bath."
I turned back to Dawn and slipped my arms around her to lift her up into my chest. I was about to grow my wings when a big wooden hand scooped us up and tossed us into the air! Once we hit the top of the arch, I looked down at Dawn, and her eyes were glowing brightly as she smiled up at me.
"I can take care of the travel this time. I know where we are going," Dawn said as another massive hand caught us gently and then tossed us again.
We were moving so fast that the wind was whipping through our hair, and I had to hold onto Dawn tightly to keep her from being blown away. She justughed and held me tight as we flew towards the Challenger Dome.
"I hope that they are ready for this," I said as I looked down at Dawn, and she nodded her head.
"Oh, they will be," Dawn said with a mischievous smile on her face, and I couldn''t help butugh.
Once we arrived at the Challenger Dome, we found out that Marley and Katie were in the middle of a training session. It looked like they were going all out against each other since there was already blood on the ground, and Katie had a ck eye. They both spotted usnding but didn''t stop their fighting.
"Okay, you two! Break it up!" I called out as I walked forward with Dawn in my arms, but they both just ignored me and kept trying to beat each other senselessly.
"Come on, you two! This is getting ridiculous!" Melody called as she floated down from the sky and hovered between them while they took swipes at each other. "You are going to have to work together if you want to beat Daniel!"
They both stopped fighting when Melody mentioned my name so that they could look over at me with angry expressions on their faces.
"What? This is between us! Stay out of this!" Marley snapped angrily as she wiped some blood off her mouth with the back of her hand.
"What happened?" I asked as I set Dawn down before walking towards them slowly with my hands held up in surrender.
"She started it!" they both said at the same time while pointing fingers at each other.
"Okay, okay. I get it, you both are mad at each other, but can we save the fighting forter? I need your help with something," I said as I came to a stop in front of them with my hands still held up.
"What do you need?" Katie asked skeptically as she crossed her arms over her chest and red at me.
"For you both toe for a bath with us, god knows the two of you could use it. Before we go, I want to hear why you are fighting each other to the point that you are bloody," I said, and the girls red at each other.
"She''s just jealous because I''m stronger than her!" Marley snapped, and Katie snorted.
"Please, you are only strong because you have been training longer. I will catch up to you in no time," Katie said in a haughty voice that made me want to p her.
"Okay, that is enough out of both of you! You can bicker with each otherter! Right now, we are going to take a bath together so that we can all rx," I interjected before they could start fighting again.
The girls both looked at each other for a few seconds before turning back to look at me with resignation on their faces. Then they started walking towards the house without another word while Melody flew over andnded beside me with a huff.
"What is wrong?" I asked as we followed the girls into the house, and she sighed deeply before looking up at me sadly.
"They have been fighting ever since they were friends. I don''t know what to do about it," Melody said, and I wrapped my arm around her shoulderfortingly.
"Don''t worry, we will figure something out," I said as we walked into the house and then down the hallway toward the bathroom.
I had seen the girl get into arguments before, but never to this level. There had to be something else that was getting between them.
Chapter 229 Twilight Zone
The girls were already in the bathroom when we walked in, and they were both standing on opposite sides while they red at each other.
"Okay, what is really going on?" I asked as I looked between them while Melody floated over to stand next to Katie.
"She''s just jealous because I have had sex with you more since everything happened! You were having sex with him before this happened!" Marley snapped, and Katie rolled her eyes.
"Please, I have only had sex with Daniel four times. You had to tell me all about what happened!" Katie said, and I pinched the bridge of my nose to stop myself from growling in frustration.
"You asked me! That is not what this is about, and you know it! You are just jealous because I am stronger than you," Marley snapped, and Katie took a step towards her with her hands clenched into fists.
"You are not stronger than me! I will be stronger than you in no time!" Katie shouted as she tried to take a swing at Marley, but Melody flew between them and held her back while Marley justughed at her angrily.
"Okay, that is enough out of both of you! We are going to take a bath together so that we can all rx," I interjected before they could start fighting again.
The girls both looked at each other for a few seconds before turning back to look at me with resignation on their faces.
"Fine," they both muttered before they started taking their clothes off.
I loved all the girls, but this was the first time that I had seen any of them fight like this. I really hoped that this wasn''t really over me, but if it was, I was going to have to find some way to smooth things out between them. This was not really the time, but there never really seemed to be time for anythingtely.
"Melody, do you mind taking Dawn with you?" I asked, looking at Dawn, who was standing at the bathroom entrance, watching everything curiously. "I need to talk to the girls for a bit."
"Sure thing, Daniel," Melody said as she scooped Dawn up into her arms and flew out the door.
"Okay, now that we are alone, what is really going on?" I asked as I looked at the girls who were both sitting on opposite sides of the bathtub while they red at each other.
"She''s just jealous because you have been paying more attention to metely," Marley said in a huff while Katie snorted.
"Please, you are just Imaginary, so you don''t count," Katie snapped, and Marley''s eyes widened in anger before she lunged for Katie, but she was pulled back as green vines burst from the walls.
"Holy shit, can we please just get to the point?! Katie, what the fuck is going on? Since when did you start acting like this?" I snapped, finally losing my cool, and Katie looked away from where she was pinned to the wall.
"I don''t want to talk about it," Katie said, and I groaned, letting her go from the wall.
"Then juste and soak with me for a bit, one on each side. We will just sit and rx for now," I said as I finally slipped into the green water.
The in-ground tub wasn''t huge, but it easily fit all three of us if we wanted to be close. The girls both slowly made their way over and sunk into the water on either side of me while they continued to re at each other.
"This is so rxing," Marley said after a few minutes while she leaned her head back against the edge of the tub and closed her eyes with a contented sigh.
"Yeah, it is," Katie agreed, but she still didn''t look at Marley, and I sighed, reaching out to take one of her hands in mine.
"Please, just tell me what is going on," I pleaded, and Katie finally looked at me with resignation on her face before she took a deep breath.
"I am just jealous because everything seems so perfect for Marley. I feel like you want her more than you want me, and I know that is stupid and irrational, but I can''t help how I feel," Katie finally admitted, and my heart constricted in my chest.
"Oh, Katie, that is not true at all. I love you just as much as I love Marley. You are both so important to me," I told her earnestly, and she finally looked at me with hope in her eyes.
"You really mean that?" She asked, and I nodded before pulling her into a hug while Marley watched us with a small smile on her face.
"Of course I do. You are both my everything," I told her before kissing her lightly on the lips while Marley slipped out of the tub to give us some privacy. "I know that I haven''t been around muchtely, but I promise that I will make more time for you. I just need to save the world and stuff. You know, basic stuff that I can''t just brush off."
"I know, Daniel, and I am not mad at you. I understand why you have been so busytely," Katie said as she ran her fingers through my hair soothingly. "I just miss you sometimes."
"I know, baby, but I am here now," I told her as we kissed again deeply while the water around us started bubbling gently. "The world doesn''t stop when we do, but once the Drakar and Gideons are dealt with, I will be taking more time for you girls, I promise. I was so surprised when I saw you two fighting, considering you had asked me toe for a threesome."
"Yeah, it was my fault for asking. I told Kaite about our time and then asked her about yours. She didn''t want to tell me, but then when I got it out of her... I felt like you put more effort in with her time than ours..." Katie exined and then slid down into the water.
"You do remember that I built this gigantic dome that is over two hundred feet tall, right?" I asked with a grin as I looked down at her, and Katie blew some bubbles in frustration beforeing back up to speak.
"I know! I was being stupid and irrational! I already said that! I am just getting close, so I am just a bit moody! It''s not like I can see... what are you doing?" Katia asked as I ced a hand on her head and spiked her, giving her chemical level a reset, and then Katie flinched and blinked. "What the fuck? Did you really just... What just happened? Why do I clearly know that I was being irrational and that I should probably go and say sorry to-"
*BANG!* went the door, and a very angry-looking Spanish woman was ring at me. I knew who it was, but the way she was staring daggers at me kinda made me wish I was someone else.
"PAPI! What is the meaning of this?! What did you do to Abrol... VIEJO!!" Sofia yelled at me, but she was ripped out of the doorway and sent flying as Dawn walked back in.
"That creature is the rudest human that you connect yourself... Oof!" Dawn started to say but was clipped in the side of the head with a rocket slipper and knocked into the bathtub with Katie and me.
"You stupid tree are supposed to be a man! Not some hottie!" Sofia snapped as she marched back into the room but was promptly pped in the face by a hand that stuck out from the wall.
"Call me an old tree or stupid one more time. I have bark that is older than you and far wiser. You should respect your elders-" Dawn started to say as she stuck her head out of the wall, but Sofia smacked her face. "Ouch, you bitch!"
I had just stepped into the twilight zone... no, it must be a full moon? Blue one? What in the fuck was actually going on? Was this going to be a going thing of everyone deciding to fall apart on the least convenient days possible?
"Stop," I said, and both women froze with their hands up, turning to look at me. "God help you both if you don''t shut up and get in the bath."
For someone trying to stop human-on-human violence, I was doing a piss poor job.
"Sofia, is it your time of the month soon?" I asked as the two women''s clothes fell off almost in sync, and then they got in the tub, but Sofia scowled at me.
"What does that matter?!" Sofia snapped.
"Because you look like you need a fucking snickers!" I snapped, and Sofia raised a finger to stab at me, but her serious face cracked, and she started tough, and I groaned, grabbing her hand.
Sofia''s eyes snapped out as I quickly bnced her damn hormones and then red at Dawn, but she just shook her head and crossed her arms over her supple and soft-looking chest.
"I don''t need that stuff, so I don''t get moody. This woman is just the height of irritation," Dawn said, and Sofia snorted.
"You just need to getid, and I won''t be as irritating. Thank you, Papi, but I still think you should stick this one back in the tree. She is more than likely bad news," Sofia said in a matter-of-fact voice.
"I will get that from Daniel. As for you, it is not like the wicked slipper-throwing witch of the west is much better than my slight irritability," Dawn said, turning her nose up at Sofia, who was already reaching for one of her slippers.
"Well, today has been eventful, right?" Katie asked with a forced smile, and I sank into the water with a long sigh.
Chapter 230 Taking Thing Seriously
"Everyone is done tearing hair?" I asked as I stood out of the water, looking at the three women, but then I frowned at Sofia. "Where did Melody go? She said she was going to show Dawn around while I was busy."
"She just dropped this... woman off and then left without saying a damn thing! She thinks that she is so funny!" Sofia said in a huff, and I groaned.
"God help us all," I muttered as I got out of the tub and clothes grew on me. "I am going to go find her before she does something that I have to regret."
I walked out of the bathroom, still shaking my head in disbelief at what had just happened, and then I heard a giggle from down the hall.
"Oh my god, that was so funny!" Melody said as she came into view with Marley trailing behind her, both of them grinning from ear to ear. "I can''t believe that they just started fighting like that!"
"Yeah, but with the way that Sofia fought with the trees before this, it was to be expected," Dawn agreed with a chuckle, and I groaned as I rubbed my face tiredly.
"Did you really just drop Dawn off ande back? Do you live to sow discord and chaos?!" I growled and Melody, but she just giggled back at me.
"Nope, but it is a fun side effect," she said with a grin, and I groaned.
"You are lucky that I love you," I muttered as I pulled her into a hug, and she giggled again.
"I know, Daniel, but don''t worry. Everything will calm down soon," Melody said in a soothing voice as she rubbed my back gently.
I really hoped that she was right because if this was the new normal, I didn''t know how much more I could take. I was supposed to be concentrating on getting ready for my fight with the Restriction System, not dealing with all my women going crazy on the same day. I did at least feel a bit rejuvenated from the soak, even if it had been cut short, but now it was time to duel the girls.
"Marley,e here," I called, and she walked over, and I hugged and kissed her, checking her levels, but her hormones were in check for the most part, so I left them alone. I didn''t like messing around with them if I didn''t have to, but today was one of those days when I really didn''t have the luxury of letting people do what they wanted. I had a serious fight that could mean the end of everyone before the three sisters ever got here.
"Did you just want to give me a hug? Marley asked as she looked up at me with a small smile, her facepletely healed now.
"No," I said and then kissed her. "I wanted to do that too. Now go get your best friend so I can give you both a good butt whooping!"
Marley giggled, and then she ran off to get Katie, Sofia, and Dawn as I turned to look at Melody. "You are going to help them, Lady Chaos," I said with a smirk, and she just red at me.
"Are you sure that is a good idea? I don''t know how strong those two are, but I might be a little much, even if you have Dawn. Are you sure you want me to join?" Melody asked as Marley came back with Katie and Dawn.
"I do. Before we start, I will exin what I am going to be going to do after. I think we should call all the girls here," I said as we all started walking out of Katie''s house, and a path opened up for us into the Challenger Dome that surrounded Katie''s home. It would be big enough for everyone, and the sooner we got this started, the better.
There was a long path that led into a massive open area where I sat down in a chair that formed to wait for the other girls to arrive. I stretched my chair out onto couches as Melody, Katie, and Marley sat on one side and Sofia and Dawn on the other. I had to admit that Sofia and Dawn looked cute beside each other, and I was sure that, in time, they would be good friends like Chelsea and Kitsune.
After about forty minutes, everyone showed up, and I made a circr couch, and everyone sat down, talking with each other. Then Firaga stood up, looking at me.
"While this is nice that you have us all here, what is going on? What is happening?" Firaga asked, and I nodded as I motioned for her to sit. I stood up, looking around at the girls.
"I am about to take on the Restriction System in a fight to see if I can break it. If I win, which I n on doing," I said with a confident smirk, " then the world will be free from its clutches. If I lose, we all die."
There were gasps all around me as they processed my words, and then pandemonium broke out as they all started talking at once. It took me a few minutes to get them to quiet down enough so that I could exin what was going to happen next. By the time I was done exining everything, they were all silent as they stared at me in disbelief.
"You are seriously going up against that thing by yourself? Do you even know how strong it is?" Melody asked quietly after a few minutes of silence had passed, and then she sighed when Katie nodded her head in agreement with her question since Katie actually knew more about it than any of us did since she had been dealing with it for longer than anyone else here but Daniel himself. "This isn''t some video game where you can just reload yourst save point if things go bad! This is real life!"
"Yeah, well," Dawn interjected before Melody could say anything else since Melody looked like she was getting worked up again," but we don''t really have much choice here, do we? If we don''t get the power back on, then you are not going to have a way to keep people safe when the dragonse. This is why Daniel did the Growth Spurt, but you seem to think that this is some kind of joke, but there is a very good chance that Daniel might die. Have any of you even bothered to see how Daniel is feeling? He is constantly trying to make you all happy, but that is not his job. That is all of yours; Daniel is trying to save the world, so you all have a ce to live. I have watched you all, and I know that you all love him, but he is under a lot of stress right now, and he needs your support!"
Dawn''s words seemed to hit everyone like a ton of bricks, and they all looked at each other before looking back at me with guilty expressions on their faces. I really didn''t like being the center of attention, but it looked like that was going to be my lot in life for a while since everyone seemed to think that everything revolved around me. It was ttering in a way, but it was also very stressful since I didn''t want to let anyone down.
"I know that this is hard for all of you," I said after a few minutes had passed and everyone was still just standing there looking at each other with guilty expressions on their faces," But I need you all to trust me. I have been preparing for this day ever since the System first appeared, and I am confident that I can win."
"What if you can''t?" Sofia asked quietly from beside me, and Katie and the others nodded their heads in agreement with her question as well, even though she already knew what my answer would be. "I don''t want to lose you, Daniel."
Melody spoke up then as she walked over and hugged both Marley and Katie, who were sitting next to her. "We are not going to lose him because he is not going to lose," Melody stated confidently, which made both Marley and Katie''s eyes widen slightly in surprise before they nodded their heads in agreement with Melody''s statement even though they weren''t quite as confident as she sounded.
Everyone cheered at Melody''s words except for Sofia, who just crossed her arms over her chest and red at Melody, who just stuck her tongue out yfully at Sofia before turning around.
"Don''t stick out your tongue at me. This is not joking time, and saying something won''t make it happen. We all need to be supporting Daniel in this, and I will be up in the tower with Octavia. I have some weapons that we will be able to fire from the ground, but you will have to keep them above us. I have been preparing, so you had all better be waiting for mymands inside the R&D Tree in a clone. Aiko will be waiting to suit you all up so you can help Daniel! Everyone will be doing something, you hear me?!" Sofia snapped after standing up to re at all the women, and even Melody flinched.
This was one of those times when it was good to have a diverse harem filled with women. At least one of them always seemed to get it, if not all and would step up most of the time.
Chapter 231 Bad For Earth
"Are you ready for this, boss?!" Eddie asked me in an overly loud robotic voice, sounding a bit too excited, but I couldn''t really me him.
"Almost, Tigger, calm your metal nuts! Turn your volume down; I am not deaf!" I yelled up at the thirty-foot-tall mech that Aiko had created.
It was an impressive machine that looked like it hade out of a sci-fi movie and was currently our best hope for taking down the Restriction System.
The mech was armed with an assortment of weapons, including arge energy cannon that Eddie was particrly excited about.
"Okay, I''m calm now," Eddie said, his voice returning to normal.
The two of us were in a big metal hanger that had some other smaller mech, but they were only my height and not really useful for this.
From what the files said in my head, this system was very capable, and it could split its body up nine times like the female Wargon that Eddie and I fought. This meant that it could Restrict up to nine things at once, but one was already busy, leaving eight other things that could be restricted.
That was what I had assumed, but I was almost sure that it was already restricting me from using its Restriction System. So, I hoped that would make everything easier, but I didn''t think anything was going to be easy about this fight.
"Good, because we need to focus if we''re going to do this," I said. "Remember, our goal is to keep the System from getting to Earth."
"Got it, boss!" Eddie said. "Let''s do this!"
"Not yet; we are waiting for the girls that areing with us. Aiko will tell us where it is time," I said
"Sorry, boss, just excited to blow some shit up!" Eddie said, toning down his voice.
"I know, I am too. But we need to be careful. We don''t know what this thing is capable of, and we need to be prepared for anything," I said.
"Got it, boss!" Eddie said, giving me a thumbs up.
I turned to Aiko and nodded. "We''re as ready as we''ll ever be," I said.
Aiko nodded back and hit a button on her tablet. The doors to the hangar were pulled open by smaller ones, and the mech stepped out into the sunlight.
"The girls are going to be ready soon. The suits should help you, I hope, but I really didn''t know what you were going to be epting to fight up there," Aiko exined, and I nodded as we walked out.
"We''ll be fine, don''t worry about us," I said.
"Good luck," Aiko said as we walked towards the mech.
I turned to look at her onest time and nodded before getting into the cockpit of another mech that was a bit smaller, but I had designed this one. As soon as I was in, I pulled up Eddie, and he was busy running through some final checks.
"All systems are the green, boss!" Eddie said as I sat down in the pilot''s seat.
"Good, let''s get this show on the road then," I said as I started the mech up.
Mine was much different and far moreplicated than Eddie''s that Aiko made. This one I had created; it was meant for speed and agility. It wasn''t as heavily armed as his, but it didn''t need to be.
I was going to be the distraction while Eddie went in for the kill shot. Hopefully, everything would go ording to n, but I knew that nothing ever did.
The girls were going to act as backup and make sure that nothing gets to Earth, but it was going to be hard. Sofia was also on the ground with Anya and Amy, the three of them each operating massive energy cannons that didn''t work. I still didn''t understand how to use the crystal I had found, but there was a chance that the Restriction System was going to have to stop restricting the power during the fight. I was counting on it if Eddie and I couldn''t defeat this thing.
"Coming!" I heard Melody over my intes and then started to hear the sounds of more mechs running over. The air was filled with thumps and the whining noise of the mech engines.
I was still a bit confused about how these things weren''t using power, but Aiko told me that they were actually powered by Spirit Energy from the Earth. We would only have about two hours with the mechs, but that should be more than enough since they all had gravity engines, and we could make it to the contact point in a matter of seconds.
The girls were all in clones as well, so I didn''t have to worry about anyone getting hurt. The mech they were in were all different, and each one was armed with an array of weapons.
"We''re all here," I heard Katie''s voice over the inte, and I nodded.
"Good, let''s do this then," I said as I turned on the gravity engine of my mech, slightly lifting off the ground.
Eddie did the same with his, and then we both took off into the sky, followed by the girls. We were going to end this once and for all.
"Papi! Bad news! Octavia just did a scan of the target, and it has moved! Target is heading for the moon and will make contact in five seconds. I have no idea what it is doing from here, but it can''t be good!" Sofia told me as her face popped up in my view.
"Son of a bitch! Eddie, it''s heading for the moon! We need to change our course!" I said as I altered my mech''s trajectory.
"Got it, boss!" Eddie said as he did the same.
The girls followed us, and we were soon rocketing toward the moon at speeds that I didn''t even know were possible. We were quickly closing in on our target, but I had no idea what it was going to do when we got there. From what I could see, it was digging a hole into the moon, but the why was a mystery.
"Boss, we''re almost in range!" Eddie said as he readied his weapon.
"I see it," I said as I brought up a targeting reticle on my disy.
The Restriction System was in our sights, and now I could get a better look at it and see what it actually was. It looked like a giant metal sphere with numerous spikes sticking out of it.
It was currently burrowed into the side of the moon, and I had no idea what it was doing. But I knew that we had to stop it before it could do whatever it was nning.
"Alright, Eddie, let''s show this thing what we''re made of!" I said as I mmed my fist down on the firing button.
Eddie did the same, and our mechs unleashed a barrage of missiles and energy beams at the Restriction System. The attacks pounded against its surface, but it didn''t seem to phase it as it continued to burrow into the moon.
"Shit! It''s not working!" Eddie said as he fired another volley of missiles.
"Go in and try some physical attacks!" I called, and Eddie burst forward, his mech mming into the Restriction System. His attacks did nothing as well, and he was quickly ejected from the hole it had made.
"Fuck! This thing is tough!" Eddie said as he righted himself.
"We need to keep attacking it! There has to be something that will work!" I said as I continued to fire on the Restriction System.
Eddie nodded and went back in for another attack, this time using his energy cannon. The attack hit the Restriction System dead-on, but it still didn''t seem to phase it. It continued its burrowing into the moon, and I knew that we had to do something soon, or it would be toote.
"Sofia, do you have any ideas?! Octavia?!" I asked.
I could go and try to stop it, but I wanted to wait until we exhausted all other ns. I wasn''t sure why, but I had a feeling this thing was waiting for me to get close, but that might be the only answer.
"I don''t know, Papi. I really thought that it would have gone straight for you. I think you are going to have to get close to it and try some of your powers on it. So far, it is not even paying attention to any of you, nor is it restricting any of your things. I have a really bad feeling about what it is doing with the moon. I have a sneaking feeling that it ns on using it for something deadly," Sofia exined, and I groaned.
"Fuck! I was afraid of that! But what can it do with the moon?!" I asked.
"I am not sure, but you need to get close and find out. Be careful, Papi," Sofia said as she signed off.
I turned back to Eddie and nodded. "Alright, I''m going in."
"Be careful, boss!" Eddie said as he moved to cover me.
I nodded and gunned the throttle, speeding toward the Restriction System. It was still burrowed into the moon, and I had no idea what it was doing. But I knew that whatever it was, it couldn''t be good for Earth or any of us.
Chapter 232 Full Restriction!
Using the mech was pointless because my n for the kill shot with Eddie did nothing, so that meant I was going to have to get up close and personal.
I ejected myself from the mech, and the sun hit me like a zing nket. I closed my eyes as my body drank it in. This was like using the regeneration pool times ten, and every vessel in my body began to pulse intensely, and my body seemed to bulge.
I opened my eyes and targeted the hole in the moon. I could no longer see the Restriction System, but there was dusting up from the hole in a strange undting dance. I moved to the base of the hole with near-instant speed and then stuck ten fingers out and unleashed a barrage of elements in Gatlin shots. Ice, fireballs in air bubbles, lightning, and much more
I flicked my wrist, and the barrage stopped as I saw a giant energy barrier in front of me, the Restriction System on the other side. From what I could see, it was arge metal sphere with numerous spikes sticking out of it.
"Shit!" I cursed as my attacks did nothing against its barrier.
I tried every element that I could think of, but nothing worked against this thing''s barrier. Then I stopped and concentrated on putting my hands out, and my own barrier appeared, but mine wasn''t meant to stop things; it was to move them.
I dropped down to the barrier over the Restriction System, sting the undting dust out of my way. I reached forward with Calishora''s control of space and grabbed onto the spinning ball of death, slowly making ite to a stop.
"The test has failed, and now I will destroy the so my kind can move on," The spiked ball said in a monotonous tone as I started to pull it back to the surface of the moon.
"I have control of all the Annokale, and you are thest System left. I am taking you back to me; your job is done!" I shouted, but barely any sound came out.
"This is why I must kill you and the rest. If I do not, there is no way that we can continue to keep moving. Release me now, or you will pay the price," the Restriction System told me as I felt it start to pull against me.
"Yeah, well, I am not too interested in dying. Nothing about that sounds fun, and I don''t think I can let you destroy Earth. Pretty attached to that ce and the people on it," I mouthed as I rose out of the hole and threw the spiked ball to m into the moon''s surface.
I didn''t know what was going on, but I could feel the Restriction Systems'' power trying to take over my body like it had before. But this time, I was ready for it, and I fought back with everything that I had.
"You are stronger than the others, but you are still no match for me!" The Restriction System said as it tried to force its way into my mind.
"Yeah, well, you''re not exactly in a position to be negotiating here," I said as I finally managed to push it out of my mind. "Now, let''s end this."
I flew at the Restriction System and mmed into it with all my might. It was like hitting a brick wall, and I was sent flying backward from the impact, but roots burst from me, and I grabbed the ball, but it split into two, then four, then eight.
They all started to spin around me and then mmed into me, but I split myself into two, four, sixteen, then two hundred and fifty-six, all bodiestching one. This was beyond what I could control, but my split took over everything, forcing all of me to dig my roots into each of the eight copies of the Restriction Systems.
"Sofia! Anything yet?!" I called.
"Flickers, Papi! Whatever you are doing is working to keep it up!" Sofia called back as her face popped into my view, but I needed more power.
"Girls! Eddie! I need you to make a giant lens! st me with light! I need more power!" I roared.
The girlsplied, and soon a powerful beam of sunlight was shining down on me. I absorbed it all in and felt my power growing exponentially. I could feel the Restriction System fighting back, but it was slowly losing ground.
"Papi! You''re almost there, just a little bit more!" Sofia said as she watched the progress bar that was slowly filling up on her screen.
I pushed harder and finally managed to pull all eight Restriction Systems into my body. I could feel them struggling against me, but I wasn''t going to let them win. This fight was for Earth and for everyone who had ever been restricted by these things.
"Full Restriction!" The Restriction System roared from within me, and I froze, all my Systems going offline at once, and a small spike ball burst from my chest, heading straight at Earth.
"Sofia! If you have something up your sleeve, now is the time!" I called, but there was no reply.
I was stuck in this frozen state, and I could only watch as the Spike ball got closer and closer to Earth. There was no way to stop it, and I knew that everyone was going to die.
The time started to slow until the spike ball stoppedpletely.
"Daniel, you are in quite the predicament, aren''t you?" Star Child asked me as he appeared floating before me.
"Yeah, it kind of looks that way, but seriously?! What is with the killer robot?!" I asked, and Star Childughed at me, and my body was suddenly able to move again as the warm feeling of hisughter washed over me.
"The Restriction System was a slight oversight by me, but I was hoping that you would have been able to deal with it yourself, but you seem to have got yourself into even more trouble, forcing you into action. Tiamat is pissed at you, you know?" Star Child exined, and I grinned.
"Yup, I know," I said, and Star Child rolled astral eyes that seemed to hold gxies.
"You seem a little bit unconcerned. Should I be worried?" Star Child asked, and I shrugged.
"I mean, I am pretty worried if that is what you are trying to get at, but I already lit the fire. This is a pretty clear indication that I have a long way to go in a very short time, but what else am I going to do?" I asked, and Star Child shrugged back.
"You could always run away, right? You could just leave and find another to convert for your travels," Star Child suggested, but I crossed my arms, making him let out a sigh as we floated above the moon''s surface.
"While you might know me that well, you should know me well enough that I wouldn''t just leave everyone behind to die, especially when I have the power to help them," I said as I looked down at my hands.
"You should also know that there are people who would dly take your ce if you were to just leave," Star Child pointed out, but I shook my head.
"No, there aren''t. You brought me here for a reason, and while it might not be clear to everyone else, it is clear to me. So whatever Tiamat has nned for me next, bring it on because I am not going anywhere," I said defiantly as Star Child chuckled again and rubbed his chin in thought.
After a few moments of silence, he finally spoke up again with an almost fatherly tone in his voice that made my heart hurt for some reason.
"Well, then, Daniel Brighton! It seems that you have made your decision then! I can''t say I approve, but then again, I would probably do the same thing if we were to trade ces! Fine! You want to be a Hero?"
"No," I said inly, and Star Child blinked at me.
"If not a Hero, then what do you want to do? A Viin? I don''t think you are really cut out for that," Star Child said, giving me a sarcastic look.
"I am not here to save everyone, and I am going to have to make hard choices that will make me look like a Viin. I just want the power to stop whatever gets in the way of what I want to do. I really don''t give a shit what anyone else thinks anymore; I just want to protect what I love. Everyone else is either going to learn to y ball, or they can figure out how to survive dragons attacking and then space travel. I don''t have time to wait for everyone to get better," I said, and Star Child smiled at me.
"That is good. I am d that you are starting to understand what it is going to take to survive if you want to protect people. You are right when you say that you will have to make some hard choices that many will see as evil, and you will have to live with the results, but I have faith in you. Now, this is something that I was hoping to do after, but you also forgot, Dawn. She would have made this easier, but oh well," Star Child said with a sigh and ced a glowing hand on my chest, making my body tense and my veins became glowing white lines. "Oops, I forgot to mention this might hurt!"
Chapter 233 Add It To The List
I tried to scream, but no sound came out as my body was wracked with pain. I could feel every cell in my body splitting and reforming, and it felt like my blood was on fire. I could hear Star Childughing as he enjoyed my pain, and then everything went ck. Then I was outside of my own body, looking down at it as it was floating in the air.
"What the hell?" I asked as I reached out to touch my body, but my hand phased right through it.
"Your body is going through a metamorphosis. You are about to achieve a new form, sort of. Think of this as a major upgrade, but you will no longer be like others, and you are going to have to be careful. If you lose your temper at one person, that could cause copies of you to spring up all over the world, uncontroble like you," Star Child exined, and I looked at him with wide eyes.
"What? Is that even possible?" I asked, and Star Child nodded. "So, what am I supposed to do now, then?!"
"Well, first, you need to calm the fuck down because that is going to be really important. Second, you are going to have ess to all the knowledge of the restrictions now. Use it wisely," Star Child said as he floated over towards my body and ced his hand on my head.
Suddenly images started flooding my mind; pictures of differents and sr systems, along with information on every race known in them. It was a lot to take in, but I knew that I could do this; I just had to be careful. After a few minutes, everything stopped, and Star Child let go of me as he floated back over toward Earth.
"Everything is set! Your friends will be happy to see you when they wake up! Be sure not to copy yourself too much! If you make too many, there will be divergent clones that could act strange. You will feel immensely strong after this, but just remember that this is only the beginning. There are things out there that are more dangerous than Tiamat and Alpha. You have already met one that is contained, thanks to the special devices that the Cleaners created, the Silence," Star Child said, and I gave him an incredulous look.
"The Cleaners made that? What do you know about them?" I asked, and then remembered something, but this wasn''t my memory I was seeing, and my eyes went as wide as they could go. "You made them?!"
"What part of calm do you not understand?" Star Child asked me in what felt like a parental tone.
"Sorry, but what is a race of killer A.I. that you createding after me for? Because one of them already tried to kill me," I said, but I was suddenly distracted as I watched my body melt into an undting silver ball about three feet in diameter.
"Not anymore, they won''t; I mean, not you, but they are still going to kill everyone else if you don''t get out of here. I only made the program and gave it the ability to replicate, but it is doing the job that I built it for. Humans lost their chance for redemption when they decided to use a nuclear weapon of their own kind. That is a vition of the veryplicated set of rules that were coded into the Cleaners. Most races end this way because of the cleaners, but that is because the two people that are supposed to be watching and guiding over the universe are fighting like children and dragging everyone else down," Star Child exined.
"So you made killer robots?" I asked, still trying to wrap my head around this, but it was starting to make more sense as I started to cross-reference data about other races.
Ones that were still alive and under siege or previously had been eliminated. Not all races were killed, and some did survive after being kicked off theirs, but the Cleaners never missed a target.
"Think about what the universe would be like if there weren''t the Cleaners? Alpha and Tiamat are the only ones that can resist the Cleaners, but they are at a stalemate with Tiamat and are using Alpha for information, so it is not like they are going anywhere. Just know that your race would either be dead or subjugated by now," Star Child exined like he was talking about the result of a sports game that happenedst year.
"Alright, I think that I understand what you mean, even if I don''t like it. I''m going to go check on my friends and figure out what to do from there," I said as I started to move towards my body, but stopped when Star Child called out to me.
"Oh yeah! One more thing before you go. You are going to have a new ability that will help you fight now! Just be very careful with it!" He said as he started to fade away, and then everything went ck again.
Time started to speed up again, but not all the way, only about half speed. I was now able to ramp up my perception, slowing things down to a crawl.
I formed my body, opening my eyes to look directly at the small spiked ball heading away from me. Instantly, one silver root that was covered in circuits and
vines came out of my body and wrapped around the ball, dragging it back to me.
"Full Restrict... AHHH!" The Restriction System screamed as I crushed it, and then the entire broken spiked ball became systeminium. The ending was anticlimactic, but the fight itself was still difficult.
"What now?" I asked myself as I looked down at my hands, which were now made of metal and circuits.
My body felt more than strange, but it also felt right. Like this was how it was always supposed to be. I was still unsure about what Star Child meant when he said to be careful with it. Part of me was worried about this and the other things Star Child had said, but there was no point in getting worked up about something I didn''t understand yet.
"Papi?! What happened?! We have power now; are you ready for us to fire?! I can''t find the System, or is it already toote?!" Sofia spat out as she popped into my view.
"Everything is fine, Hermosa. I finished it, and the System has returned to me," I exined, and suddenly there was a loud cheer from the intes.
"Boss! You made it! Thought we were done for! What happened?! I cked out, and then you showed up on my radar alone! thought we were fuck for sure!" Eddieughed, and I nodded as I summoned my mech to me and then sent it back down to Earth, giving itmands to put itself away.
"Yeah, I was a bit worried about myself. Girls, how are you all doing? Still have lots of juice to get back home?" I asked, but I already knew that they hadn''t really used anything in the fight, so they would have more than enough to get from up here back down to the surface.
"Yes, we are good! Just hurry up so we can all celebrate your victory together!" Melody said, and I chuckled as I created a pair of sunsses.
"On our way," I said as I put on my shade, and then started the descent back down to Earth, heading towards the group, and caught them in a matter of seconds.
"Hey! What happened to you?! You look more like a robot now?!" Katie asked as I weaved around them all with my back to Earth, enjoying the full power of the sun''s rays before I descended through the atmosphere.
"Got another upgrade, and I can still look human if I want, but this form is more resistant to heat and better for re-entry," I said, and then became a mecha-dolphin, then mecha-spider, and then a mecha-dragon big enough for every one of the mechs including Eddie''s on my back, protecting them from the re-entry burn.
"So you can just be whatever you want to be?" Eddie asked.
"Something like that, but I have to be careful because the boost I got was much more than I was before, making this body dangerous if I don''t remain calm," I said, and Eddieughed.
"the good old upgrade to bomb status, eh? Well, let''s just hope you don''t kill us all," Eddieughed.
"I just have to stay calm, so it will be fine," I said, and everyone started tough. "Hey! I stay calm all the time!"
"Yeah, and I am a very good-natured person!" Eddieughed, but he was right, and I was going to have to be careful from now on.
Just add it to the list.
Chapter 234 Zerwelzingera
"So, where are we going to celebrate your victory?" Sofia asked as she flew up next to my massive dragon head now that we were past the atmosphere. She must have been too excited to wait and swallowed her pride to borrow one of Aiko''s mechs.
"I don''t know, but I am sure that we will think of something," I said with a smile on my face as we all descended back down to Earth. "But tomorrow, I will be going back to the base to deal with thest floor."
"You sure you don''t want us toe with you? We can help!" Eddie said, but I shook my head.
"No, this is something that I have to do alone. But don''t worry; I will be back before you know it," I said as we allnded in a massive clearing in the center of the Central Forest, where arge crowd had gathered to greet us.
It seemed that word of our victory had already spread, and people were cheering and celebrating as we walked through the streets toward my old apartmentplex. As we approached, I could see that the rest of my girls were waiting for me outside, and when they saw me, they started running toward me with huge smiles on their faces.
"Do we really have power back?!" Amy asked as Chelsea, Kitsune, Victoria, and she came over to hug me.
"Yes, but all the things that produced power will be out of service. Not a big problem, but even though we have ess to power again, it will still be a few days before anything is really working. Cellphones should work, but until we get the inte back up and running, they will be useless," I exined, but Chelsea pulled out her phone and held it up to me, and she had a full signal.
"I wanted to wait until you were here, but I did look at the browser, but it changed on my phone, and I don''t know what Zerwelzingera, but it reced my old one, and I can''t understand anything that it says," Chelsea said handing me her phone, but I put my hand up.
"I will check that out, but can we head up top? I just was put through the wringer up there, and all my transforming I did showing off burnt me out pretty fast," I exined with a tired smile, and the girls all rolled their eyes.
"I am going to go get a recharge and see if Aio needs help if you are going to take a bath. You don''t need me up there," Eddie called from his mech that he was still in, and I nodded to him.
"Sure, thanks for your help," I called, but Eddie gave me the finger.
"Fuck you, help! I didn''t do shit! I need to see if Aiko can make me more powerful, or I am going to be useless as tits on a boar in the uing fights!" Eddie snapped and then lifted into the air to fly off.
I watched him go, and I actually felt bad for him. I knew Eddie was trying his best when he attacked, but I had barely been able to do anything, and if Start Child wouldn''t of shown up, everyone would have been screwed.
"Is Eddie going to be alright?" Kitsune asked with a worried look on her face, and I nodded.
"He is just feeling a little useless right now, but he will be fine. I am going to talk to himter about what happened up there," I said as we started walking into my apartmentplex/Great Tree with everyone following behind me.
The ce was spotless as usual, and everything looked in its ce as we walked through the halls towards the elevators that would take us up to my penthouse suite on the top floor. Once we were all in, I hit the button for the penthouse and then leaned back against the wall as it started moving upwards quickly.
All the girls were quiet, and it was starting to feel less like a victory celebration and more like a funeral march. I knew that everyone was worried about what was going to happen next, but there was nothing that we could do about it now.
We would just have to wait and see what the future holds in store for us.
Once up top, we all headed straight for the pool, and everyone stripped down to nothing, sliding or jumping into the thick green regeneration fluid. The girls seemed to get more excited, but I realized that I was the one bringing everyone down, but it was hard to still my mind now.
"Daniel? Are you okay?" Melody asked me as she came over to sit beside me, and I shrugged.
"I know I should be celebrating, but to me, this wasn''t really a win. This was just something that needed to be done in the long list, and that list still exists. I guess I am just having a problem with rxing when I know this is just chipping the tip of the gctic iceberg if you know what I mean," I said with a sigh, and Melody smiled, tucking herself under my arm.
"That is true, but you need to appreciate the small wins just as much as the big ones. Something else happened up there, didn''t it?" Melody asked, and I sighed.
"Yes, but I can''t talk about it, or it will make everything one hundred times worse. There is something helping me, but I really wonder just how much of it is helpful or if there is another reason for the assistance," I sighed, but Melody leaned up to kiss my cheek.
"It will be alright, Daniel. You are just worried about everyone, and that is natural. But you need to rx; we all trust you," Melody said, and then the other girls started toe over as well, crawling into myp or leaning against me as they tried to help me rx.
Chapter 235 [Bonus ] Alpha Dreams
It took a little bit longer than I would have liked for my mind to stop racing through everything that could possibly go wrong from here on out in the future, but eventually, it did. The soft, gentle breathing of everyone around me was actually soothing and allowed me to drift off into a light doze as I thought about what I was going to do tomorrow when I went back down below the bunker again.
When I opened my eyes, to my surprise, I was standing before Alpha.
"What are you doing back here?" The Golden Demon asked me, but I just lifted my eyebrow.
"I was just about to ask you the same thing," I replied, and Alpha pursed his lips but then gestured to where I stood, and avish and veryfortable-looking chair appeared.
"Sit, please," Alpha invited, standing up to point at the chair.
While I wanted to stay standing just to spite him a bit more, my body decided otherwise as I sank down into the chair. "We have much to discuss. Since you popped into my dream, we might as well use this time wisely. Neither of us has the advantage here, so it is a good middle ground."
I wanted to tell him that he was wrong and that I had the advantage in every way possible, but curiosity got the better of me as. I just nodded for him to continue.
"Very well. You want to know what my ns are now?"
"You could say that," I shrugged nonchntly, but Alpha smiled a bit sadly before sitting down across from me.
"You know, I hardly ever lie, but I also hardly ever tell the truth. I like to keep things close to the chest and not let others know what they don''t need to," Alpha began, and I nodded slowly. "But you have been nothing but honest with me, so I suppose it is only fair that I do the same."
"Sounds good in theory," I said, but Alpha chuckled.
"Yes, well, my ns are very simple: I have a Group of elite led by Zor, and they will being to test you. I say you, but we both know that you pissed that violent dragon off, and you personally are going to be busy dealing with the three sisters. I have dealt with two of them, but one of them has stopped me at every turn, and her power is still unknown," Alpha exined, and while I didn''t like being left in the dark, this was good enough for me.
"How many do you have in your group?" I asked curiously.
"Well, not counting myself or Zor, there are two hundred others who will be testing you," Alpha said with a smirk before snapping his fingers, and a screen appeared on the wall showing different people of various shades of yellow looking all like slightly different versions of Alpha himself. "These are my elites and their mech suits that you will be dealing with."
I whistled as I looked at the different people and their mech suits in various stages ofpletion. "Looks like you have been busy."
"You have no idea," Alpha muttered before making the screen disappear, and then he sighed. "But that is enough talk about me for now; let''s get back to you."
"Fine, what do you want to know?" I asked, and Alpha gave me a look.
"Two words. Star. Child. You are the progenitor and thergest thorn in my side since he tricked me," Alpha said, keeping a coolposure, but I could tell that he was seething inside.
"You mean the one that you tried to trick? I am pretty sure that you are the single wipe of shit that just doesn''t seem to go away if you ask me," I replied, and Alpha red at me.
"That was my rightful ce! I should have been the god of it all! That... Thing tricked me!" Alpha said, starting to get heated, but I shrugged.
"Why?" I asked, and Alpha stopped and gave me a peculiar look.
"What do you mean, why?!"
"Why do you deserve it more than the next person? Why do you get to tell people how to live? Why do you get to kill whoever you want without any repercussion?" I asked in a t tone.
"Because I am a god!" Alpha snapped and pursed my lips, letting out a raspberry.
"You are not a god and never were. You are just some overgrown child that thinks the universe is your sandbox. Listen, buddy, I got some news for you. No one gives a shit about what you think or want. Now that you have told me that you are still going to pull stupid and attack me, this is war. Call yourself what you want, but you are not the strongest, nor are you omnipotent. You are just a sad golden sack of shit that thinks too much of himself and has to clone himself to make people listen or enve them," I said in a tired voice and then looked around. "How do I get out of this shit hole?"
Alpha just red at me and then stood up, walking over to me in a body that was slowly getting much bigger than my own, but I pulled out a pin and popped the image. Alpha shrunk back down and then swung at me, but a root grabbed his hand and guided it back to his own face.
"If you evere into my dream again, I will end you here and now. You are not as strong as people make you out to be, Alpha," I said in a cold voice before everything around me started fading away until it was justplete darkness.
I woke up in a cold sweat, and everyone was looking at me like I had grown another head. "What?"
"Are you alright? We could feel the power surging out of you," Kitsune asked with concern, but I shook my head clear of the fog that had filled it when Alpha appeared.
"Yeah... Just bad dreams are all," I lied smoothly and smiled at the girls.
Now I knew that he would be attacking, so everyone was going to have to be ready.
Chapter 236 Testing Me
The rest of the night, we all sat around in the pool and had drinks, but when the night was over, everyone went home except for Amy and me, who were still soaking. Both of us were drinking a smooth apple grape cider that I had aged by fluke with Galliadra''s system. I had just wished that I could age it a bit more, and a blue field surrounded the wooden cup.
The problem was that it had aged, but so had the cup, and it broke the cup the first time with the wine spilling out. Still, Calishora had praised me for my idental discovery, but like she said, identally or not, this was me now partially understanding how it worked. The more I learned, the easier it would be to counter the girls when they came, but they weren''t on my mind right now.
"Do you remember when we first met?" I asked, and Amy shuddered from under my arm beside me.
"Don''t remind me. I had felt so lost and scared since nothing was working and almost all the power had gone out. It was cold, and I didn''t know where I was, but then I saw you. I still feel bad about calling out to you, and you get hit, but I would do it again, considering what happened after," Amy said, and I kissed the top of her head.
"Why were you so trusting of me?" I asked curiously, not having asked the question before this.
"The better question is, why were you so trusting of me?! I had a switchde, bear mace, and a taser in my coat and purse. If you had tried to do something that I didn''t want you to do, you would have been in trouble, not me. My father might have been a horrible person and a loser, but he made sure that I could defend myself. I just never wanted to have to do that, and you healed me, and that carried me to your home when I had nowhere to go or anyone to ask for help. The fact that you allowed me to be part of your close life now is something I can only look back on with the warmest of memories. You are my life, Daniel, and I love you for sharing yours with me," Amy said and cuddled into my side after taking a drink.
I hugged Amy and then kissed her, keeping both arms wrapped around her as I looked out over the forest that was filled with even more lights than ever. This ce was about to go through its own Growth Spurt, and I was excited to see what grew up from it. As much as I wanted to guide it or restrict some things, I would trust in Dawn to help guide things.
"I am just d that you are all flourishing and growing into your Systems. Even with the immense power that I wield now, I am still just at the tip of my potential, and there will be even greater forces that we will have to contend with. While the fight between Alpha and Tiamat could destroy the universe, that is a very, very, very long way from being able to happen. There are things like the Shalgoth that just want to consume or destroy. Not everything thinks the same way that we do, and the more power something has, the less reason they tend to be," I exined, and Amy sighed.
"I just wish that there were more people like you in the world. There are some good people, but not enough to make up for all of the bad. I am sure that things will get better with time, though," Amy said optimistically, and I nodded.
"Yeah, they will. Things always have a way of evening out in the end," I said as we both took another drink and then got out of the pool to go inside, and I said goodnight, but after that, I said goodbye to Amy. I needed to go see Dawn.
I jumped from the hundred-foot-tall Great Tree and then used my gravity engine to take me to the strange grove that I had created during my Growth Spurt. Dawn was down there waiting for me, and her arms were crossed. Not really a good sign, but for a woman that was the entirety of all trees on earth, she did seem to have a moody personality.
"So, did you enjoy your party? Did you tell everyone how close you were to losing everything because you left me down here?" Dawn demanded as Inded, and I put my hands up.
"Dawn, I am sorry that I left you down here, but you have to admit that I have a lot going on. I can better process all my tasks now, but I was not the same before. I am doing the best I can, and you should have been there to remind me. Where were you? Why didn''t you show up to help?" I asked as I walked over, the trees starting to move and the ground rumbling as I walked.
I stopped and took a deep breath, bringing my emotions back under control, along with my surroundings. This new power was unbelievable with how in tune the world was with me, but it was also terrifying. Start Child had told me that this would be dangerous until I could control it, so I would have to work extra hard to keep my cool.
Dawn was looking at me with a satisfied smirk, and I narrowed my eyes. "What?"
"You are starting to understand the true scope of your power, and it is both exhrating and frightening. The key is to keep a level head, as you are starting to do now," Dawn said, walking over and cing her hand on my cheek.
I leaned into her touch, grateful for thefort that she always seemed to provide. "I just don''t want to screw up. I feel like there is so much riding on my shoulders now. Not like it wasn''t before, but I really don''t need you testing me right now. I made a lot of mistakes, and you''re right; things were extremely tight."
"I was visited by someonest night, the same one that visited you, and he told me that I would not be enough to help you. It was my choice toe, but the person bathed in light told me that it was my job to keep testing you because I am the only one that can withstand your power. Your power is partially me, meaning I am the only one that can restrict you if something happens," Dawn said to me as she took her hand from my face and looked up into the night sky.
I copied her and looked up as well.
Even with the light pollution, the skies above us were clear, and the night sky was beautiful. Looking up at it made me wonder what it might look like from one of the millions of other inhabiteds?
"Did he say anything else?"
"No, just that we need to be ready," Dawn said, and I nodded.
"Interesting that he visited you, but he must have also stressed the importance of not mentioning his name, so we will just call him Child Star. He is the one that created me and nted me here," I said, and Dawn nodded.
"I know; he talked to us then, knowing that we would be your greatest ally in the future. We, of course, didn''t really understand what this meant at the time, but then you were killed and then brought back to life. That time from the first visit passed in nearly an instant, but the moment that you were, times slowed to a near halt as we all waited to see what would happen. Then you returned to life, and like a pulse, we finally understood the... Child Star''s words. Daniel, I hope that we can always stand with you, no matter what you do. One of the most touching moments was when you helped a potted tree grow and you called us friends. It was strange to think that such a small moment has been engraved in my rings, but it is a treasured memory of all trees to be finally understood and heard," Dawn said as tears rolled down her green cheek.
I gave Dawn a hug, and she nuzzled into my neck. "Thank you for understanding me and for not giving up on me. I will get better at this, I promise."
"We believe in you," Dawn said as we pulled away from each other, but we stayed close as we looked out over the forest that was blooming with life even more than before, thanks to my influence. Things were going to change drastically now that so many systems were awakening to their true potential because of me, and it would be a long road ahead full of challenges that seemed insurmountable at times, but what else was new in my life?
Chapter 237 Back To The Bunker
Dawn and I talked for a while longer, but then we parted ways, and I let the grass pull me along. I wasn''t sure where I would go at first, but then I smiled.
I wasn''t even the slightest bit tired, and I wanted to get things with the bunker dealt with. As far as I could see, the fight with the sisters was not going to be good for the''s surface, but it wasn''t just the space dragons that I was worried about.
I was actually more concerned about what was going to happen when I started to fight them. Even if I tried my best, it was going to be really hard to keep my cool while fighting. That could get people killed all over the world if the started to go crazy. The only way I could see to get around this was to figure out how to use those spaces that were in the bottom level of the bunker at Area 51.
"Sofia?" I said softly, and her image came into my view.
"Papi? Why are you not in bed?" Sofia asked as she sat at her desk, clearly still working.
"Same as you, Hermosa. There is too much to do with too little time. I am going to head back to the bunker, so I will try to keep in contact with you while I am there, but I will probably go quiet again because of the Silence. I just wanted to let you know in case anyone is looking for me," I exined, and Sofia nodded, but she also sighed.
"You had better be careful, Papi. That thing down there is very dangerous, so maybe you should take Dawn with you, just in case. Suppose you can get information about the special storage ces. In that case, we might be able to create a System that could do the same thing, so we don''t have to worry about everyoneing out older and crazy," Sofia suggested, and I nodded. I should have asked Dawn while I was talking with her, but I had still considered what I would do. There were many other things I could do, but at this point, it would require waking people up for most of them.
"Yeah, I will get her toe with me. Make sure you are taking time for soaks, even if you have to make a tub in your office! I know that you like to work, but you have to keep your body energized, even if it doesn''t need to sleep all the time," I warned, and Sofia rolled her eyes at me.
"Yes, Papi. I know how to take care of myself," Sofia said, and then she ended the call. I knew that she would, but it was more for my own peace of mind, and I couldn''t help but worry about her.
I turned my attention back to the task at hand, and I got the grass to take me to the closest tree that Dawn stepped out of.
"You wanted to see me again? Did you forget something?" Dawn asked me, and I shrugged.
"I was going to wait till tomorrow to go to the bunker in Area 51, but I decided that I might as well get going as soon as possible. I am not sure how long it will take and Sofia thought it would be good to have youe along with me. There is a really dangerous entity and some other creatures that were going to have to be brought back for study," I exined, and Dawn nodded with a smile.
"Yes, I remember that. I don''t minding with you, but I don''t think that it would be wise to have mee down with you. I can wait up top and prepare whatever you find for transport, but that monster down there could try and take over me if I came with you," Dawn said as I picked her up into my arms, and a silver tear formed around us.
My gravity engine turned on, and we were almost instantly above the secret base, and the tear burst into fan des around us to disperse the heat from the extreme speed in the low atmosphere. I dropped us down to the ground and set Dawn down on shaky legs.
"You should have warned me about that," Dawn said as she regained herposure, and I shrugged.
"Sorry, but it was faster this way. Are you going to be okay?" I asked her, and she nodded as she put a hand on my arm. Her fingers were long and slender like models, but they now have an almost metallic quality.
"I will be fine. Just give me a few minutes to catch my breath," Dawn said as she walked over to sit down on a nearby rock, and I nodded before turning towards the bunker entrance. It was time to get this over with so we could move on to the next phase of our n.
"I am going to do a quick check to see what I can do about the power here. As far as I can tell, there is nothing generating any here. I might have to get a source going before I head down," I said, not really sure how I was going to do that. If I could find a water source, I could use my ice powers to make a geyser, but that would take time.
I turned on my new seismic vision and started to look for anything that might work when I saw what looked to be a generator underground in the back part of the base, closer to some small mountains.
"I found a generator, but it looks like it''s been damaged. I am going to have to go underground to get to it," I exined to Dawn, and she nodded.
"I will be here when you get back up. Take your time, and be careful," Dawn said as she leaned back against the rock, and I nodded before turning towards the entrance.
I headed around a few buildings till I made it to a small shed-like building, but my body was pulsing out waves like a sonar that prated everything to let me see through things and into the ground up to a hundred feet. I was easily able to see that there was a hatch on the other side of the door that led to adder that went to the generator.
There was a code pad to get into the building, so I scanned it over and got a reading of how it worked and how I could use it. I stabbed a root at it that sshed around it as it hit, and I gave it a jolt of power, making the door open like nothing.
I did the same thing to the keypad on the hatch leading down, but this time I had a smile on my face. While using my abilities had been cool before, something about being able to hack into military base locks like I was using child''s toys was pretty cool. I wondered what other crazy things I was going to be able to do now that the power was online?
I let my roots open the hatch and then lowered myself down to a generator that was a bit bigger than a two-story house, but it was strange. I scanned it over, and there was something powering it, but I couldn''t tell what. I looked deeper into the energy source and frowned as I started to understand how it worked.
The thing was somehow tapping into an extradimensional energy source that was in a realm that bordered on madness. Even looking at it made my head hurt, but there were ways to use this safely. It would just require some careful study so we didn''t identally blow up the while trying to get power for the bunker and base above ground.
"Sofia?" I asked out loud, and my beautiful Senorita appeared with a frown in my view.
"Why is it dark where you are, Papi?" Sofia asked me, and I grinned.
"Just ying with some new toys, Mi Amor. I found a power source that we are going to need to study, but it is going to be very dangerous," I exined, and Sofia sighed.
"I was afraid you were going to say that, Papi. Send me what you have and I will quickly go over it and see what you can do," Sofia said as she reached out and touched my cheek through the view screen.
I leaned into her hand with a smile on my face before kissing her fingertips gently before she pulled them back. That was something new, and I liked it. I sent her the information about the power source and then started to look around for anything else that might help us out.
"This is not going to be easy to tap into without risking blowing up the, so we will have to be very careful. I have drawn up some schematics on how it could work, but we will need something called a Power Focus," Sofia exined, and I frowned.
"What is that?" I asked her, and Sofia sighed before starting to exin in detail what we would need, along with a few other things that would help us understand how this power source worked without going insane in the process.
"When this was forced to shut down, the Power Focus would have been destroyed, so you are going to have to look for one. Even after finding it, I think that you are going to need something to seal you off before starting this thing back up," Sofia exined, and I groaned. I had really hoped this was going to be an easy fix, but I was going to need power here, or it was pointless for me to go back down.
Chapter 238 Seeking The Source
"I will see what I can find," I said as I started to look around, but there was nothing that looked like it would help.
"Papi?" Sofia asked.
"What is it?" I asked her.
"Maybe go back up, and find one of theputers to hack into. Now that you can make power, you should be able to find if there is another Power Focus.
I went back up to the surface and found one of theputers I could use to get into the mainframe. It would take some time, but I could at least start looking for a Power Focus while Sofia looked over what I had already found.
"Hey, have you been able to find anything?" Dawn asked me as she walked up, and I shook my head.
"No, not yet. Have you?" I asked her in return, and she shrugged.
"No, but I am not really sure what I am looking for," Dawn admitted, and I sighed.
"Yeah, me neither. Sofia is going to look over the information I have found and see if she can find anything that might help us out. In the meantime, why don''t you try and get some rest? You have been working almost as hard as me," I suggested, and Dawn smiled before walking over and giving me a quick hug.
"You sure do know how to make a girl feel special," Dawn said with augh before turning back towards a cot that had been set up, and I watched hery down with a smile on my face. It was good to finally have someone who understood just how hard all of this was for me instead of always pushing for more or demanding results.
Once she wasfortable, I turned back towards theputer screen in front of me, but no matter what I did, there seemed to be nothing about any kind of power Focus anywhere in their system, but then I hit a wall. It was more like a block that was preventing me from digging deeper, so I focused on theputer, and then I was pulled into it.
I opened my eyes, and I was standing in a strange three-dimensional space like I was inside of a program''s coding, but besides the green lines and ck space, there was only a wall in front of me. This must be the block, but what was I supposed to do now?
"Papi? Where did you go?" Sofia asked with a bit of worry in her voice.
"I am... inside theputer? I am not sure how to describe it. It is like I am standing in the middle of a bunch of code, but there is a wall in front of me," I exined, and Sofia sighed.
"That is the security barrier that was put into ce to prevent anyone from getting the information they need. You are going to have to find a way around it," Sofia said, and I frowned as I looked at the wall again.
I could feel my powers trying to reach out for something, but there was nothing for them to grab onto. This space was not physical, so there had to be another way around this.
Think Daniel... think! There has to be some way to get past this, but what?
I looked at the wall again, and then I started to walk around it. There had to be some kind of way through this, but what was it? I reached out with my scanners and felt something on the other side that was different from the space I was in.
"Sofia?" I asked as an idea came to mind, and she frowned.
"What is this?" I asked inly, and Sofia screwed up her face at me, and I looked at the digital wall set up as a representation of a security wall to keep people away from the information I was trying to get. I knew what it was, but I didn''t know how it was made up.
"It is a... um... It''s like a fence," Sofia said slowly as she thought about it. "A wall that is made of code that uses an algorithm to keep people out."
I frowned as I looked at the wall again. If this was just a bunch of code, then maybe I could write my own code to get around it? I didn''t know how to write code, but my powers did, or... I could make something!
"I think I know what I can do, but I am not so sure how it will work here since this isn''t my real body," I said.
"That is your real body, or as close as you can get in a digital sense. You are not at theputer; you are inside of it from what the scanners show," Sofia exined, and I nodded as I created a key out systeminium and then forged the Restriction System into it, but instead of restricting, it was now the Unrestricted System.
This basically turned this key I had made into the perfect skeleton key. This thing would be useful in more than one situation in the up-anding future.
With the key in hand, I walked up to the wall and inserted it into the space next to me. There was a bright light, and then I was on the other side of the wall.
"Papi! You did it!" Sofia eximed, and I nodded as I started to look through the files. It didn''t take long for me to find what we were looking for.
"Bingo," I said as I pulled up a map with several locations marked on it with a red X. "These are all of their Power Focuses."
There was one extra on base, but it was on the lower level of the bunker. There were two more in China in the same location in Xinjiang, but there was also another in Russia at Kapustin Yar. I either went in blind and found the one below, or I made a couple trips around the world to pick up some things that I was going to have at some point. This would also prevent anyone else from trying to mess with one of these things. It was surprising that they even let this thing remain on Earth from what I was reading.
"No wonder the Cleaner wanted to exterminate us," I groaned as Sofia helped me pour over the rest of the information that was hidden, but the rest was something that Sofia had already figured out from tests and pulling things apart.
"Yes, to think that any of these things were to get hard enough, and they would create an extinction-level event, destroying the world. Aye, aye, do you think that we should be messing with them? Maybe we just send them off somewhere off-world?" Sofia asked, but I shook my head.
"No, this is a confirmed source of power that is used pretty frequently around the universe for space-faring races; these are just really early models that were brought to our world a long time ago for us to study. This was brought to the one hundred years ago, ording to the records on file, but I know that this thing is over a millennia-old or more, so think of this like a building block. A super dangerous one, but I will rip over to Xinjiang and then Kapustin Yar. I have a feeling that they won''t be weing, but I will not be talking to anyone," I exined to Sofia as I closed my eyes.
"Alright, let me know when you are back, and I will help guide you with installing it, Papi. Try not to stir up too much trouble while you are gone," Sofia said and leaned into the screen, pressing through to kiss my lips. Once she pulled back, I had a big smile as I opened my eyes outside theputer.
"Best part of my new powers is being able to kiss you anywhere in the world!" Iughed, and Sofia smiled.
"I love you, Papi," Sofia said as I turned and walked away, but not before blowing her a kiss.
"Dawn! I am going for a flight!" I called, and she waved at me with her face still on the pillow. "Are you sleeping?"
"You suggested it, and I have never done it before. It is quite rxing. have fun and try to keep your temper. If you need me, just call; I cane to you anywhere in the world, just like you can go anywhere now," Dawn exined, and I frowned at her.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"You are connected to all the trees and nts and then are connected all over the world. You can go almost anywhere there is organic life," Dawn exined, and I had a feeling that she was right.
I tried to focus on a specific location, and I suddenly felt myself getting lighter, as though there was no gravity. Then in the blink of an eye, I found myself standing on top of a branch of a tall tree beside the Great Wall of China, looking over at the Gobi Desert in the distance.
"That is amazing," I whispered as I turned and looked back behind me to see people walking along the wall, but they couldn''t see me or hear me from what I could tell. As long as there were trees here, then Dawn said that this would work anywhere on Earth, which meant others with life should work too! However, for now, it seems like my powers are limited to just Earth.
I turned back towards the desert and willed myself to fly over it, curious to see my surroundings. Once again, I felt the sensation of weightlessness, and in a sh, I was high above the clouds looking down upon them.
"How did he do that?" Someone muttered from below me as I took off at supersonic speeds, flying toward Xinjiang.
Chapter 239 Meng Fang
When I got to the location that Sofia pinged me to, I was d to make it. The ce was a wastnd, and barely any vegetation, but there was some. I was kicking myself for not just using my root transfer ability, but the rest of the trip had been nice. As Inded, the first thing I noticed was a bunch of people in uniforms with guns started running towards me.
"Halt! Who goes there?" One of them shouted as they skidded to a stop in front of me with their guns pointed at my head, and I frowned. They were not going to make this easy on me, it seems.
"I am just here for the Power Focus," I said inly, and they all shared a look before turning back to look at me again.
"Why can I understand you and speak English perfectly?!" The Chinese guard asked me, seeming in shock with every word that came out of his mouth.
"My name is Daniel, and I am the one that stopped all the people that were attacking. I can see that you have power back on, and I am the one that did that as well. I am just here to see if you still have the two Power Focus''s. If you have a person that is in charge, I would like to talk to them," I exined, hoping that this would be painless.
"I will take you to a holding cell if you don''t mind, and then we will see what themander says," the guard said, and I sighed. I really didn''t have time for this.
"I know where what I am looking for is being held, and I am not looking to waste anyone''s time right now. There are three extinction-level space dragonsing to destroy the Earth, along with a race of golden demon clones in mech suits. Tell me where your leader is so I can have a talk with them, or I will just get what I want," I exined in a perfectly calm tone, but I was already pumping my body into the ground while mentally calling Octavia.
[Yes?] Octavia asked as her face appeared in the air.
"I don''t think I can-"
The guards'' words were cut off as metallic vines burst from the ground to disarm everyone, but no more. All the weapons melted into the vines, and the guards all looked horrified, but I put up my hand to stop anyone from speaking.
[Sorry! I am going to connect you to the camera system and theputers at this military base. I need you to find the person that is in charge and then send me a route to them. I would like to see if I can have a conversation before I just take their stuff.] I exined and then looked at the horrified guards; then, something hit me, absorbing into my body.
I turned in the direction of the massive 50mm shell that had hit me in the back where my heart would be. I squinted and then sent out a ten-mile pulse to scan the area. Targets started to light up in red, and bullets began to fly at me, but they were getting close to the guards, so I used a Maic system to pull all the bullets to my own body. I absorbed them and then used vines to eat all my target''s weapons.
[How are things going?] I asked, and Octavia replied.
[Sending you the best route now to Meng Fang. She has taken over the facility during the power outage.]
[Thank you!]
With my route in ce, I let my body melt into the ground, leaving the guard confused. I didn''t have time to exin things, but at least now I could kind of exin myself to this Fang.
I followed the route Octavia sent me and found myself at the door with a woman on the other side of it. I recreated my body and opened the door, about to speak, but she beat me to it.
"I know why you are here," The woman said as she looked at me strangely before gesturing for me to follow her into another room where there were several monitors showing different areas around us. "But first things first, what is your name?" She asked inly as I sat down across from her at a table with two chairs set up facing each other like we were about to y chess or something.
"Daniel," I replied shortly before looking back towards one of the screens that showed an image of Earth with me flying back with everyone on my back as a mecha-dragon. "You don''t seem surprised by any of this," I pointed out, and Fang sighed while rubbing her temples with both hands like she was getting a headache just thinking about everything going on outside these walls right now.
"I have dealt with aliens before, but I don''t think I will ever get used to any of this. You are correct; we do have two power Focuses here at the facility. They were being studied extensively by our scientists, along with another that was brought in recently," Fang exined while gesturing towards one of the screens, which showed a third person sitting on a metal chair in what looked like some kind of interrogation room."
"This guy looks pissed off," I muttered as he red through the ss toward us and then turned his head away, though still ring back at us every few seconds. "What did you do to him?"
"We ran some tests on him when he was brought in and asked questions about where he came from originally before passing out from exhaustion. When we woke up, all his memories prior to waking up here were gone," Fang exined calmly like she didn''t really care about this man''s wellbeing or anything else for that matter outside her mission parameters. "We need those answers if we want to know how these people got their powers so suddenly and without any warning signs."
"That person doesn''t have any power because I would know if he did. I am the controller of all those powers, but have you not been in touch with the outside world? I know that power just came back on, but you should have been in contact with your higher-ups, right?" I asked, but Fang shook her head.
"Everything is dark, but there are still some connections, but the government was destroyed. At first, some people had power, but then after, it was by the people. I think things are starting to calm down, but the people are rising up! This does not look good for the world," Fang said tiredly, but I grinned.
"That is because I am making it, so people don''t have to work anymore unless they want to. I can feed everyone and give them homes in Great Trees. What are you going to do now that you know that I am the one who is making these choices?" I asked, staring into Fang''s brown eyes.
"I ... I don''t know," Fang said as she leaned back in her chair and just looked at me. "You have to understand that we were not prepared for anything like this. This is all so sudden, and I am still trying to wrap my head around it."
"Well, you better hurry up because the three space dragons will be here soon, along with an army of golden demon clones in giant mech suits. They areing to destroy Earth because they see humans as a virus that needs to be wiped out," I exined inly before getting up from my seat. "So if you want your world to survive, then you need to start making some decisions fast."
With that said, I left the room without another word and made my way toward where the Power Focus''s were being held, ording to Octavia. On the way there, I passed by the interrogation room again and saw that man was sitting in his chair. I was curious about him, so I decided to make a pit stop. I knew he had no power, but maybe there was something else about him, and a deep scan up close would tell me more.
I opened the door, and the man looked up at me with a re, but I just ignored it as I stepped into the room and closed the door behind me. Then I performed a deep scan on him, but there was nothing out of ce that I could see. It was like he was just some normal human being without any powers or anything else special about him.
"Who are you?" The man asked after a few minutes of silence between us as he looked at me with narrowed eyes full of suspicion.
"Daniel," I replied shortly before walking over to sit down in the chair across from him. "Why can''t you remember anything?"
"I don''t know," The man said with a shake of his head before sighing deeply and leaning back in his chair tiredly. "It''s like everything prior to waking up here is just gone. Like it never happened."
"Maybe it didn''t," I muttered as I looked at him closely. "What is thest thing you remember beforeing here?"
"I was ... I was on a mission," The man said after a moment of silence as he furrowed his brow in concentration. "I was leading my team, and we were ambushed. I don''t remember anything else after that."
"Do you know your name?" I asked, and the man shook his head.
"No ... I don''t even know who I am anymore," The man said with a sigh before leaning back in his chair again and just staring at the ceiling above us. "This is all so confusing."
"Well, maybe one day your memories wille back to you," I said before getting up from my seat and heading for the door. "In the meantime, if you were leading a team, then you could help with training, even if you don''tpletely remember. I can get one of my girls to look at your mind, but I am going to have to change your body so I can send you back to get checked out," I exined, and then the man nodded.
"Wherever that is, it sounds better than here," The man said, and I chuckled.
"Yeah, it''s a lot better than here," I said before opening the door and stepping out into the hall. "Octavia, can I send you this guy?"
[Yes, Daniel.] Octavia replied as she emerged from my body to stand next to me for a few seconds with a confused look on her face as she looked towards the man that was sitting in the chair inside the interrogation room. "Who is he?"
"I am not sure yet, but we will figure it outter. Right now, we need to focus on getting everyone ready for what ising," I exined before turning to head down the hall again toward where the Power Focus''s were being held ording to Octavia''s map that she sent me earlier. "You take him back after I change him, and I am going to get what we came for."
Chapter 240 Without Blowing Anything Up
I reached forward, and the man handed me his hand, but Fang and some guards with guns came running into the room.
Instantly, metal vines burst from the walls disarming not only the guards but Fang as well. All the weapons were melted and absorbed into the vines, and the guards all stared in horror, but I narrowed my eyes on Fang.
"What the hell are you doing? We need those weapons to defend ourselves against what ising!" Fang shouted, and I just shook my head.
"No, you don''t," I said inly, and then vines burst all over the base in every building absorbing anything that was a weapon while scanning it all before destruction. There were screamsing from all over the ce, but this was more of people''s shock than any kind of pain. "You no longer need them because I will be fighting from now on with my team. If you or anyone else with extraordinary gifts are looking to join, I will be leaving a Great Tree where you can talk to my people. The world is changing, and I don''t have time to let people adjust, or billions of people are going to have to die instead of millions," I said as I grabbed the nameless man''s hand, and he became silver and melted into me, making everyone scream. Then Octavia did the same, and two people passed out as the others caught them.
"I-I, uh, sorry. I didn''t mean to offend you, but it is clear that you are not joking. If we do not want to help, what then? I know that you are in a hurry, but I must know this!" Fang demanded, and I smiled.
"Whatever you want. I really need more people working on entertainment, sports, and other activities. They are going to be pivotal to keeping the peace, I think, but there is nothing saying you have to do anything," I exined, and Fang turned to her guards and waved them off. Some of them still seemed to hold their posture and saluted, but others looked less steady, and some were traumatized as they turned away with haunted expressions.
"Can Ie with you to the Power Focuses? I don''t understand why these things are important, but I also know that you are busy," Fang asked, and I nodded as we left the room and started to walk in the direction my map was guiding me.
"You have no idea how important they are, but I need to get ahold of two of them while leaving thest one here. They are power sources for special generators that make infinite power, but the one we have is an older model. I am trying to get it working while hoping not to blow up the," I exined, and Fang gave me a shocked look, but I put up my hand. "Don''t worry, it is more of a joke, mostly. The important thing will be to see just how much power it will output. Do you know how much it takes to power everything on earth currently?"
"No, we do not have that information," Fang said with a shake of her head, and I sighed deeply. That figures.
"Everyone uses way too much power for what they need currently. If you want to help, then find me someone who is good with numbers so we can start making a difference," I exined as we reached the door to where the Power Focuses was being held ording to Octavia''s map in my mind. I ced my hand on the door handle but didn''t open it yet as I looked back at Fang with a serious expression on my face. "We need to start making some real changes if we want things to get better."
With that said, I opened the door and walked into the room while Fang followed close behind me. There were two people inside the room, and they both looked up at me with wide eyes as I stepped further into the room. On a table in the middle of the room was what I was looking for, and I walked over to it before staring at the two strange-looking devices.
"These are the Power Focuses," Fang said as she stepped up next to me and stared at the two devices with a confused look on her face. She must not have spent much time around them, but she also wasn''t the one originally inmand. There was a story there, but it was for another time.
"Yes, but I only need these two. The other can stay here for now," I exined before reaching out and picking up both of the devices. It was surprisingly light, and I could feel a faint tingling sensationing from it that made my hair stand on end slightly. The designs were intricate, and I could tell that they were not of this world. "Octavia, can you show me how to use these?"
[No, Daniel.] Octavia replied as she stepped out from my body and looked at one of the devices in my hands. Then she turned back towards me with a serious expression on her face. "You need to be careful with these things because they are very powerful. You are going to have to scan them and send them to Sofia. She will be able to find someone that can help with them."
"I don''t think that I can ever get used to that," Fang said as I looked over at her and the two other shocked scientists that had been silent since we arrived.
"Yeah, we are a weird bunch,'''' I said as I scanned the power focus, and my system brought up some information on it.
[Scanned Item: Power Focus Crystal and Containment Chamber]
[Item Description: A powerful energy source that can be used to fuel special generators. The crystal is from the Xea, and the containment chamber was created by an unknown species. The crystal is infused with pure energy, and it is theorized that it could power an entire if used correctly. Tampering with the device is not rmended without proper training.]
"Sofia, I need you to find someone that knows how to use these things. They are from another and are really powerful. I don''t want to mess with them until we know more," I said as I sent the information over to her before gently cing the devices back on the table.
"This is what you went for, Papi? They don''t look too dangerous, but do a deep scan and send me the results so I can get the full scan to pull apart it and see how to transport it. If it is as dangerous as we think, we don''t want to go too fast of doing something that could cause it to have a reaction," Sofia exined, and I nodded as I reached my hand over the top and did a powerful and prating deep scan to get an inside view of the crystal, but the numbers didn''t really make sense to me.
"Yeah, I don''t understand any of this. You are going to have to help me out here," I said as I sent the information over to her, and she let out a low whistle.
"This is going to be interesting. There is so much power here that it is hard to evenprehend. We need someone who knows about this stuff, though, before we do anything else," Sofia said, and I nodded in agreement as Fang stepped up next to me with a serious expression on her face.
"We will help you any way that we can, but you have to promise not to destroy our in the process," Fang said inly, and I couldn''t help but chuckle at her words.
"I promise not to destroy our¡as long as you all promise to heed the call when I tell everyone to board the arks. A war that will scour our is about toe, and then we are leaving this sr system. Exining any more would just confuse you. If you want to learn more, I can send you to the Central Forest, and you will find all the answers you need to your questions," I replied with a smile on my face before turning back towards the Power Focuses. "You all should clear out of this room. I will figure out how I am going to move these, and I will see you in the Central Forest if you are willing to join us, but no pressure."
With that said, everyone in the room quickly filed out and left me alone with my thoughts as I wondered just how I was going to move two of these things by myself. Not that having another person would really help; it was more of a matter of moving them safely. I was powerful, but I was not omnipotent, and this wasn''t something to be messing around with.
"Any luck yet?" I asked Sofia, who was still in my view on a screen, but I could tell she was working; I was just getting impatient.
"I am sorry, Daniel, but this is going to take some time. Even with my help, it will be a few days before we can have someonee and help you out with this. I am sorry," Sofia replied with a shake of her head as she stared at me with an apologetic look on her face. "Do you want me toe and help you?"
"No, it is okay. I will just have to wing it for now until we can get someone that knows what they are doing," I said as I sighed deeply.
I reached my hand out, and a metal vine snaked its way out of the floor and up to my wrist before stopping. Then it started to wrap tightly around the power focus before securing it in ce. I did the same with the other one, and then I looked down at my hands as vines also started to wrap around them as well serving as a rope of sorts.
"Okay, now let''s see if we can get these things back home without blowing anything up," I muttered to myself before taking a deep breath and concentrated on moving them in a specific way that would hopefully not cause any problems along the way.
Chapter 241 Lily
I was moving the two Power Focuses through the air as carefully as I could while making my way back to the Central Forest. It was a slow and tedious process, but I didn''t want to risk damaging them in any way. The problem was that I had no idea how to use them since Sofia was still looking over the scans that I had sent her.
I needed someone who knew about this sort of thing, and thankfully, Sofia had found me, someone. Her name was Lily, and she imed to be an expert on theoretical energy sources from all over the gxy. She said that she would be able to help me with the Power Focuses when she arrived, which should be soon, ording to Sofia.
"Daniel, Lily is almost here," Sofia said in my earpiece as I continued my journey with the two Power focuses in tow below me. "Just be careful until she gets there."
"Yeah, I created a gravity field around me, so unless someone shoots me out of the air, I should be fine, but that isn''t likely to happen," I exined as I moved over the pacific ocean at subsonic speeds.
I could go faster, but in this case, I already felt like I was pushing the limits, considering how much we didn''t know about the Power Focuses. I had wanted to take them straight back to the base, but since I didn''t know about them and I still had one more to go get, heading home with them was the best n.
"Well, just be careful. I have never seen anything like this before, and I don''t want to see you get hurt," Sofia said with a worried tone in her voice that she was trying to hide.
"I will be fine; I promise," I replied, continuing on my way.
It was past lunch by the time I finally made it back to the Central Forest with the two Power focuses, and I was exhausted from the trip and all the Power I had used at the bases. I headed to the R&D Great Tree, where Sofia and another short blonde-haired girl that I assume to be Lily were waiting for me as the side of the tree opened.
"I am d that you made it back safe, Papi. I am d that you are okay," Sofia said as she stepped out from the tree with a relieved smile on her face before she moved over and hugged me tightly.
"Yeah, I am fine," I said as I returned the hug before turning toward Lily with a raised eyebrow. "You must be Lily."
"That would be me," she replied with a cheery smile on her face that instantly put me at ease despite not knowing anything about her skills yet. "Sofia has filled me in on what you need help with, so let''s get started."
There was an open table that I walked over to ce the Power Focuses down, slowly releasing my metal vines from them. The entire time, Lily watched my every moment and how my powers worked rather than looking at the Power Focuses. "These are amazing. I have never seen anything like this before," Lily said in awe as she reached out and touched one of the containment chambers lightly. "The energy readings from these things are off the charts."
"Yeah, they were made to power an entire if used correctly," I exined as Sofia came over and joined us at the table with a curious look on her face. "I am guessing that you can help us out here?"
Lily nodded eagerly as she stepped forward toward the Power Focuses with a serious look on her face now. "Yes, but it isn''t going to be easy. I only know theoretical ideas. It will take a while, even with the scans you already sent in. I wish I had a better way to understand this."
"I can help with that if you are willing to work for Sofia," I suggested, and Lily nodded at me excitedly.
"You mean that I can get special powers like you have? Like in the anime?!" Lily asked as her eyes lit up, and I gave her a knowing smile as mecha-roots came out my back and circled around me to point at Lily. I expected her to get scared, but she just closed her eyes, put her arms out to the side, and tipped her head back.
"Papi, are you going to give her powers, or are you looking for another wife to add to the mix?" Sofia asked as she crossed her arms, and I snorted as my roots stabbed at Lily, but when they hit her, they became like liquid sshing over her body.
"Yes, Hermosa, I am just making it dramatic. She looked excited, so I thought I would have some fun," I said as the roots pulled back into my body, and Lily stood there with wide eyes.
"I-I have powers! Oh, wow!" she eximed as she looked down at herself before bringing her hand up in front of her face and watching as a small blue orb formed above it. "This is so cool! What can I do?"
"I gave you a basic System that controls and studies energy and how to use it better. It is called the Blue Core System, and it should help you study the Power Focuses better," I exined as she looked back up at me with an excited smile on her face.
"Thank you so much!" she eximed as she ran over and hugged first me and then Sofia tightly before pulling away with an embarrassed look on her face. "Sorry about that."
"It is fine; we are all family here," Sofia said with aforting smile on her face before looking over at Lily with a curious expression. "How do you feel now when you look at the focus? What does your new System tell you about it."
Lily hesitated for a moment before nodding eagerly. "Yes, it is giving me a lot of information. I feel like I could understand it if given enough time."
"That is all we can ask for," Sofia said with a smile on her face as she turned towards the exit. "I will leave you two to your work then; just let me know when you have figured something out."
With that said, Sofia walked away, leaving Lily and me alone in the room as she looked back down at the focus with an eager expression on her face while mumbling to herself. It was good to finally have someone that could help us understand these things better since they were going to y a pivotal role in our ns moving forward.
[2 hourster]
"I think I might have something," Lily said as she looked up at me with a wide smile on her face, and I perked up instantly. "If we can figure out how to use the power from the crystal safely, then we could use it to create an interdimensional portal."
"What now?" I asked as I furrowed my brow in confusion. What did that even mean?
Lily chuckled softly at my confused expression before starting to exin. "Basically, it would be a way to travel between dimensions or evens if we figured out how to make it stable enough."
"Well, that is nice, but not really what we are trying to figure out right now. We are trying to figure out how to use it with the generator at Area 51," I said with a weak smile. Thest two hours really hadn''t yielded much helpful information, and I was about ready to Root myself to Kapustin Yar.
Lily nodded her head in understanding before she turned back towards the focus with a thoughtful look on her face. "I am sorry; I keep getting sidetracked. It is just that this is so fascinating to me."
"I know the feeling," I muttered as I leaned back against the wall and crossed my arms while Lily continued to study the Power Focus intently. She was quiet for some time, but eventually, she looked up at me with an excited expression on her face once more. "What did you find?"
"I think I know how to use the Power from the crystal safely. We just need to figure out how to make it work with the generator at Area 51," Lily exined as she started to pace back and forth in excitement.
"That is a start, but we still don''t really know how this thing works," I pointed out as Lily came to a stop and looked over at me with an apologetic expression on her face.
"I am sorry; I am just so excited about all of this. It is like nothing that I have ever seen before," she admitted as she ran a hand through her hair nervously. "Give me some time, and I am sure that I will be able to figure something out."
"What if I just take you with me? I can bring you and one of the Power Focuses with me, and you can get a look at the generator," I suggested as Lily''s eyes lit up in excitement at the prospect.
"That would be amazing! Thank you!" she eximed as she hugged me tightly before quickly pulling away with an embarrassed look on her face once more. "Sorry about that."
"It is fine; let''s go get one of the Power Focuses and head out," I said as Lily nodded eagerly as I walked over to secure one of the focuses and called Sofia up.
Chapter 242 Mox Is Calling
"I am d that you two figured something out," Sofia said as we walked into the briefing room with Lily carrying one of the Power Focuses behind us.
"Yeah, we are still not entirely sure how everything works, but Lily has an idea of how to use the power from the crystal safely. We just need to figure out how to make it work with the generator at Area 51," I exined as Sofia nodded her head in understanding before turning toward Lily.
"That is a start, but do you think that you will be able to figure out more while you are there?" she asked, and Lily hesitated for a moment before giving a confident nod.
"I am pretty sure of it. I have never seen anything like this before; it is fascinating," she replied with an excited look on her face, and Sofia chuckled softly as she shook her head.
"You two are going to be busy for a while then," she said as she turned back toward me with a serious expression on her face now. "Do you think that you will be able to keep things under control at Area 51? Thest thing we need is another incident."
"I will be fine; I promise. Lily will just be working on the generator. I try not to do anything that could possibly cause any problems," I assured her, and Sofia nodded her head in understanding before turning back toward Lily.
"Just be careful; we still don''t really know much about these things," she said, and Lily nodded her head eagerly in agreement before the two of us turned and left the room.
We were quiet on the ride over to Area 51 as we each lost ourselves in our own thoughts, but eventually, Lily broke the silence with a question that had been on my mind since she had first mentioned it. "What exactly is an interdimensional portal?"
"That is a very good question, but I am hoping to find more information at the base. I am going to send all the data back this time from theirputers, so Octavia and Sofia can look it over or find someone that knows more about it. There is a storage unit that they have buried deep on the bottom floor of the bunker, and I need to understand more about it. As far as I know, people that go ine out talking differentnguages, so there must be something that needs to be adjusted for proper use," I exined as Lily nodded her head in understanding.
"I see, that makes sense," she said as she turned back towards the window with a thoughtful look on her face. "I am really excited to see what we can find out."
? "Yeah, me too," I muttered as I turned my attention back to the open air ahead of us.
I was trying to mentally prepare for another sh with the Shalgoth, but I would be able to get information from theputers about how to deal with it. That would make things easier, but I knew that this would still be hard to deal with the creature and get it back in whatever was containing it before. There was also Mox, the Gideon, that I needed to deal with. He would be much easier, but I still wasn''t sure if I would be able to get him to join my side.
We eventually arrived at Area 51, and I took us down to the small shed, using some gravity to st it away, making Lily squeak, but I had to concentrate. Next, I headed to the top and then melted the metal back until there was a hole big enough for me to lower us down to the massive two-story special generator that we had to fit the Power Focus to. As we moved down, Lily looked around with wide eyes at the size of the thing.
"This is amazing," she whispered in awe as I set us down on one of the metal catwalks that ran along the sides of the massive room.
"Yeah, it is," I muttered as I looked around myself before turning my attention back towards Lily with a serious expression on my face. "I need you to be very careful while you are here and don''t touch anything that you shouldn''t."
Lily nodded her head eagerly in agreement before following close behind me as we made our way across the catwalk towards a small door that would lead into one of the many rooms inside this ce. We went through a few rooms until we found one that had severalputers lining the walls inside of it with wires running everywhere. It looked like a control room for something, but I wasn''t entirely sure what it was for yet other than monitoring the generator.
I walked up, and metal vines extended from me and sshed into theputers, downloading all the data from them and sending it off to the girls; then, I turned to Lily. "Can you start trying to figure out how they installed the Power Focus? Theputers are all open to use."
Lily nodded eagerly as she made her way over to theputers before sitting down in front of one and starting to mess with it. I leaned against the wall and watched her for a moment before turning my attention back towards the door that we hade through. My senses were telling me that there was someone else in here with us, but I couldn''t see anyone.
I focused on extending my hearing, and soon enough, I could hear faint footstepsing from one of the other rooms attached to this one, and I realized who it was before the door opened. Dawn walked in with a stretch and a big yawn as she saw me staring at her and froze in ce before quickly recovering. "Oh, hey, Daniel. I was wondering what you were doing over here."
"Yeah, I just bought Lily here to help us out with the Power Focus," I exined as Dawn nodded her head in understanding before turning her attention toward Lily with a curious expression on her face.
"I see; what can you do?" she asked, and Lily looked up from theputer screen with a confident smile on her face.
"I am an expert on energy sources from all over the gxy. I should be able to help you figure out how to use the power from the crystal safely," she replied confidently, and Dawn''s eyes widened in surprise for a moment before she quickly recovered and crossed her arms with a smirk on her face now.
"Is that so? We will see about that," she said as she turned her attention back toward me with a serious expression on her face now. "I need to speak with you in private, Daniel."
I nodded my head in agreement before following Dawn out of the room and into one of the other empty ones nearby. Once we were inside, Dawn closed the door behind us before turning towards me with a worried look on her face now. "What is wrong?" I asked, instantly concerned by the look on her face.
"It is Mox; I have been monitoring the bottom floor, but he used aputer to talk to me," she exined, and I furrowed my brow in confusion as I crossed my arms.
"Why would he want to talk to you?" I asked, but Dawn shook her head.
"He thought that I was you and just wanted to know when you wereing back down to the bottom floor of the bunker," Dawn exined, and I signed. So, Mox was getting impatient.
"I will go down there and talk to him soon, but I need to get Lily settled first," I exined as Dawn nodded her head in understanding before turning back towards the door.
"I will leave you to it then," she said as she walked out of the room, and I waited until she was gone before heading back into the other room where Lily was hard at work. It looked like she had made some progress as there were schematics up on one of the screens in front of her that showed how they had installed the Power Focus into the generator.
"Hey, how is it going?" I asked as I walked up behind her, and Lily turned in her seat to look up at me with a tired smile on her face.
"I am making some progress, but it is slow going. They have the Power Focus installed in a way that I have never seen before," she exined as she turned back towards theputer screen and began to type something in. "I think I can get it out, but it is going to take some time."
"Well, just take your time; we don''t want anything happening to that thing until we know more about how it works," I said as Lily nodded her head in agreement before turning back towards theputer screen and getting lost in her work once more.
I stood there for a moment longer before turning my attention back towards the door with a sigh. It looked like I was going to have to deal with Mox sooner than I had wanted to, but it couldn''t be helped. I needed him on my side if I was going to have any advantage when Alpha''s Strike Team of mechs came.
Chapter 243 Play A Little Game
I sunk into the ground and went down to the bottom floor where the Silence was being held. I could see Mox pacing back and forth inside with an impatient look on his face on the other side of the door in the once control room. He paused when he saw me walking up and turned towards the door with a disgruntled expression on his face now. "Daniel, it is about time! What is taking so long?"
"I am sorry; I have been busy," I exined as Mox began to pace again in frustration.
"Busy? With what? It has been weeks!" he eximed, and I sighed softly as I shook my head.
"No, I haven''t. It has only been a few days," I corrected him, but Mox just stopped and stared at me in disbelief for a moment before scoffing softly and turning away from me again.
"Days? That is even worse! How much longer do you n on keeping me here?" he asked angrily, but I just shook my head as I walked up to the ss and melted through it.
"Not long. I have someone working on the power right now, but I think that you and I need to have a talk first," I exined, and the sickly yellow Gideon narrowed its eyes at me.
"What about?" he asked, but I just shook my head as I turned away from him and started to pace myself.
"About what you want and what I can offer you," I began, but Mox just scoffed softly and crossed his arms over his chest.
"I am listening," he said, and I nodded my head before turning back towards him with a severe expression on my face.
"I know that you want to be free from the Silence and out of her, but I am not sure if that is something I can allow with you linked to Alpha. I know that you are a clone of him, like all Gideons, but that means I can''t trust you, no matter how truthful you are. I just had a conversation with Alpha, and it proved that your truths are only a distraction to divert from having to tell lies," I exined as Mox''s eyes narrowed in anger, but he stayed silent as he waited for me to continue. "However, what I can offer you is a chance to help me and be something more, but more importantly, to be yourself."
Mox was silent for a moment before he finally let out a sigh and turned away from me with a thoughtful look on his face. "What do you mean by that?" he asked, and I waited for him to turn back towards me before answering.
"I mean that you can be your own person without being defined by the actions of Alpha or the Silence. You can help make this world a better ce, but more importantly, you will have my trust, and I will have yours," I exined, and Mox just stared at me in disbelief for a moment longer before scoffing softly and turning away from me again.
"You are asking for too much," he said dismissively as he crossed his arms over his chest again, but I just shook my head as I took a step closer to him.
"No, I am not asking for anything that you are not capable of giving," I countered firmly, making Mox pause as he considered my words carefully before finally sighing softly and turning back towards me with an exhausted look on his face now.
"Fine, I will help you, but only because I want to be free of them," he said as he stepped closer to me and extended his muchrger hand, and I stared at it for a moment before slowly reaching out and shaking it.
I wanted to see how Mox did before I changed him, and I wanted to give him a chance to think about things. I could feel the war of emotions in the man''s words, and it would be better if he could do this of his own choice and not just because of the situation.
"Thank you," I said sincerely, and Mox just nodded his head before turning away from me again with a heavy sigh.
It looked like we had finallye to an understanding, but there was still the matter of the Silence. I wasn''t sure how to deal with her yet or even if Mox would be able to help me with that, but we would cross that bridge when we got there. For now, we needed to focus on getting past the Shalgoth.
"Can you get past the Shalgoth?" I asked, knowing that I could fight my way to the other side without a problem.
"Not without my weapons, but they are on the other side in the special extradimensional container," Mox exined, and I nodded as silver roots started toe out of my back, but that made Mox jump back. "What are you doing?!"
"Giving you some armor and some weaponry. I think I still have a scan of your scary pistol that has the gravity pads on them. Hold on, this shouldn''t hurt much," I said off-handedly, and my roots all converged on Mox, and the giant demon-looking mother fucker let out a scream like an adolescent teenage girl as my roots hit and shed all over his body. Finally, when it was done, Mox was standing there in a full suit of my armor. "There you go!"
"What the hell is this?! It feels alive!" Mox eximed as he looked down at his new armor with a horrified expression on his face, and I just chuckled softly.
"It is called you are wearing me as a skin. It is a suit that I just designed that can change shape and size to fit whoever is wearing it while also providing them with enhanced strength, speed, durability, and reflexes," I exined as Mox just continued to stare at me in disbelief before shaking his head and looking down at his arms.
"This is unbelievable," he muttered as he flexed his arms experimentally before looking back up at me with a serious expression on his face now. "So, what do we need to do?"
I turned my attention towards the door that would lead into the Shalgoth.
"We need to brute force our way past the Shalgoth and the thousands of shadow clones it is going to make. I need you just to keep going; I need to check something with the body that it is possessing," I exined calmly, but Mox threw his hands up, and then I remembered his gun.
"You have got to be kidding me?! How are you so calm?!" Mox demanded as I made a copy of his destabilizer pistol and handed the heavy thing to him, making him calm down some.
"I have to be calm or bad things will happen. My power is tied to this entire, and if I get mad or upset, the world reacts, and I could make copies of myself that I couldn''t control yet," I exined.
"I see; well, that is a heavy burden to have," Mox muttered as he shook his head before turning back towards the door with a determined look on his face now. "So, let''s get this over with."
I nodded my head in agreement before following close behind him as he stepped through the door and down the hallway until the shadows started to appear. I moved forward as Mox was about to raise his weapon, but my roots burst from me and became a blur as I cut through everything.
I looked back to see Mox lower his gun, but I made a clone of myself walk out of the wall beside him. "Keep that up; they respawn fast, so make sure to keep watch and stay between me," I instructed from my clone as I quickly caught up to my original body. Mox nodded his head in understanding before turning back towards the hallway with a determined look on his face now.
We continued down the hallway, cutting through anything that got in our way until we finally made it to the room where the Shalgoth was holding its human host. It looked like it was trying to go for Mox at first, but when it saw me, all its attention shifted toward me instead as I stepped forward with a confident smirk on my face.
"What are you doing?" Mox demanded from behind me as he grabbed onto my arm, but I just shook him off and took another step forward until I was standing right in front of the demon.
"I am going to talk to it," I said calmly, and Mox''s eyes widened in disbelief for a moment before he quickly recovered and crossed his arms over his chest with an unimpressed expression on his face now.
"And how do you n on doing that? It doesn''t even have a mouth," he pointed out skeptically, but I had dealt with this creature before, but I was a change being now.
[Hello, Daniel. Have youe to y a little game?]
Chapter 244 Arseni Sergey
"Get to the other side with my clone, and I will be there in a bit. Don''t argue with me or reply; just go," I said calmly as I walked up to the human-shaped shadow.
Mox listened and ran off with my clone still protecting him, and I focused on the dark form in front of me as I raised my hand. Suddenly, the room was filled with a bright glow from my hand, where I created a powerful light.
[What are you trying to do?] Shalgoth asked, annoyed.
"I am trying to give you a choice," I said simply as the light from my hand grew brighter and brighter until it was too much for the creature. It screamed before diving into the human host, and I followed it without hesitation.
Once inside, I looked around and saw the countless shadows of people that this thing had taken over before finally finding its core in the back of its mind. It was struggling against me now as I pushed forward towards it with a determined look on my face, but I was suddenly buffeted by the Shalgoth.
I flew back and hit the wall hard as the Shalgoth began to take control of its host again, but I quickly regained my footing and pushed forward. It was a battle of wills now as we fought for control of the body, but this time I grabbed the host as my Memory Crystal pushed out of my forehead, and I forced a connection.
Time slowed to a stop as I was pulled into the man''s mind, but there was a massive ck shadow waiting for me and blocking my way. Without hesitation, I became light incarnate and pushed the shadow back.
"This is not a fight that you can win! I have already seen that you will never get this body back!" The Shalgoth raged as its shadow pushed back on me, but I gave no ground.
"If you can see that, you must know what is going to happen next? You have already seen your own defeat, haven''t you?! I always wondered what it would be like to be a 4D being, but even if you see all time, you know that you can''t win. I will trap you again, and then you will rot there!" I roared and pushed even harder, gaining ground as the shadows fought even harder, but I was the master here, and I controlled this ce because it was my memory that I had forced them into.
"You could neverprehend what I am, but it is nice to have an opponent that understands the basics of my being. I have seen my own demise, but with each movement of atoms, the future changes. I might not win this, but I will not give in to you, and I will fight you with every atom of my being! I am The Night! I am Shalgoth!" The shadow screamed, but I just pushed harder and then created a box of pure light and crammed the shadow into it.
Then I sent it to the same dimension I had sent Tiamat, but this time I allowed for all words to be repeated infinitely. This bastard was going to be a headache, but the light seemed to be the answer for dealing with him. For now, I concentrated on the man that was looking at me with a scared and confused look.
"Your name is Arseni? I asked the Russian-looking man, and he nodded slowly and then looked around.
"Where is this ce? I was just in a ce that was dark and screaming. How did it stop?" The man asked, and I nodded.
"My name is Daniel, and you are in one of my memories right now. I am an alien, but I was born on Earth. I have cleaned things up on Earth for the most part, but I need to get you out of your body, and then I will put you into a new body. Your old one is almostpletely consumed, but he needs this part of you toplete himself. If I take you from your body, I think that he will be forced to consume the body and will be weaker," I said, and the man nodded.
"I am Arseni Sergey, but that will not stop this thing. It has to be put back in the special light barrier, but without power, there is no way you can do that," Arseni exined, and I nodded.
"I figured as much, but I have another solution. I am working on getting the special generator back online right now, and I can create light, so it is just a matter of time. I am surprised that yousted as long as you did trap inside the Shalgoth," I said, but Arseni waved it off like it was nothing.
"I was sent as a spy for the KGB but then was caught by the Americans, so a little bit of screaming is not so bad. Much better than having a cloth put over your face, and then having water poured into your mouth. I have been through enough to just busy myself with the sudoku puzzle in my mind," Arseni exined, and I gave him an impressed nod.
"I could use someone like you with a strong resolve and hard head. Ever thought about piloting a mech?" I asked him with a grin, and the man gave me a strained look.
"Just how long have I been like this?!" Arseni demanded, and Iughed.
"Less than a month, but the world has been making some major changes. I am going to store you in my mind right now, but when I get back, I will put you into a new body," I said, and Arseni gave me a smirk.
"Do I get to pick who I look like?" Arseni asked hopefully, and I nodded, returning the smirk.
"You can edit your body however you want," I said, and his face lit up, and then he looked down at his pants and back at me, and I nodded with augh. "That too."
"Woo! I should get eaten more often! That is what my ex-girlfriend used to say!" Arseniughed, and I nodded with a smile.
"Alright, I am leaving now, but you shouldn''t have any more run-ins with that crazy bastard," I said, and then pulled myself back into my body.
The shadow-covered human form was quickly consumed, and a scream ripped through the room as every shadow screamed at once.
"YOU!" They all screamed and came at me like never before, but my vines cut through them like paper now.
"Yeah, it is me! Daniel, the Fun Sucker! Enjoy yourst bit of freedom until I get the lights back on, but just remember that no matter what you do, I am putting you back in that box, just like the one you were just in!" Iughed as I tore through the shadow like they were butter.
"You will never be able to put us all back! There are too many of us, and we will keeping for you!" They screamed as I sent them flying back with a wave of my hand.
"Yeah, yeah. I have heard that before, but it doesn''t matter how many there are of you! I will find a way to get rid of all of you eventually! You might be immortal, but so am I! Even if you do manage to get free, I will always be here to put the baby back in the box!" Iughed as I started to walk to where Mox had headed, the shadows still trying to get me.
"It doesn''t matter how long it takes or how many times you have to do it! I will always be here to make sure that you don''t harm anyone ever again!" I shouted as the shadows finally gave up and dissipated into nothing. I knew that it was still going to be hard getting the Shalgoth contained, but I had taken the fire out of the being. It made me wonder what it would be like to see all time at once, but then I tossed the idea aside.
I already had enough trouble with the time I was currently in, and I didn''t need to know how many more stupid messes I was going to find myself in. No, I was perfectly content with living life in the third dimension.
I walked for a bit, but then I heard Mox''s voice, but he was arguing about something.
"Give me my damn weapons, or I am going to turn you into a pile of shit, you little Garbax!" Mox said as I turned the corner to find Mox holding his massive pistol at what looked to be an oversized white roon. My clone was standing in the corner with a grin, watching the entertainment.
"I am not a Garbax, you idiot Gideon! I am a Gornar, and I am here to help you!" The creature said in what sounded like a very offended tone.
"Yeah, well, I don''t need your help! Now give me my damn weapons back!" Mox shouted as he waved the gun around. The Gornar just sighed but then started to hand the weapons back slowly. "Hey! Give them to me now!" Mox shouted again, annoyed.
The Gornar sighed again and dumped the pile of weaponry on the ground in front of Mox, who quickly started putting his guns away while grumbling about how ungrateful the creatures were around here. After he was done, he looked up at my clone with an angry look.
"What use is a clone if it just watches andughs at me?!" Mox demanded as I walked over and absorbed my clone.
"I would have done the same thing," I grinned and walked over to the Gornar and bent down in front of it. "What is a Gornar supposed to be?"
"I am helping you!"
"No, he is a thief. Just kill it so we can move on!" Mox demanded, but I waved him off as I looked at the curious creature.
"If you can help, then what can you do?"
Chapter 245 Get Along
After a brief exnation, I found out that Gornars were good at building things, and Gobbaldopedri was a great mech pilot that had his own special mech. I decided that Gobbles was better because he had a strange pouch like a kangaroo that seemed to be a bottomless pit that could hold anything he could fit in the pouch hold that also stretched quite a bit. He could also pee a stream of hot acid that was really useful for melting things.
"I have never seen anyone put so much trust into a creature they just met," Mox said, bemused, as Gobbles jumped on my back, but the moment that he did, I poked thorns into him and ran a full scan on him. The info was almost identical to what he had told me, and now I could tell if the creature had tried to lie to me.
"I don''t just trust anything. Like how you will be, Gobbles can''t lie to me now or do anything that will hurt me or the others. I am not looking to control people unless I have to. I am not in a position to trust anything," I exined, and Mox nodded but then reached a hand out to me.
"I would sooner have you fully trust me, so you can do whatever you did to the white rat," Mox said, and Gobbles made a growling hiss noise, but I ignored him and took Mox''s hand.
Instantly, I was assaulted by thoughts of distrust and betrayal, but I forced my way through them until I saw his memories. He had been betrayed in the past by people that he thought were friends, so it made sense why he wouldn''t fully trust anyone. Even so, there were people that he did trust to an extent, like Gobbles here. In the end, Mox was just a victim of circumstance that had happened to grow a really hard head because of it all.
I closed my eyes and slowly started to change Mox. I took more time with the big guy than Gobbles because I was making him morepatible with humans or what they were going to be. I also gave him something that had been stolen from him in a sense. The body was not normal; even though it was a Gideon, I was confused with the way his body was set up. I was not sure if it was something that all Gideons had or just Mox.
It was like he was hardwired, to tell the truth, but his other emotions had been restricted, and there were almost no pleasure sensory receptors. That meant that he just did everything for the sake of doing it, but there were some pleasure sensors connected to his hearing, but it was also connected to his brain. I assumed that was so that he enjoyed hearing Alpha''s voice.
The first thing I did was add more emotions to him and increase his reaction time a little, so he wouldn''t be so reckless in battle. Then I increased his loyalty to me, but not to the point where he would be a mindless puppet like my clones were. In the end, Mox was still going to be himself for the most part; he would just be less likely to turn on me.
I wasn''t really sure how much better I was than Alpha, but I knew that what I was doing was much different than what the golden demon was. I was trying to control people, but that was so everyone lived peacefully and could have fun or fulfilling lives. Maybe it was just my excuse, but I didn''t really care about what wasing.
"There you go," I said as I finished and released his hand, "You should start feeling better soon."
Mox nodded but then looked down at Gobbles, who seemed content on my back for now, and sighed. "I don''t trust that thing as far as I can throw it."
Gobbles made an offended noise but didn''t say anything else, but then Mox looked down between his legs, but he was covered by my armor.
"What did you do to me? Why do I have something between my legs?! Is this some kind of a joke?!" Mox demanded, and I looked at Gobbles, and then we both burst outughing. "Do notugh at me! What is the meaning of this?!"
Mox was getting angry now, but I just put a hand on his shoulder and shook my head. "Rx, Mox, it is nothing bad. I just gave you something that was stolen from you."
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"Well, you never had one, to begin with, but I gave you a reproductive organ," I exined, and Mox looked like he was going to say that he didn''t need it, but I put a hand up. "It is also for pleasure. You know, when you used to hear Alpha''s voice, it would make you happy, right?" I asked, and Mox frowned at me but then looked away from me.
"How could you know that?" Mox asked after finally turning back to me.
"It was programmed into you. I actually expected to find mutainium inside you, but there was none. Your emotions were also mixed up, so I evened them back out to what I would consider normal. I don''t know if that is the right choice, and it will take some getting used to, but I think that you will enjoy it. The feeling you will get from that organ I gave you will make Alpha''s voice feel like a cruel joke when you feel the true pleasure from release," I exined, but it seemed to only confuse the Gideon even more. "It is something that you will figure out with time. For now, we are going to head deeper into the base and get to where the Extradimensional Containment Chamber is. I need to get a scan on it and then figure out how it works."
"And what am I going to do?" Mox asked, and Gobbles hopped off my back and grabbed one of Mox''s guns.
"You are going to protect us," I said as Gobbles handed the gun to Mox, who looked at it like it was a snake. "Guns are not hard to use. Just point and shoot."
Mox rolled his eyes, still looking unsure about the whole thing, but he took the gun anyway before we started walking again.
"I don''t know what I am going to protect you from. You are clearly much stronger than I am," Mox said as we left the room.
"There are still some things running around up ahead, but most of them are hiding from something bigger. I need to put all my concentration on the containment unit, so you and Gobbles are going to watch my back, so I don''t have to keep breaking my attention from the task. I will have some clones working with me, so you two are going to be in charge of keeping the monsters away," I exined, and Mox shrugged as we walked, but I stopped, and he turned back to me as Gobbles jumped on my shoulder, pulling out a small gun. "The only thing is that you can''t kill them. You can injure them, but killing is forbidden. I just want you to corner whatever is attacking, and I will take care of the rest."
"You have got to be kidding me?! I have guns and sharp weapons! How am I supposed to do that?!" Mox demanded, but Gobbles jumped from me to him, and Mox started to freak out. "Get this thing off of me!"
"He is just trying to help. Gobbles is going to be your partner, so you need to learn how to work with him," I said as the two of them wrestled on the ground, but eventually Mox got control and hoisted Gobbles up by the scruff of his neck, but Gobbles bit his hand that was uncovered, and then jumped for Mox''s gun and started to tear it apart.
"What the hell is wrong with this thing?!" Mox yelled as he dropped the gun to grab his other hand, and Gobbles kept tearing at the weapon, but he was also using some other tools at an almost blinding speed as Mox red at me. "This thing is a wild animal! Look what it is doing to my weapon!"
I was watching, but I could tell that Gobbles was doing some kind of upgrade.
"Just give him a chance. I think he is fixing your weapon so you will be able to do the job that I asked you," I exined as Mox shook his bleeding hand off to the side.
"I don''t know how you do it, but this thing is going to be the death of me," Mox grumbled as Gobbles finally finished with the gun and handed it back to him.
The Gideon looked at it for a moment before holstering it and then started walking again, but I stayed where I was for a moment longer as Gobbles looked up at me. "What?" The creature asked innocently, but I just shook my head before following after Mox.
"You should try to use words, and you might get along better with the big guy," I suggested, but Gobbles just shrugged at me and then ran to catch up with Mox, who he jumped on, making the Gideon freak out again, and I sighed.
Chapter 246 Emperor Death Water
We kept walking until we finally reached a room that was different from all the other rooms. It had no cages and almost no blinking lights, but there was an enormous ss tank in the center of it with some kind of clear liquid inside. There were some wires running out of the bottom and into a control panel on one side, which I assumed meant that this chamber was somehow powered by electricity from the generator.
I ced my hand on the tank of liquid and scanned it, but I already knew what it was from theputer records.
[Scanned Target: Emperor Death Water]
[Description: Special water infused with the bodies of dead rulers from all over the Universe. Levels of potency vary depending on how many rulers have died in a certain period of time. Drinking this will increase the strength of leaders but will drastically decrease a person''s lifespan.]
[Warning: Highly Toxic.]
"Is that what I think it is?" Mox asked as he looked over my shoulder, and Gobbles hopped off him and started to crawl around on the ground.
"Yes," I said as I stepped away from the tank. "This is Emperor Death Water."
I then went to check out the control panel, hoping that there was some kind of map or something to show me where this chamber was located in rtion to everything else because if it wasn''t for myputer records, I would have no idea where we were going.
"I have heard about it, but nothing more than the rumors. What does it do?" Mox asked as he came up next to me, and Gobbles started poking at the wires running into the tank.
The Gideon grabbed hispanion away before he could cause any damage, though, but Gobbles just bit him again in response. "Ow! What did I do?!" Mox demanded as he dropped Gobbles, who just stared up at him innocently before scampering back over to poke at the wires again. "You little shit! Stay away from there!"
Mox tried to swat Gobbles away again, but the creature just jumped onto his head and started ying with his hair while making happy noises. The Gideon groaned in frustration but didn''t say anything else as he turned back toward me.
"It supposedly gives leaders more strength," I exined as Mox looked at me skeptically. "But, it also kills them eventually. I don''t know how long it would take for the effect to wear off, but I imagine it would be quite some time."
"So, you are saying that if someone were to drink this water, they would be more powerful but die in the process?" Mox asked, and I nodded. "Why would anyone want that?!"
"Unlike most, I can regenerate my body, I have ess to my regeneration pool, and ultraviolet light also recharges me, so the side effects have no meaning to me. I can''t get old and die, nor can I get any disease that I can''t get rid of," I exined, and Mox gave me a skeptical look.
"You make it sound like you are a god-like Alpha!" Mox dered, and I frowned.
"Alpha is a pretender, and God is a strong word. I can still die just like everyone else; I am just infinitely harder to kill than everyone else. I am no god, nor do I want to be seen as one. I want to be seen as a leader that everyone trusts, but I really don''t care at the same time. I just want everyone to be happy," I said, and Mox was quiet for a moment as he looked at me.
"You are different from Alpha." Mox finally said as Gobbles started to y with his hair again.
"Yes, I know," I replied with a sigh as I turned back towards the tank of water. "I need to get a sample of this before we move on, though."
I poked a vine into the tank and absorbed some of it, but then my body freaked the fuck out, and I pulled a Symbiote, getting hit with some high-frequency sounds. Mox and Gobbles jumped back from me as the bunder started to shake, but I knew this was happening worldwide. I was trying to calm down, but thousands of memories and visions were being driven into my mind and yed all at the same time.
"Papi?! What is going on?! The entire world is trembling!" Sofia eximed as she appeared on a screen in my view because it was flickering from the Silence.
"Stuck my dick in a blender, I think! Fuck! I was trying to get a sample of some crazy water, and it fucked me up! Gah! and now I just drank about ten gallons of it, and my brain is getting filled with images from past dead leaders! Give me a minute!" I growl and closed my eyes to center myself, and the trembling slowly stopped
"Papi! What was that?" Sofia asked again as she looked at me worried, and I sighed.
"I have no fucking clue, but the whole world just got hit with a bunch of memories and visions from past dead leaders. Was hard enough to keep up with one mind, let alone thousands!" I eximed as I shook my head, trying to clear some of the images still in there."
Sofia was quiet for a moment before she spoke up again. "Papi¡ what exactly is this Emperor Death Water?" She asked cautiously.
I frowned but then shook my head before answering her question. "No idea really other than it gives strength to leaders but kills them eventually," I exined, and Sofia was quiet for a moment before she spoke up again.
"I really think you need to be taken out back for a good beating, Papi. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Sofia snapped as I looked over at Mox and Gobbles, who were holding each other in fear. Some of my vines had grabbed them, but now my body was pulling back together.
"I am fine! Just give me a second, and I will be right as rain!" I eximed as my body finally calmed down, and the images in my mind started to fade away.
Sofia was quiet for a moment before she spoke up again. "You better be, Papi. You''re not allowed to die until after you make me an auntie," She said sternly before the screen went ck again. What the hell was that supposed to mean?
"Are you two alright?" I asked as Mox pushed Gobbles off himself awkwardly as he stood up.
"I am fine," Mox said as he looked at me, but Gobbles just made a series of happy noises as he rolled around on the ground. "What did you do?" He asked after a moment.
"Well, I got what I wanted," I replied as I looked at the now empty container of Emperor Death Water. "But it seems to have had some side effects."
"Like making the ground shake?!" Gobbles asked after he stopped rolling around.
"No, that is just what happens when I lose control of myself. I was lucky that all the world did was shake a bit, or I would have to go and run around to do damage control. I really had no idea that I was going to react like that to the stuff, but the worst part is that I really feel no different besides the countless new memories that I had. The trouble is that even with how strong I have be, I can''t sort through them all that easily.
"It sounds like you are in over your head," Mox said after a moment, making Gobbles make an offending noise. "But it seems that whatever you did worked, and you aren''t dead," he added as he looked at Gobbles, who just shrugged innocently at him before turning back to me.
"Yeah, I think so too," I replied with a nod as I turned away from them and started walking again. "We should keep moving, though; the next room we are heading to has the Storage unit."
We finally reached the room with the Storage unit, and I went over to check it out. It was arge metal box with a lot of wires running into it, and there was a small control panel on the side. I checked it out, but it seemed to be offline.
"Do you think you can get this working?" Mox asked as he came up next to me, and Gobbles hopped off him and started poking at the wiresing out of the back of the unit.
"Maybe," I replied as I looked at the control panel. "But it looks like it is offline, so I am not sure."
I walked over to the box and turned the handle of the extra-dimensional storage box that looked more like a safe, but there was only a small one-inch ck gctic-colored cube. I picked it up and looked at it for a moment before putting it on the ground.
"What is that?" Mox asked as he came over to look at it, and Gobbles just poked at it with his finger before pulling it back quickly when the cube made a noise.
"I am not sure," I replied as I stared at the cube. "But whatever it is, we need to take it with us."
I bent down to pick it up, but then a man suddenly was pushed out from an incredibly small point and fell over and puked instantly.
"How fucking long did you assholes n on... who the fuck are you, and why are the aliens out of their cells?!" The man asked in confusion after wiping his mouth clean.
Chapter 247 Gian, Boxed Queen
I was about to answer his questions, but then Mox suddenly attacked him and knocked him unconscious. I looked at Mox in confusion as he grabbed the man.
"What are you doing?!" I demanded.
"He looks like he might be dangerous," Mox said inly, and I groaned.
"Put him down! He is the only person that knows anything about this damn thing, and you probably just gave him brain damage, you idiot! Now put him down so I can heal him!" I snapped as Mox finally relented and lowered the man to the ground.
I quickly healed his injuries before he woke up, but when he did, he started screaming and ran towards the door. Gobbles tried to stop him, but he just knocked the creature out of his way and ran out of the room.
"What is wrong with that guy?" Mox asked as we both stared at the door in confusion, and Gobbles made an offended noise before crawling over to us.
"He probably didn''t want to get hit by another alien," I muttered as I shook my head before turning back toward Mox. "We need to go after him."
Mox didn''t say anything else as we both started running after the man, but it was difficult because there were so many twists and turns. We finally caught up to him in a room that looked like some kind of control center with a lot of monitors and buttons everywhere.
"Stop! We just want to talk!" I shouted as we came into the room, but instead of stopping, the man hit a button on one of the boards, but of course, nothing happened since I hadn''t got the power back on yet.
"What the fuck are you people?!" The man demanded as he turned to face us, and I could see that he was shaking in fear.
"We are just like you," I said as I took a step forward, but the man stepped back. "Well, maybe not exactly like you, but I am a human, sort of."
"No! You can''t be! You have glowing blue eyes!" The man eximed in fear as he backed away from me until he was pressed up against a wall.
"And you have a big head," Gobbles said as he came into the room and walked over to the man, who just stared at him in confusion.
"What is that thing?" The man asked as he pointed at Gobbles, who just shrugged innocently.
"No one really knows," I replied with a shrug. "He just showed up, and we decided to keep him around."
"I see," The man said as he looked at Gobbles for a moment before turning his attention back to me. " So, what do you want from me?" He asked after a moment.
"Just some answers," I replied. "What is your name?"
The man hesitated for a moment before answering my question. "Ethan."
"Good start. Now, what can you tell me about this cube? Are there more of them? How much can you fit in one of them? How do I use it?" I asked, and the man gave me a skeptical look.
"What are you going to use it for?" Ethan asked.
"Store people so everyone doesn''t die when I fight three space dragons and a small army of mechs," I exined inly, and the man narrowed his eyes.
"That sounds ridiculous," Ethan said, and I nodded, fulling in agreement.
"That doesn''t make it any less true. The human world that you remember is not the same. Power was taken from this world, and I only just got it back, but I am working on the generator here. The base is empty save for two people that I brought here, and everything left on this floor of the bunker. All the humans have been taken back to my Central Forest," I exined, and Ethan threw up his hands.
"Stop! I can''t take any more of this! It is too much!" Ethan eximed as he started to pace around the room. "I just want to go home!" He said after a moment, and I frowned.
"I need your help with this and the Shalgoth containment area," I said inly, and Ethan stopped pacing and turned to look at me with an incredulous expression.
"No! This ce is a fucking death trap!" Ethan snapped, and I shook my head.
"The Shalgoth is blocking our way out," I lied. I could open any wall and send him back up, but I needed his help, crazy bastard or not; he really didn''t seem that bad. "And the only way to get rid of them is to kill them all. Help me, and you can go home," I said, trying to sound as sincere as possible.
Ethan was quiet for a moment before he finally sighed and nodded his head in agreement. "Fine," he muttered beforeing over to stand next to me. "But if we die, it is on your head."
"I mean, we will be dead, so sure. Now, I have heard that this thing makes people go crazy, but you seem somewhat fine to me," I said, and Ethan nodded.
"I was put in an insane asylum at a young for life because I was so schizophrenic that I tried killing my parents multiple times. The voices used to be so loud that I only whispered for them to stop unless I was doped up on some heavy drugs. Long story short, the government pulled me out and asked if I would be willing to take part in an experiment that might make me go insane. The voices all screamed against it, so I agreed right away. I already wished everything would just be over; so many being crazier might make me enjoy being a nut job. I don''t know, but when I was sent in, the voices stopped, and I shook my head like they had never been there. I stood for a long time before leaving, but when I got back, they were still gone," Ethan exined, and I thumbed my chin.
This was interesting, but it would require testing and some brave souls. For now, I ced the cube onto my body and let it absorb inside of me.
"Man, you are a fucking weirdo. The roon and bleach demon seem more normal than you are," Ethan said as he shook his head at me, but I gave him the finger. "Ha! The most human thing I have seen you do!"
"Shut up, or I will put you back in the fucking box, fruit loops!" I growled, and the manughed at me.
"You don''t even know how to use the damn thing!" Ethanughed, but I did a quick scan of the item and then looked at Ethan''s wrist when I saw what I was looking for, scanning the device.
"Mouthy shit," I muttered as I created a copy of the device on my own wrist.
"Hey! We can talk about this!" Ethan said, but I activated the transportation beam that was like a pin of light that hit you, but that son of a bitch got me too, and I was sucked down into darkness and then smoothly spit out as my body easily reformed.
Then it hit me, and I was on a smooth ck floor five feet from where Ethan was dry heaving. It was like something was trying to dig into my mind, so I popped my Memory Crystal out of my body and into my hand, so it wasn''t connected to me, and I forced my mind into it. Suddenly, the pain was gone, and I was in my Memory Crystal.
"What is your reason foring into my realm? Do you bring demons, or are you looking for some?" A smooth and calm female voice asked as I turned around in my apartment to see Calishora sitting on my bed.
But that was not Calishora.
"What are you?" I asked without moving a muscle. I felt extremely tense around this woman, but I was the one in control here.
"A Queen, once too many, but my people were taken from me, and I was imprisoned here. I am Gian, Queen of the waves, but being in this ce has darkened my heart, and I have be darkness, and I break those that wish toe into my prison since I can''t leave," Gian exined, and she became a being like the Shalgoth, but I knew this creature was not the same.
"My name is Daniel, and I have be the king of my because of my strength and ability to control the entire world. I am still growing, but there is a serious threat that ising to my world. I am not sure how you got in here, but if you help me, I will do everything in my power to figure out how to get you out of here," I exined after taking a seat beside the woman that burned with ckness like fire.
Gian looked at me for a moment before she started tough, and it was an eerie sound. "You are different from what I have seen in other people thate in here," Gian said after a moment as herughter subsided. "I will help you, but only if you figure out how to let me out of this ce."
"I swear on my honor that I will do everything within my power to free you from this prison," I replied solemnly, and Gian nodded.
"You are the first that I have been able to talk to since I was put in here, but this other creature here was sent in broken, and I took pity on it. It talked to me like it knew I was there, and it even felt like it heard me sometimes with how it spoke. I would like to thank that creature one day in person," Gian said softly, and I nodded.
"I will get on top of this as soon as I get back because it is not going to be an easy task to do this all with just one cube," I said with a sigh, but Gian looked up at me.
"There are over three hundred cubes being stored here in a special lockbox. The creature can teach you how to find things here. Those ones have my people trapped, but they are still armed, so you might want to get me out before entering them," Gian exined, but then I got an idea.
"Are you fully in here?" I asked, and Gian gave me a strange look.
"I think so; why?" She asked, and I smiled.
"I just got you out. You just have to stay in here when I leave," I said, but she shook her head.
"This is only my consciousness, but my body is locked away in the cube itself," Gian said, but I waved her off.
"I can just make you a new body, piece of cake," I said like it was nothing, but she just stared at me.
"And just like that, you can free me from millions of years of being frozen in time in this prison?!" She exined, and I shrugged.
"I''m pretty decent at figuring things out if I have the power to fix them," I chuckled and forced myself out of the crystal and back into my body that had calmed down.
Chapter 248 Not To Bad For An Alien
"Oh, man! Those aliens are going to kill me if I leave here without him!" Ethanined as he ced around Daniel''s motionless body. The bastard had made the transition into the ce like it was nothing, but Ethan had seen the crystal fall out of the alien, or whatever Daniel was.
Ethan had been stuck in here for over two years, and it looked like this time it would be for the rest of his unnatural life. While once he lived, the years spent in here would hit him on the way out; while Ethan was in here, he would not get older or younger, even if time seemed long in here.
"I should have just let him toss me in here! Dammit! Even if he does wake up, his brain is going to be all fucked up anyways! Dammit! Why did the world have to go and get all fucking messed up?! Aliens out of their cages meant the world really is fucked!" Ethan groaned but then heard a noise and turned to look at the slumped-over alien.
Suddenly, Daniel started to move again, and Ethan jumped back.
[Daniel]
I snapped back into my body and lifted the gem up to my head, and it absorbed back in before I looked up at Ethan. "You''re a real prick, you know that?"
"Yeah, as if it isn''t the camel''s own ass talking! You are the one that sent me back in here! You fucking deserved it!" Ethan gloated, jumping back while stabbing a finger at me as I got up.
"Yeah, well, you are just lucky that I feel mercy today," I muttered as I dusted myself off more out of force of habit before looking back up at Ethan with a re.
"What the fuck ever!" Ethan said and then turned around. "This is the ce that you were looking for, and you need me to show you around! It''s filled with all sorts of things that I can''t touch, but I am or was the only one that can take things in or out. 90% of things are locked up, the rest are so alien that I wouldn''t even know where to start, and I have studied some of them for a long time. Another thing is that time is super weird here. The longer you stay, the more stretched it bes, if you know what I mean."
"Oh! that reminds me, I removed Gian, the being that was making people go crazy. She wants to thank you one day for keeping herpany," I said, and Ethan stepped back.
"There was actually someone there?!" Ethan asked in shock, and I nodded as I walked over to him.
"Yes, Gian is a Queen that was trapped in here. I have her now, but she told me that you seemed like you understood the words that she said? Is that true?" I asked curiously, and Ethan shrugged.
"It''s hard to say. I always felt something watching me, and it creeped me out at first. But after a few years, I started talking about that feeling. Sometimes it was like I could feel the intensity of the feeling decrease or get stronger, so I was able to get whatever it might want to say. I just thought that it was a lingering feeling from when I was nuts, but this didn''t talk to me and tell me scary shit. It was nice, and I thought that it might just be gone because you were here," Ethan exined, and I nodded.
"Well,e on and show me this ce and things that you know about that are important and that are locked away," I said, and Ethan nodded.
"Yeah, I guess I could show you around. Kinda made my day about... Gian? That is an interesting name... Was she hot?" Ethan asked, and Iughed.
"She was cloaked in shadows, but I have to build her a new body. Never know, the Queen of the Waves might be looking for a partner. There are more of these cubes somewhere that have all her people, so if you can help me find them, I am sure it will give you some brownie points with her," I suggested, and Ethan nodded appreciatively.
"You know, you aren''t that bad after all. Bit of a fucking weirdo, but I can dig that. Sure, I know where everything in this ce is. When I came here, my head cleared up so well that I gained a photographic memory, so I know where everything is. Come with me this way; there are a few interesting things I want to show you along the way," Ethan exined, waving for me to follow him into the strange massive space with a smile.
It was filled with shelving that went up so far that I couldn''t see the top, and it was lined with metallic boxes I assumed were locked and some other strange things I had never seen before. I followed Ethan as he started to point things out.
"That is a weapon that can shoot through any substance known to man. Of course, it is useless because there is nothing in here that it can hurt, and the only thing outside of here that it could hurt would be you or me," Ethan exined as he pointed to a weird-looking gun. "This box over here has nanites in them that can eat through anything given enough time."
Ethan continued on like this for quite some time, and I was getting overwhelmed with the information. It seemed like everything in this ce was designed to kill or destroy something. After a while, we came across a section that had a bunch of seed-looking objects.
"These are the things that you were looking for," Ethan said, and I walked over to them curiously. "I don''t know what they do, but each one of these has a different person''s memories in them."
"Do you know how to get them out?" I asked, and Ethan shrugged.
"No clue. I just always assumed that they went in there and then died or something. I never really thought about it too much," Ethan said, and I sighed.
I was curious to know what kind of people would be stored inside of them, but this is not what I came for. I needed to get the cubes secured and then get back out to the other two, so I could finish clearing this ce out and get back home.
I needed to get some more training in with Calishora and with Dawn. I also needed to start loading humanity into these cubes, and I did not think that it was going to be easy.
"Well, I will get my Sofia to look at them once we have them back. Let''s get going to where the cubes are, and then you can wait in here till I get this cube back to the Central Forest," I said, and Ethan nodded.
"You sure? Just don''t leave me in here for too long; I am getting old too fast!" Ethanined as we started to walk.
"Don''t worry about that," I said and reached a hand over to put on Ethan''s should, and he stopped as his body started to get younger and more healthy.
"No fucking way! What the fuck are you, you beautiful creature!" Ethan shouted and suddenly gave me a hug, and Iughed as he let go right away and jumped back in embarrassment. "Sorry! Just, fuck, this is cool! You can just do whatever the fuck you want! Make people younger, build bodies, fucking rebuild yourself! What can''t you do?"
"Get you to lead me to where I want to go?" I chuckled, and Ethan palmed his forehead.
"Yeah, Yeah,e one!"
Ethan led the way, and it didn''t take long before we came across the section that had a case that was supposed to have all the cubes. One of my metal vines sshed into the lock, and soon the metal case opened to reveal all the cubes.
"Alright, so now you just have to keep these with you, and I am heading back out to finish what I am doing. I would have liked to get your help with the Shalgoth, but I am sure I will figure it out," I said, and Ethan nodded.
"Just turned the lights back on and that thing will be super easy to capture. The Shalgoth, ording to what we learned from other aliens, is infinity strong, but the Silence plus any kind of light will turn it into a blob of ink," Ethan exined, and I nodded.
"Good to know; now I will be off. You can go back to whatever it is that you were doing," I said, and Ethan nodded before he turned away.
I had only taken a few steps when he turned back around with a smile on his face. "You really aren''t so bad for an alien."
The corner of my mouth lifted into a smirk as I pressed a few buttons on the device I had created on my wrist and stepped out of the cube.
Outside in the bunker, I could hear Mox roaring and Gobbles squealing, and then they ran past the door. Then something much bigger and red bounded past the doorway.
What the hell happened while I was gone?!
Chapter 249 Lemonade, The Gore Beast
"HOLY FUCK, LEMONADE STOP MUNCHING ON MY LEG!" Gobbles screamed as he was thrown across the doorway.
"He thought you were a drumstick!" Mox roared. "Get the hell out of the way so I can kill the damn thing!
I quickly ran out of the room to see what was going on, and I saw that Mox and Gobbles were covered in blood and the massive creature was licking his lips. It was like something from a sci-fi horror film that would give you nightmares for weeks. It had red eyes, sharp teeth, and drooling blood all over the floor.
"No, you can''t kill it! What the fuck is that thing?!" I shouted.
"Lemonade!" Gobbles squealed as he picked himself back up off the ground. "It came out, and after us the moment you disappeared!"
Mox and Gobbles both had deep gashes on their arms from where Lemonade had bitten them, but they both seemed angrier than anything else. Even still, I could tell that this was not going to end well. Blood was already starting to drip onto the ground, forming a small puddle beneath them, and Lemonade looked like he was ready for round two.
I sent vines over to the white roon and the yellowish-gray Gideon, and they sshed into them, healing thempletely as I extended a hand to the... Lemonade. Roots burst from my palm and up from the metal floor. I could now take over everything metal in a 50-foot area around me without even sinking my body into it. The massive red behemoth was forced to the ground, but it made no sound, but it red at me with four eyes that I could see better now that it wasn''t moving.
"What are you?" I asked, studying its form. It was definitely not human, that was for sure. It looked like some kind of cross between a demon and a lizard.
"I am Lemonade," the creature replied in a booming voice that made the metal walls shake. "And you are trespassing on my territory."
"Holy shit, Batman! You can actually talk?" I asked, and Lemonade''s eyes narrowed.
"For one so strong, you are not very wise, Blue Eyes," Lemonade rumbled, and I grinned.
"I get that far more than I like," Iughed as I started to scan over the beast. "Instead of me asking you dumb questions, I will just scan you and learn about you," I said, and then looked back at the boys. "Are you two okay?" I asked, and they both nodded.
"What are you doing to him?" Gobbles asked, and I shrugged.
"System things. Pretty much the same as I did to you two, so I can make sure it won''t hurt anyone," I said as I turned my attention back to Lemonade, who was slowly getting back up. I let the roots retract as I changed his body. "Now, let''s see what we have here," I muttered as data started filling my vision.
[Scanned Target: Gore Beast]
[Target Description: Arge, quadruped creature with red scales and four eyes. It is proficient in meleebat and has enhanced strength and durability. Its saliva is poisonous to most creatures.]
"Hmmm, interesting," I said as I stepped back from Lemonade. "It seems like you are some kind of powerful creature, but I don''t sense any malicious intent from you. So why were you attacking us?" I asked, and Lemonade tilted his head to the side.
"I was merely defending my territory," Lemonade replied. "You intruded on my home and, thus, paid the price."
"Fair enough," I said with a nod. "But if you help us, I will give you a ce where the sun will touch your skin, and you will have much more space."
"I have never felt the sun. I was raised in this ce and was given the name, Lemonade as a joke, but it has been my name for thirty years," Lemonade said, and I frowned.
"That''s not a very long time," I said, and Lemonade shook his head.
"I was born here," Lemonade said, and I gaped at him.
"You were born in this ce?" I asked, and Lemonade nodded. "But that means you have never seen the sun or been outside."
"No, I have not," Lemonade said, and I felt a twinge of pity for the creature. "But if you can give me what you promise, then I will help you."
"Deal," I said. "Now, let''s get out of here before something else happens."
I had the most important piece now, and many more of them for Sofia and the rest of the crew at the R&D Great Tree to start working on them to make them safer. The cubes that we had were humanity''s only hope of survival for what was about toe, but it wasn''t because I was worried about what the aliens were going to do. It was because I didn''t think that I was going to be able to hold myself back when I faced the space dragon sisters. This was the best way to keep everyone safe.
"Lily? How are things going with you?" I asked as we started walking to the final important room.
"Pretty much ready for when youe back up here. I need your help to load it in, and I will guide you as you ce the Power Focus in the fusion chamber. You are going to have to get in there and close the door, though," Lily exined, and I nodded to myself before turning back to Mox, Gobbles, and Lemonade.
"I am going to split, and you will go with my clone to go get the containment chamber for the Shalgoth. I will be with you, but I need to get up top and deal with this," I exined, but I was already gone, and they nodded to my clone.
I sent them off, and I headed up top to where the generator was, and Lily was waiting.
"Wow! You really can get around fast!" Lily said with excitement as she came over and gave me a hug, and I grinned, returning the hug before patting her head, and making her jump away. This girl was a hugger, but unlike most of the women that I seemed to meet, that was all that she seemed to want. Just a hug and I was more than happy to oblige since it seemed like she really needed it.
"Yeah, I have my ways," I said as we turned our attention to the machine. "So, how does this work?"
"Well, the Power Focus is ready to go as far as I can tell. The generator is more of a containment chamber for the Power Focus''s immense power, and the fusion chamber is where that power will be released in order to create an explosion. But we need to make sure that everything is lined up perfectly, or else the explosion will be too big and could level this entire," Lily exined, and I nodded as I headed into the fusion chamber with her.
"How much power are we talking about here?" I asked as I looked around the chamber. It was arge room with thick metal walls, and in the center of the room was a small tform that Lily directed me to.
"The Power Focus contains enough energy to level a small," Lily said, and I whistled. "But we only need a fraction of that power."
"How much is a fraction?" I asked as I stepped onto the tform, and Lily typed something into aputer before answering.
"We only need about .1% of its total power," Lily said, and my eyes widened.
"So, the total power of the Power Focus is one hundred times that of a small?" I asked for rification, and Lily nodded.
"Yeah, pretty much," Lily said, and I whistled again. "Are you sure you''re ready for this? It''s going to be really loud."
"I think so," I said as I stepped off the tform and grabbed the Power Focus gently before heading towards the open the door to the Generator. "I''ll see you on the other side."
"Just remember that you need to wait until it is fully active before you can let go. I know that you are strong, but this is a lot of energy, even at only .1% of its total power. Just be careful," Lily exined as I walked to the door and then closed it behind me.
There was no point in talking about this thing to death, and I had to make sure that this was going sooner thanter. I had gotten everything I needed from this ce, but now all that was left locking the Shalgoth up. Coming here this time, I hadn''t been sure about what was going to happen, but I was just d that everything worked out.
"Now for my final trick in this shit hole!" Iughed as I raised the Power Focus up to the slot in the center of the room and paused briefly. "Here is hoping that I don''t fuck it all up!"
Chapter 250 Abraxas
I raised the Power Focus up, but at the same time, I spread my body out to be able to make a quick escape. I was sure how I was going to react with all this power, but I had to prepare myself to be calm. I had already had two episodes where I had almost lost control, and I had to stop letting that be a thing.
I pushed the Power Focus into the slot, and for a moment, nothing happened as I waited with bated breath. Suddenly, the room started to shake as bright light started emanating from the Power Focus. The energy was immense, and I could feel myself being pulled toward it. It was like a ck hole, and I knew that if I didn''t get out of there soon, then I would be sucked in and lost forever.
But at the same time, Lily''s words echoed in my head. Just be careful... Right!
I had to make sure that this thing went off before letting go, or else everyone would die!
I forced myself to stay calm as the energy started pulling me in, and I started to absorb it into my body. The power was incredible, and I could feel myself getting stronger with every passing second. Finally, when I could hold on no longer, I released the Power Focus and let the energy explode outwards.
Then the generator ignited, but I didn''t leave. The energy was pouring into me, and I started to see the past mistakes of others. Harsh truths and defeats that could have been preventable. All these things absorbed into me, but at the same time were already part of me. The experience was like reliving something that I had never lived, but I soon started to be too engrossed with power.
I pulled myself out of the generator, but I went straight up, leaving my clone with Mox, Gobbles, and Lemonade. I was filled with so much power that I needed to get away from everyone for their own safety.
I reformed as a ball of light, shot up from the Earth, and headed as far as I could possibly get, stopping to float above Jupiter. I stopped and floated, letting my body enjoy the massive amount of energy that I had absorbed, letting it sink in. I had been worried that with all this energy, I might lose control, so I wanted to get as far away from Earth as possible, but now my body seemed to be having a feast of it all.
I was finally able to calm down, and as I did so, the energy started to dissipate from my body until I was back in my original state.
I looked over at the red with the swirling storms on it. I had seen pictures and CGI of the, but being above the massive world was so much different. I sted myself forward and headed for the eye. I didn''t know why, but I was drawn to it.
As I got closer to the massive storm on Jupiter, I could feel the power emanating from it, and when I got close enough, I could see a giant eye in the center of the storm, and it was looking right at me.
I felt a pull from the eye, and I found myself getting pulled into it. I tried to resist, but it was like fighting against a ck hole. There was no escaping its gravitational pull, and soon enough, I was sucked into the massive storm.
Tossed and turned, I became as I was pulled into something that could never be exined by Earth''s standards.
The next thing I knew, I was in some kind of chamber, and in front of me was a giant creature that looked like a cross between a dragon and a human. It had red scales and ck wings, and it was looking down at me with itsrge yellow eyes.
"Wee to my domain," the creature said in a booming voice that made the ground shake. "I am Abraxas, ruler of this dimension."
I raised an eyebrow as I crossed my arms over my chest. "And what dimension would that be?" I asked.
"This is Realm of the Jupitarians; the true question is, what are you, and how have you been able to survive entrance to our realm?" The creature asked me as I rubbed my head.
"I am not sure," I said honestly. "I was just exploring space and got pulled into your eye."
The creature, Abraxas, narrowed its eyes at me. "You must be telling the truth because if you were lying, I would know," Abraxas said. "But that still does not exin how you were able to get here."
"Luck?" I guessed as the ground started shaking again.
I really didn''t know how I had gotten here, but I knew that it wasn''t something that I was going to give up without a fight. Especially since this ce seemed incredibly dangerous. Maybe if I had some answers, then maybe I could find a way out of here alive.
"Luck?" Abraxas asked as the ground stopped shaking, and the creature''s face softened a bit, almost like it was amused by myment. "No, luck did not get you here," Abraxas said as it started to circle me. "Power brought you here."
"What do you mean?" I asked as I turned to keep my eye on the creature.
"The amount of power that you have is incredible," Abraxas said, and I frowned. If this thing could sense my power, then that meant that it was stronger than me by quite a bit if it wanted to be... And if it wasn''t stronger than me... Then why wasn''t it attacking me yet? Did this thing want something from me? That would exin why it hasn''t killed me yet... But what could it possibly want from me? Not like I didn''t have enough problems.
"So where do we go from here? I was honestly just trying to check out what the red storm was that I had seen so many times from my home world, Earth. Keep in mind that I have my own problem right now, space dragons and all. I don''t actually know if you know any of this since I really don''t know what any of this really even is I said as I looked around.
The ce looked like a cross between a cave and a pce, withrge pirs and a high ceiling. It was well-lit, but I couldn''t see where the light wasing from. The ground was smooth, but it also had a strange design to it that almost looked like... A maze?
"Interesting," Abraxas said as it stopped circling me. "It seems like you have been through quite a lot."
"You could say that," I muttered as I looked back at the creature. "But like I said before, I am kind of in the middle of things right now."
"And what exactly are you in the middle of?" Abraxas asked, and I frowned.
"For someone that seems all-knowing, you don''t seem to know much," I said as I crossed my arms. I was here alone, in another dimension, so my connection to Earth should be more than cut off if it needed to be. But I still didn''t want to give away all my secrets. I had a feeling that this was some kind of test, and if I failed, then there would be consequences.
"Careful now," Abraxas said as the ground started shaking again, harder this time. "You are in my domain, and you will show me the proper respect."
I grit my teeth as the ground stops shaking. This thing was really starting to get on my nerves with its constant threats. But like it said before, I was in its domain, so maybe it wasn''t entirely wrong for it to act like this... Even though it did seem a bit excessive for just showing respect... Maybe there was more to it than that? It definitely wouldn''t be the first time that something had been more than what it seemed on the surface... And given where I currently was... Nothing should really surprise me anymore at this point.
"Fine. There are there Daughters of Tiamating in about five or so days, plus a strike squad of what I assumed to be elite Gideons on their way to Earth. The Cleaners will be here in just over a year to exterminate our race. I will be removing Earth from this sr system and making it a portable. I have other ns, but those are not important right now," I exined, and Abraxas nodded.
"As I assume from your actions that I have watched so far. You are a very interesting creature, and because you havee to my domain, I have a deal that I wish to offer you," Abraxas offered, and I gave him a strange look. "Stay here and train with me, and I will teach you how to control your powers. Time flows differently here, and when you go back, only a few hours will have passed in exchange. I asked that you take my people and me with you when you leave. I believe that you can provide the best chance for longevity for my race and myself," Abraxas exined.
I was silent for a moment as I processed everything that he had said. This ce was definitely different then Earth, and if what Abraxas said about time flowing differently here was true, then it could buy me some time to train and get stronger. But at the same time, I would be responsible for an entire race of creatures... And I wasn''t sure if I was ready for something like that yet. But then again, maybe this is exactly what I needed? An opportunity to prove myself? And I really needed all the help that I could get.
"Alright," I finally said as Abraxas nodded his head in approval. "I ept your offer."
Chapter 251 5 Years
"While you are here, time will move very slowly in your world. I will need you to stay here for five years, but in that time, only two hours will have passed in your dimension. Once I have finished your training, then I would like for you to take us with you. As I said before, I think you are the best chance for my very few people that are left," Abraxas said as he started to walk away.
"Wait!" I called out, and he stopped but didn''t turn around. "What about the Daughters of Tiamat and the Gideons? And the Cleaners?" I asked, and he finally turned to look at me.
"You will be strong enough to deal with them by the time you leave," Abraxas said before he walked away again, leaving me alone in the chamber.
I sighed as I looked around before sitting down on the ground. This was going to be a long five years, but if this was going only take two hours in my reality, then I would be crazy to pass up a chance like this.
This race seemed extremely long-lived, but I also didn''t scan Abraxas. Something inside me, like a gut feeling, told me that would be a bad idea. I would just learn what I could about them as they taught me unless I thought something was fishy. The reasoning for wanting to help me seemed sound, but things could easily getplicated. After all my experiences, if there was one thing I had learned, It was not to trust anything that wasn''t connected to me.
The door opened back up, and I stood up to see a draconic female with orange skin and a skin-tight futuristic suit like nothing I had ever seen or heard of in all my reading. The suit was a mix of white and green, but it hugged every curve that she had. There was something about the suit that made my cheeks flush and my heart beat a little bit faster in my chest.
"Hello," the woman said in a sultry voice as she walked toward me with her hips swaying. "I am Abraxas''s mate, Eve."
Eve extended her hand out to me, and I hesitantly took it as we shook hands. Her grip was firm but gentle at the same time. Something about her felt strangely familiar, but I couldn''t ce why.
"It is nice to meet you," I finally said after a moment of silence as we stared at each other.
Eve smiled at me before letting go of my hand and taking a step back from me. "Come," Eve said as she turned around and started to walk away from me. "I will show you to your room, and then we will get you fitted in a control suit like mine. A being with as much power as you do needs to be able to contain yourself, or you could hurt the one that you care about."
I frowned as I followed behind Eve. There was something about her words that made me think that she knew more about me than she was letting on, but I decided not to press the issue. For now, it would be best to just go with the flow and see where this all leads.
The ce was strange, to say the least, but something that was prevalent was the gold that seemed to cover everything or as part of the floating buildings that had no roads to them. There was only a single road that we walked on, but soon, Eve lifted off the ground and turned back to look at me.
"Please follow along," she said and started to float off.
I lifted myself off the ground with my gravity engine, but I was curious to know how this Eve did it. I was also curious to know where everyone was. Abraxas had said that they had very few people, but I had yet to see a single one, save for Eve.
"Where is everyone?" I asked as we continued to rise until we stopped at a building that was akin to a golden pce.
"You are still considered very dangerous until we can ce you in a Control Suit. Once you have received some training and you have learned more about our kind. Only then will you be able to meet with the others. We do this to protect ourselves. While my mate may trust you, there are very few of us left, and he is the only one that really knows anything about you and what you are," Eve exined as she gestured to the golden door that melted away.
"Please enter," she said, and I did as I was bid.
The room wasrge, with a canopied bed in the middle that had strange symbols all over it. There was also a vanity off to the side with what looked like different perfumes and makeup on it. It seems like they had simr standards to Earth in that sense, at least. But there were other things in the room that was definitely not from Earth. Like the glowing symbols on the wall that almost looked like the writing of some sort, but I couldn''t be sure because I didn''t know theirnguage yet.
"Your bed has been imbued with healing properties should you need them during your stay here," Eve said as she gestured to the bed before walking over to a table where there was a green control suit lying on it. "This is your Control Suit; it will help you focus and control your powers."
Eve handed me the suit, and I took it from her before looking at it. The material was strange, but it was also soft to the touch. I ran my fingers over it for a moment before looking back up at Eve.
"I trust that you can figure out how to put it on by yourself?" Eve asked, and I nodded my head before she turned around and started to walk towards the door. "I will be outside if you need anything," Eve said as she walked out of the room, leaving me alone with the Control Suit.
I had expected to be led into some grand halls, but this small bedroom was nice. Still, I was thinking about what Eve had said to me, but that was a trifle to my real worries. What I was concerned about was my girls; even if it was only two hours for them, it would be five years for me and Gain and Arseni in my Memory Crystal. Time technically moved as fast or as slow as they wanted in there, so I guess it didn''t really matter. This was more of a me problem, but getting control of myself is something that I needed to do for everyone''s safety.
I melted into the suit, but it seemed to fit my body perfectly. Never did I think the day woulde when I would be able to mold my own body to fit into my clothing. I am sure that most girls would kill for this ability! Maybe I could use this to my advantage somehow.
I walked over to the vanity and looked at myself in the mirror. The suit seemed to be skin-tight, but it also had a bit of give to it. It was like wearing a second skin, and I had to admit that I looked good in it. But there was something else that caught my eye, and that was my eyes. They were nowpletely silver with slit pupils like a cat''s, and they almost glowed in the light and were no longer the bright, super soldier blue.
"What the hell?" I muttered as I leaned in closer to get a better look at my eyes. They looked almost feral, and I didn''t know if that was a good thing or not. But there was something about them that made me feel... Different. More powerful, like I could take on the world ande out on top.
I shook my head before looking away from my reflection and walked over to the door, and gestured to it, and the door melted away with Eve waiting for me.
"Your eyes," Eve said as she looked at me. "They are the silver of a Jovian, and it seems that your powers have increased since arriving here."
I frowned as I rubbed my eyes. "What do you mean?" I asked, and Eve crossed her arms over her chest.
"You were very powerful when you arrived here, but now, your power has more than doubled," Eve exined, and my eyes widened in shock.
If what she was saying was true, then my power had increased by a lot... But how? Was it something to do with being in this dimension? Or was it something else entirely? I really didn''t know, but if my power had increased this much just from being in this dimension for a day... Then what would happen after five years?
"Is it going to keep on increasing?" I asked, and even nodded as I floated out and the door reformed.
"Yes, but not as much as it did from entering the dimension. If you want to be able to retain this power when you leave, you will have to train your body to be able to control it and harness it. If you do not, then everything gained here will be lost. This is why we require you to stay here for five years. Now, we are headed down, and you will meet the only person that will see you for the next year, and she will be your trainer and teacher. Follow me," Eve said and then started to descend without another word.
I frowned as I followed her down, not really knowing what to expect. If my power had increased this much in just a day, then I could only imagine how much more it would increase after five years. But at the same time, if I could learn to control it... Then maybe, just maybe... I could actually be strong enough to protect my girls. And that was all that mattered to me in the end.
Chapter 252 Lilith
Chapter 252 Lilith
I dropped down with Eve, but my attention kept getting drawn to the storm that raged like nothing I had ever seen before. I knew this ce was inside the massive storm known on Earth as the Red Eye but seeing the clouds whipping around was like watching them in fast-forward. It was strange, to say the least.
"What is that?" I asked, and Eve turned to look at me.
"That is the storm that our world revolves around. It is called the Great Red Eye, and it has been here for as long as anyone can remember. It is just a storm caused by the''s weather system, but it is also the source of our power," Eve exined, and I frowned.
"What do you mean?" I asked, and Eve turned back to look at the storm.
"The Great Red Eye is the source of our power. It is what gives us our long life, our strength, and our abilities. It is also what gives us our connection to the divine," Eve exined, and I frowned.
"What do you mean by the divine?" I asked, and Eve turned back to look at me.
"The Great Red Eye is said to be the eye of the creator. It is said that whoever can control the Great Red Eye can control entires. But that is just a legend," Eve exined, and I frowned.
"So, this eye is like a god?" I asked, and Eve nodded her head.
"In a way, yes. But it is not a god that we worship. It is more like a force that we revere. It is the source of our power, and we owe our allegiance to it," Eve exined, and I frowned.
"So, you are saying that this eye is what gives you your long life, your strength, and your abilities?" I asked, and Eve nodded her head.
"Yes, but it is also a double-edged sword. The longer we live, the more power the Great Red Eye takes from us. It is said that one day, the Great Red Eye will consume us all," Eve exined, and I frowned.
"So, the Great Red Eye is like a god that you worship, but it is also a force that takes away your power and could eventually kill you?" I asked, and Eve nodded her head.
"Yes, but it is a price that we are willing to pay. The Great Red Eye is the source of our power, and without it, we would be nothing," Eve exined, and I frowned.
"So, you are saying that the Great Red Eye is the source of your power, but it is also a force that takes away your power and could eventually kill you. Is that correct?" I asked, and Eve nodded her head.
"Yes, that is correct. Now,e, we must go," Eve said, and I frowned as I followed her down to a massive dome that was white with lines of gold running down it.
There was something about what she had said that made me uneasy, but I couldn''t quite ce it. Maybe it was just the fact that they were worshipping something that could eventually kill them. Or maybe it was something else entirely. I didn''t know, but I would have to think about itter. For now, I had to focus on the task at hand.
Eve led me into arge room that had a woman floating in the middle of it. The woman was beautiful with long white hair and silver eyes. She was wearing a skin-tight suit simr to Eve''s and my own, but hers was blue and white.
"This is your trainer and teacher, Lilith. She will be the one who trains you for the next year," Eve said, and I frowned.
"Why aren''t you training me?" I asked, and Eve shook her head.
"I am not strong enough to train you. Lilith is the only one who is strong enough to train you. Now, I must go. Lilith will take care of you from here," Eve said, and then she turned around and started to walk away. The doorway we entered through closed behind Eve, and I turned to face the draconic woman that floated in the center of the room staring at me.
"Hello, my name is Lilith. I will be your trainer and teacher for the next year. Please follow me," Lilith said, and then she turned around and started to float away.
I frowned as I followed behind her. That was abrupt, and I didn''t know what to expect from this year, but I would have to make the most of it. I needed to get stronger, and this was the best way to do it.
I was taken to the center of the dome, and it looked much bigger from the outside, but there was something strange about it. There were gold orbs about a foot wide covering the entire inside of the ce. The floor was also made of what looked like a clear crystal.
"What is this ce?" I asked as I looked around, and Lilith floated over to one of the orbs.
"This is the central training room. It is where you will be spending most of your time for the next year," Lilith exined, and I frowned.
"What is this ce for?" I asked, and Lilith turned to look at me.
"This is where you will be training your body and mind to control your powers. The orbs around the room are called Power Orbs. They will help you to focus and control your powers. The floor is made of a special crystal that will help to absorb your power and prevent you from harming yourself or others. Now, please stand in the center of the room," Lilith exined, and I did as I was bid.
I stood in the center of the room, and Lilith floated over to me before gesturing to the floor. The floor started to glow, and I felt my feet start to sink into the floor. I tried to move, but I couldn''t. It was like my feet were glued to the floor.
"What is going on?" I asked, and Lilith turned to look at me.
"The floor is absorbing your power. It is to prevent you from harming yourself or others. Now, I want you to focus your power on your right hand and try to punch the Power Orb in front of you," Lilith exined, and I frowned.
I did as I was bid, and I focused my power into my right hand before throwing a punch at the Power Orb. The Orb glowed for a moment before shattering, and I was sted back by a force that I couldn''t see. I hit the group of the gold balls hard before sliding to the floor.
"What the hell was that?" I asked as I pushed myself up off the floor and rubbed my sore hand. It felt like I had just hit a brick wall.
"That was your power. The Power Orbs are designed to help you focus and control your power. Now, try it again," Lilith said, and I frowned as I got back into position.
This time, I focused my power on my right hand before throwing a punch at the Power Orb. The Orb glowed for a moment but didn''t shatter. I was still sted back again, but my hand didn''t hurt nearly as much as it did before.
"Good, you are progressing. Now, try it again," Lilith said, and I frowned as I got back into position.
I took in a deep breath and tried to center myself before I focused my power into my right hand and threw a punch at the Power Orb. The Orb didn''t glow and didn''t shatter. I was still sted back. This time, I didn''t hit anything, and I floated in the air for a moment before dropping back down to the floor.
"What happened?" I asked as I got back into position.
Lilith smiled at me. "You finally controlled your power enough to not shatter the Orb," Lilith exined, and my eyes widened in shock.
So, that was what it took? Control? But how was I supposed to control something that I couldn''t even see?
"This isn''t how my power works, so I don''t understand how I am supposed to control something that I can''t actually control. How do I do that?" I asked in confusion. I had been trying, but each time I got sted back, it was like my entire body and cell were hit with the st.
"This is why you must learn control. It is the only way that you will be able to use your power without harming yourself or others. Now, try it again," Lilith said, and I took in a deep breath before trying again.
I tried for hours, but no matter what I did, I couldn''t control my power. It was like trying to control the wind. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn''t do it. Eventually, Lilith called a halt to the training for the day, and I was taken back to my room, where I was left alone. I felt abused, and I had a headache that I should have been able to cure, but it just wouldn''t go away.
I flopped back down into the bed and instantly rxed as the healing properties Eve had talked about. I guess this was the reason for it. The damage the Power Orbs had done to me had rocked my body during the training, but this suit prevented me from transforming. I had also tried something things, but each time, I just got the power focusing to random ces in my body. I didn''t think that these people were evil, but this suit did put me in a precarious position. What if they decided to use me as a weapon? I could destroy entires if I wanted to...
The thought made me sick to my stomach, and I forced myself to calm down. There was no point in worrying about things that may or may not happen. I needed to focus on the here and now, and that was training to control my power so that I didn''t hurt anyone. With that thought in mind, I finally fell into a deep sleep.
Chapter 253 Evil Entity
Chapter 253 Evil Entity
The next few days, my training was the exact same until after almost a week had passed, and I finally started to get the hang of what it meant to truly control my power. The suit was there to help me condense all of my power that would normally be outside of my reach or control. It was a matter of figuring out how to use the power within the limits of the suit.
"Very good, Daniel. You are progressing well," Lilith said after I had finally managed to destroy one of the Power Orbs without sting myself across the room.
"Thank you, Lilith. I appreciate your help," I said, and Lilith nodded her head.
"It is my pleasure. Now, take a rest, and we will begin again tomorrow," Lilith said, and I nodded my head before floating over to the edge of the room and sitting down.
I was exhausted, but I felt good. I had finally managed to control my power, and that was a huge aplishment. I was still nowhere near as strong as I should be, but I was getting there. I just needed more time and more training.
Eventually, Lilith came over and sat down next to me. "You have done well, Daniel. I am proud of you," Lilith said, and I smiled.
"Thank you, Lilith. I couldn''t have done it without you," I said, and Lilith shook her head.
"No, Daniel. You are the one who has done all of the work. I have just been here to guide you. Now, you need to get some rest. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow," Lilith said, and I nodded my head before getting up and floating back to my room.
I was tired, but I was also excited. I had finally managed to control my power, and that was a huge aplishment. I was one step closer to being able to protect myself and others.
The next day was not what I expected, but at this point, everything was outside of my expectations.
I floated down to the dome and entered the same room that Lilith was always in, but nothing was different.
"Today, we start the next part of your training is to Learn about the Great Red Eye," she exined as the draconic woman floated up to me. This was the first time that she had gotten up close to me, and I had never really gotten a good look at her over thest week.
She was beautiful in a strange and alien way, but even more so up close. I let my male brain wonder what she would look like without the suit, and then as if to respond to my thought, she smiled sadly.
"I know what you are thinking, but unlike you, I cannot hold this form without my suit. My form would consume you, but I can still do this to give the memories," Lilith said and leaned in to press her head into mine, and suddenly I was thrown out of my body and out into the storm.
I was in the Great Red Eye, and it was beautiful and terrifying all at the same time. The clouds swirled around me, and the wind was so strong that it felt like it would rip me apart. I tried to move, but I couldn''t. I was frozen in ce, and I could feel the power of the Great Red Eye all around me.
It was like a living thing, and it called to me. I could feel my power being pulled from me, and I felt myself start to change. My body started to grow scales, and my nails turned into ws. My teeth sharpened into fangs, and I could feel the power of the Great Red Eye coursing through me.
I wasn''t scared, though. I felt invigorated and alive. The Great Red Eye was calling to me, and I wanted to answer. I let go of my control and let the Great Red Eye take over.
I could feel myself changing further as my body grewrger and wings sprouted from my back. The change wasplete when the tail grew out of my backside with a spike at the end that dripped with venom.
I had be a dragon like Lilith herself, except I was a full-grown dragon, and she was blue and white; I was red like the storm around me. Then I was back in my own body, but still in the storm.
Then I started to see a bright portal opening, and they were all humanoids that wereing through, and they started to build the buildings that I had seen when I arrived and each day as I came for training. Then time sped up, and the people slowly started to change, but then suddenly, there was division, and almost instantly, the ce erupted in fighting. People were killing each other left and right, and it was a massacre. No one was spared. I tried to look away, but I couldn''t. I was forced to watch as everyone around me died until there was only one person left standing, and that person was me.
I looked down at my hands, which were covered in blood, and then I looked up into the sky, and the Great Red Eye stared back at me. It was then that I realized what the Great Red Eye really was. It wasn''t a god or a force; it was an entity that fed off of death and destruction.
It thrived on chaos, and it wanted nothing more than to see everything burn. The people on this weren''t worshipping a god; they were feeding a monster. The Jupitarians were the survivors of this, trying to tear them apart by infecting them with power, but these suits seemed to be the key. Not only did they restrict their power, but they prevented the Great Red Eye from giving them too much. It was a way to keep the people in check, and I realized that Eve was right. The Great Red Eye was a double-edged sword.
It gave power, but it also took it away. It was a vicious cycle, and I didn''t know how to break it, but I knew that I had to try. I couldn''t let these people be consumed by this evil entity. I had to find a way to stop it, but I didn''t know how.
Then I was back in my own body, and Lilith was staring at me with a look of concern. "Are you alright?" she asked, and I nodded my head even though I wasn''t really sure if I was or not.
What the Great Red Eye really was, changed everything, and I needed to be careful. This thing was conscious, but I wasn''t sure if it even understood what it was doing. Either that, or it knew what it was doing, and this was going to turn into a trap. The problem was that I was in no position to do anything about it yet, so training with Lilith was my only option.
"I''m fine," I said, and Lilith nodded her head.
"Good, now that you know what the Great Red Eye is, it is time to learn how to control your power," Lilith said, and I nodded my head as she led me back into the training dome.
I now knew what the Great Red Eye was and what it wanted, but I still didn''t know how to control my power. I needed to find a way to do that so that I could protect myself and others from this thing.
"This time, you are going to have to fight off the Power Orbs, using the perfect amount of energy. This will be different than before, and you will be able to move freely, but you are going to have to learn how to keep calm in all situations. When you have great power, your emotions can make you stronger, but that also makes you more dangerous," Lilith exined as four golden Power Orbs floated up around me.
Instead of me going to them, this time, they came to me, and I tried to punch it with the correct level of power as before, but I was blown back roughly.
"They are no longer sitting still, so you need to calcte how much less force and power you need, or you have to hit it in a way that doesn''t change the amount that is needed. This training is about control and awareness. Your mind is split into two parts, but you are not giving it enough information to help you properly. You need to constantly observe the way that everything is moving around you so you can understand your situation better. This is all crucial to remaining calm because when you understand how everything works, nothing can surprise you, and you can always defend or counter against whateveres your way," Lilith exined.
I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself as the Power Orbs came at me again. This time I was better prepared, but it still wasn''t enough. But with each failure, I learned more and more about what Lilith was trying to teach me. Eventually, after what felt like hours of training, I finally managed to destroy one of the orbs without being hit by any of the other three.
"Very good," Lilith said with a pleased smile on her face as she floated over to me. "You have progressed well."
"Thank you," I said with a tired smile on my face before sitting down on the ground and taking a deep breath.
"You should rest now," Lilith said, but I shook my head no because there was something that I still wanted to know even though part of me was scared of the answer.
"What is this ce?" I asked her, and Lilith''s smile faded slightly as she stared at me for a long moment before answering my question truthfully instead of giving some bullshit answer like before when she wouldn''t tell me anything useful information unless it was rted directly to training or power.
"This ce is called the Great Red Eye. It is a living entity that thrives off of death and destruction. The people on this were once infected by its power, but they have managed to keep it at bay by using these suits to restrict their power," Lilith exined, and I nodded my head in understanding.
"Why are you helping me?" I asked her, and Lilith stared at me for a long moment before answering.
"Because you have the potential to be strong enough to protect us from the Great Red Eye. I am helping you because I believe that you can stop it," Lilith said, and I nodded my head in understanding before getting up and floating back to my room.
I had a lot to think about, but right now, all I wanted to do was rest because tomorrow was going to be another hard day of training.
Chapter 254 Talking To Monsters
Chapter 254 Talking To Monsters
The next day I was back in the dome and back to the moving target training. This time it was different because Lilith was teaching me how to use my power in multiple ways instead of just one.
"You need to learn how to use your power for more than just destruction. Your power can be used for other things as well," Lilith exined as she floated over to me, and I nodded my head in understanding before closing my eyes and focusing on my power.
I needed to learn how to control it so that I could use it for other purposes, not just destruction. It took a while, but eventually, I managed to create a small shield around myself that protected me from the Power Orbs without destroying them.
"Very good," Lilith said with a pleased smile on her face beforeing over and sitting down next to me. "You are progressing well."
A week had passed since then, and today I was doing well, having already destroyed two sets of the four Power Orbs without getting hit. I was proud of myself, but the look that Lilith gave me just told me that this was only the beginning.
"Good job, Daniel. You are progressing well," she said, and I nodded my head in understanding before sitting down on the ground and taking a deep breath.
"You should rest now," Lilith said, but I shook my head no.
"Let''s keep going. I know that you are just going to turn things up, so let''s just get to it," I said as I bounced back on my toes. I was starting to get used to focusing my power and using the shield to keep myself from being knocked around.
"You''re right; I am going to turn things up. This next part of your training is going to be difficult, but it is essential if you want to learn how to control your power," Lilith said as she floated over to the edge of the dome and ced her hand on one of the panels.
Suddenly, the room started to change as different obstacles began to appear out of thin air. It was like a maze with walls and floors that shifted and changed.
"You need to make your way through this maze without using your power in any way that would destroy anything," Lilith exined as she floated back over to me, and I nodded my head in understanding before starting into the maze cautiously.
It was hard at first because everything about this ce screamed danger, but eventually, I made it through without incident by using my shield when needed until I reached the other side, where Lilith was waiting for me with a pleased smile on her face.
"Now I will show you the true maze," Lilith said as she floated over to the panel and ced her hand on it again, and suddenly the room shifted around us until we were in apletely different ce.
This maze was different; it was dark, and there were things lurking in the shadows that I couldn''t see. I could feel their eyes on me, though, and I knew that they were waiting to strike.
"You need to make your way through this maze without using your power in any way that would destroy anything, just like before, but this time there will be creatures. They will try to attack you, but you must avoid them. Your only goal will be betting through this maze, but the monsters are real to you and will try to stop you. This time will also be much longer as the maze will move with you, so you are always in the center of the room," Lilith exined, and I took a deep breath as I prepared myself before moving forward.
This was going to be difficult, but I knew that I could do it. Lilith had faith in me; otherwise, she wouldn''t have brought me here. So, I had to have faith in myself as well.
I moved through the maze cautiously at first, but as time went on and nothing happened, my confidence grew until, eventually, I was moving through the maze quickly and effortlessly by using my shield when needed to protect myself from the creatures that tried to stop me.
But even though nothing could touch me physically and mentally, this ce was taking its toll on me because of how dark it was and how everything felt so wrong. It was like this ce was trying to break me, but I wasn''t going to let it.
Eventually, I hit a big room, but there were two lizards blocking my way. I tried to go around them, but they were too fast, and I ended up using my power without meaning to in order to get past them.
They both flew back and hit the wall with a sickening crunch, and I winced as I realized that they were both dead. Lilith floated into the room a momentter with a look of disappointment on her face.
"I''m sorry," I said, but Lilith just shook her head.
"It''s okay; this ce is designed to test your limits. You did well," she said, and I sighed in relief before following her out of the maze, but I was disappointed in myself.
I had let my emotions get the better of me, and I had killed two creatures needlessly. It wasn''t a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but it still bothered me.
The next day I was back in the dome, and we were doing the same training as before, except this time, there were more creatures, and they were harder to avoid.
But even though it was more difficult, I managed to make it through without incident by using my shield when needed until I reached the other side, where Lilith was waiting for me with a pleased smile on her face, just like before.
"See, you are learning. Some things don''t need to die just because they are in our way. If you wish to pass, then it is you that must figure the way around since these creatures are less than you. It was nothing for you to kill them, but it took more work to avoid. You are probably wondering what the point of it all is?" Lilith asked, but I shook my head. I understood now.
"Humans and everyone else are the monsters, right? They are the ones that couldsh out because they don''t understand what I am trying to do. Trying to exin myself to lesser beings and expecting them to listen is like yelling at the monsters, right?" I asked, and Lilith nodded.
"Yes, they are like monsters, and you must be gentle with them. Violence will only make things worse because they can''t understand what we are trying to do," Lilith said, and I nodded my head in understanding.
I was starting to see now that everything Lilith was teaching me had a purpose, even if I didn''t understand it all yet. But I trusted her because she had yet to lead me astray, and so far, everything she had taught me had helped me be stronger both physically and mentally.
Eventually, the training became more difficult as the weeks started to blur by, and Lilith started adding more obstacles, like traps, into the mix. Even then, I managed to make it through without incident by using my shield when needed until finally, we reached the end of the training, where Lilith congratted me on my progress.
"You have done well, Daniel. You are now ready to start the next stage of your training," she said, and I nodded my head in understanding before following her out of the dome. I had been here for almost four months now, and as far as I could tell, I was making good progress, but Lilith''s expression never really changed that much. Sure, she congratted me, but she always seemed to wear the same expression.
I was starting to wonder if she was ever truly proud of me or if this was just another test. But I didn''t voice my concerns because I knew that Lilith would tell me when I needed to know.
The next day, my training changed again as Lilith took me to a new building and into a small room. The entire ce, walls, floor, and roof were covered in a red crystal, but there were no seams.
"This is Power Cube. Unlike the Power Orbs, you will just be standing in here, and you will be hit with overwhelming amounts of energy and stress. This will push you past your limits, but you will have to hold on. Each sessionsts for 60 minutes and cannot be stopped once we begin. I believe that you are ready for this, but if you can''t, this could break your mind and change you. I am sure that I don''t have to exin in what way you will be changed since you know what the Great Red Eye is," Lilith exined, and I nodded as I looked around the room.
"You will be in here alone, but I will be monitoring you from the outside. If anything happens, then I wille in after, but until then, you are on your own," Lilith said as she floated over to the door and ced her hand on it.
"I am ready," I said as I took a deep breath. The door closed behind me, and suddenly I was hit with a wave of energy that was so overwhelming that it knocked me to my knees.
But even though it was painful, I didn''t give up because Lilith was counting on me and everyone I loved. So instead, I gritted my teeth and pushed through the pain as I was hit over and over again with bursts of power.
Chapter 255 The Only One
Chapter 255 The Only One
The pain went on for what seemed like hours, but then it stopped. I had been brought to my knees, but now I stood back up like nothing had happened.
"Again!" I called out to the silence surrounding me in that red crystal room.
The waves hit me again and forced me back to my knees, but I tried to understand what was hurting me this time. I was being hit with overwhelming waves of power, but no matter how much I was given, my suit restricted me.
The pain stopped, but I was already standing back up. Before I could ask again, the pain was back on me, but I epted it and let my body drink it in. The pain was being pulled into me, and it fought against the suit.
The pain stopped hurting, and I started to feel like I was being lowered into a regeneration pool. Then the feeling stopped, and the door to the chamber opened back up. Lilith smiled at me, and something about that authentic look of happiness gave me a sense of aplishment.
"I am more than impressed that you could understand what was happening to your body through that pain. I don''t know anyone that has ever spent less than thirty sessions before understanding how to expand the limits of their suit. This is only the beginning of this training, and the purpose is to slowly expand your power reservoir. This process is what is going to take us the most time, but within a month, you will also need to start to practice projecting your body," Lilith exined, but I frowned.
"I am sure I could travel pretty fast if I wanted to. What is the point of projecting if I can''t even be there?" I asked, but then added, "I do understand the uses of it to spy and view far ces."
"Unlike most, your body will be strong enough to form a connection with the ce you are viewing to the point that you will create a copy of yourself. The only problem with this is that it leaves your original body unprotected, but you can make more clones beforehand to protect yourself," Lilith told me, and I nodded in understanding.
Something like this would be very helpful for exploring ces with lower-level technology or ces that might be dangerous. The idea of being able to do something like this seemed pretty crazy, but I was in another dimension, being taught by dragons how to control the power of living storms. It was pretty much par for the course at this point.
"How long before I start that training?" I asked, but Lilith just smiled and shrugged.
"Everything is dependent on how fast you can progress," Lilith exined, but I frowned at that.
"Does that mean that I could shorten the amount of time I will be in here?" I asked since that seemed reasonable, but that didn''t seem to be the case as Lilith shook her head.
"While it will shorten your total time needed to train, there is no way to leave this ce until the eye opens. That can only happen if Abraxas had enough power to do so. Five years is the minimum it takes for our leader to regain strength to reopen the gate. This period means nothing to us, but for you, it might feel longer," Lilith exined, and I nodded.
So, no matter what, I was stuck here for the next more than four and a half years. I had known this was the case, but this was my first time hearing about Abraxas having to reopen the gate for me to leave. This ce felt more like a prison each day, but I had to remember that I wasn''t the only one trapped there.
"So, this ce is just as much of a prison as it is a home," I said as Lilith offered me her hand. I epted, and Lilith floated off with me dragging behind her as we left the building.
"Yes, we are stuck here just as you are, but we cannot ever leave, or the eye would devour us. The dimensional barrier is the only thing that separates us from the Great Red Eye. The eye is a creature that lives in the void between dimensions. It is huge and ancient, and it hungers for power. If it were to ever get a hold of one of us, then it would devour our power and add it to its own. That is why we have to be careful with how we use our power. We cannot let the eye take notice of us, or else it wille for us," Lilith exined as she led me back towards my home, and I shivered at her words.
This ce was more dangerous than I had thought, but at least now I understood why they were so worried about me using my power without supervision. It wasn''t just because they wanted to control me; it was because they were worried about the Great Red Eyeing for us all if I used too much power or got too out of control.
Once we stopped outside of my ce, Lilith was about to leave, but I reached out and took her hand; she looked back at me with a confused look. We had been training together now for over four months, and I really didn''t know anything thing about Lilith.
"You know that I can not take this suit off, even if I want to, so there is no point in trying to..." Lilith started to say but trailed off when I shook my head.
"I Just want to get to know you better. There are still seven months to go before I am going to get a chance to see anyone else. That means it is just going to be the two of us, so I would like to get to know you a little better. It is also not every day that a person gets to be taught by a dragon," I exined with a smile, and Lilith seemed to rx a bit.
"If this is your wish, then I think that I canply with that," Lilith said as she floated into my room, and I followed her, closing the door behind me.
"I do not know what you want to know about me," Lilith said as she sat down on my bed, and I joined her.
"Well, let''s start with where you all came from? I mean, before you came to this ce. In the memories, I can see that you were once humanoid when you first came, but the power of the Great Red Eye caused you to change, right?" I asked as I floated to my bed and patted for her to lie beside me. There were no chairs in the room, and since we couldn''t do anything, I figured lying down would be the mostfortable, and I had some pains still from the st of power I had received. I knew that I was stronger now, but it wasn''t much of an improvement to my overall power.
Lilith hesitated for a second but thenplied and joined me on the bed. I leaned my head against her shoulder as she started to speak.
"We came from another part of the universe on a Seed Ship. The journey took over ten thousand years that we spent in a deep sleep. Our home gxy was under attack from the Gideons, and the war was looking bad, so Abraxas and many of the leaders decided to create the Seed Ships to ensure that our species survived. We were supposed to be watching over the Earth and guiding your people, but we could have never known what was hiding for us when we set up this dimension," Lilith exined, and I sighed.
"So the Gideons attacked your home world, and then you all fled, trying to escape them, but got trapped here since then. You are actually the race that seed humans on Earth and was supposed to watch over us? I guess that means we would have probably turned out a lot more different than what they became. You also seem to know that I am not a human," I said, and Lilith nodded, turning her head to mine.
"You should have already mined the asteroid belt and be a type 2 civilization already, harnessing the power of your sun. You would not have discovered nuclear weapons because we would have kept that knowledge from you, so there was no way for the Cleaners to detect us. There are so many things that could have been done, but other races did try to help but then were destroyed by their own greed. While we couldn''t leave, we could still watch Earth grow, and it is something that many of the survivors do to this day," Lilith exined as she stared at me with silver-slitted eyes like my own.
I reached up and ran my fingers over her soft blue scales that seemed to have a slight sheen to them. It was strange, but I found myself drawn to her. Maybe it was just because we were the only two people stuck in this ce together, but there was something more. Something about Lilith called out to me on a level that I couldn''t understand.
"I know that you are not like us, and that is one of the reasons that Abraxas put so much faith in you. It is why I have faith in you. Only you have the capacity to destroy the Great Red Eye. If you can do that, then we might be able to return to the way we once were. I am not sure if that is possible, but I would be lying if I said that I did not crave the passions of my old body," Lilith said, and I nodded in understanding.
I understood what Lilith meant by that. I, too, missed the sensation of skin-on-skin contact or even just being able to smell things. The suit provided me with all the nutrition that I needed to survive, but it didn''t give me any sense of taste beyond basic vors. not like there was any food to eat here, but even my sweet tasted nd. It was strange how something so small could be missed so much, but it was just one more thing that made this ce feel like a prison.
"I think we should get some sleep," Lilith said as she stood up from the bed and floated towards the door, but before she left, she looked back at me with silver-slitted eyes. "Thank you for trusting me enough to share your thoughts with me." Then she left, leaving me alone in my room with only my thoughts forpany once again.
Chapter 256 The First Meeting
Chapter 256 The First Meeting
I was starting to feel ustrophobic in the golden city. I had now been there for over a year, and I was getting tired of being cooped up all the time. Even with Lilith''s help, this ce felt like a prison. The only thing that I could do to keep my sanity was to train as hard as possible and try to find ways to make myself stronger.
"What are you doing?" Lilith asked as she watched me from the door of my room. I had been trying to project myself out of my body, but it was proving harder than I thought it would be.
"I am trying to project myself out," I exined as sweat dripped down my forehead from the effort of using so much power while also holding back at the same time. It seemed that projection required a delicate bnce between using too much power and not enough power at the same time in order for it to work correctly.
Lilith had started spending more time with me, but today was the first time that I was going to meet the others. I couldn''t say that I wasn''t nervous. I literally learned nothing about anyone but Lilith, and even after all this time, I still knew she was holding back parts about herself.
"I do not think that is a good idea. Your power is too unstable, and if you were to project yourself incorrectly, then your body would be left unprotected," Lilith said as she floated into the room and ced her hand on my forehead. I could feel my power calming down under her touch, and I sighed in relief.
"Thank you," I said as I leaned against her for support since using so much power was taking its toll on my body. Even with the suit, there was only so much that it could do to help me recover from using vast amounts of energy at once like this.
"It will take time for you to learn how to use your power correctly without hurting yourself in the process."
"I know, but I wanted to be more progressed than this when I finally got to meet everyone," I exined, and Lilith just smiled.
"You will get there in time. Just remember that we are all here to help you, no matter what," Lilith said as she leaned down and kissed me on the forehead before she left the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts once again.
After she left, my thoughts stretched out to the Earth. It had been a year, but not even an hour had passed for them yet, but I was sure they were all worried about what had happened to me. Gaia and Dawn would probably lose connection with me, and the rest of the girls couldn''t get a hold of me even if they wanted to; the distance was too far. That was another thing that we would need to work on in the future; FTL messaging, but there was somew-breaking that would have to happen for that to work and could result in ghost messages. I shook my head at that. Earth''s problems were going to have to wait; I had enough on my hands just dealing with the eye.
The next day, Lilith came back, and we went to meet everyone. The group was gathered in a room that looked like it was used for meetings based on how it was set up, with a long table in the center and chairs surrounding it.
"Everyone, this is Daniel," Lilith said as she led me into the room where everyone was waiting, and they all turned to look at me.
I saw many different types of creatures there including some that I couldn''t even identify. There were creatures made of pure energy, stone beings, nt people, and shapeshifters of all kinds; pretty much every type of creature imaginable was represented in the room before me. They all stared at me with either curiosity or apprehension in their eyes as Lilith led me toward an empty seat near the head of the table where Abraxas sat. Everyone here looked incredibly powerfulpared to myself, but each was contained in the same suit that I wore.
"Daniel, these are the other survivors of our race. We have all been stuck here for over ten thousand years, struggling to find a way to escape this ce," Abraxas exined as he gestured toward everyone in the room. "We have all been working together to try and find a way out of here, but so far, we have had no luck."
"That is why Daniel is here," Lilith interjected as she rested her hand on my shoulder. "He has the power to destroy the Great Red Eye and allow us to leave this ce."
Everyone in the room stared at me with a mix of hope and apprehension in their eyes as they realized what that meant. I was their only hope for escaping this ce, but if I failed, then they would be trapped here forever.
I sat down in silence as I tried to process everything that was happening. There was so much pressure on me now that everyone knew what I had to do. The only thing that I could do now was trained harder than ever before and hope that it would be enough when the time came.
"What are your ns after that? Better was to phrase this, what are your ns for us?" A voice spoke up from the other end of the table, and I turned to see who it was.
"I have not thought that far ahead," I admitted as I looked at the speaker. It was a nt person that looked like they were made of vines. They had left for hair, and their skin was green. They stared at me with silver-slitted eyes that reminded me of Lilith''s and my own.
"You should start thinking about it now since you are our only hope for escaping this ce," The nt person said as they crossed their arms over their chest. "We need to know what you n on doing with us once we are free."
"I can not make any promises right now, but I will do my best to ensure that everyone is able to live the life they want after we escape this ce," I answered truthfully since that was all I could really say right now. I didn''t know what the future held, but I would do my best to make sure that everyone was able to live the life they wanted.
"I think that is a fair answer," Abraxas said as he stood up from his seat at the head of the table. "Daniel is still new here, so I think it would be best if we gave him some time to adjust before we start putting too much pressure on him."
Everyone in the room nodded their agreement as they started to get up from their seats and leave the room. Lilith stayed behind me as she rested her hand on my shoulder.
"Do not worry about them; they are just worried about what will happen after we escape this ce," Lilith assured me, but I still couldn''t help but worry about what everyone was thinking. For the first time meeting the others, it really didn''t feel like it went very well.
Chapter 257 Problems After Problems
Chapter 257 Problems After Problems
Lilith and I left the room and headed back to my ce in silence. There was so much that I wanted to say, but I didn''t know how to say it. In the end, I just decided to go with the truth.
"I am sorry for everything that happened," I said as we floated into my room, and Lilith just shook her head.
"You have nothing to be sorry about; they are just worried about what will happen after we escape this ce," Lilith reassured me as she sat down on my bed, and I joined her. "It has been a long time since anyone has had hope of escaping this ce."
"I get that, but I will be bringing you all to a new dangerous. The Gideons areing, but so are three Dragon Queens that are direct pieces of Tiamat herself. Just to add water to the oil fire, we have drawn the attention of the Cleaners. I will be basically taking you all from this somewhat peaceful ce, even if it is a prison," I said with a sigh.
Lilith was silent for a moment as she mulled over my words before she finally spoke. "I think that it will be fine. Do not worry about what everyone is thinking; they are just worried about the future. Just focus on training and bing stronger. That is all you can really do right now."
I nodded in agreement since Lilith was right. There was nothing else that I could really do at this point but train and be stronger so that I would be able to protect everyone when the time came.
"Thank you, Lilith," I said as she guided me to the bed where we had spent so much time talkingtely. I felt like my rtionship with her was starting to grow, but other than the mental connection we shared, there was very little physical.
Iy down next to Lilith as she put her head on my chest and wrapped her arms around me. It felt nice to finally have someone that I could rely on while I was here, even if our rtionship was mostly tonic.
"Thank you for everything, Daniel," Lilith said as she stared up at me with silver-slitted eyes, and I couldn''t help but smile.
"It is no problem; I am just happy that I can finally do something useful," I said as we justy there in silence, staring at each other. There was so much that I wanted to say to her, but the words never seemed toe out right when they mattered most.
Eventually, we both fell asleep in each other''s arms. Lilith had started sleeping in my roomtely, and each night I thought more about how I could help her change back, but I still didn''t know enough about how the Great Red Eye worked. I would just have to keep training and hope that I would be able to find a way to help her before it was toote.
A few weeks had passed since I met everyone, and things were starting to feel a little more normal. Everyone was still somewhat standoffish toward me, but they were at least talking to me now. Lilith had been spending most of her time with metely, and I found myself really enjoying herpany.
"What are you doing?" Lilith asked as she watched me from the door of my room. I was actually just about toe and find her for training.
"I was just about toe and find you for training," I answered as I floated over to her. "I have been thinking about what you said, and I want to try and change back your form."
Lilith was silent for a moment as she mulled over my words before she finally spoke. "I do not know if that is possible, but I am willing to try if it means that there is a chance that I could be myself again."
"Thank you," I said as we floated out of the room and made our way toward the training area. Along the way, we ran into Abraxas.
"Daniel, Lilith, do you have a moment?" Abraxas asked, and we both nodded before following him to his room, where he gestured for us to sit down.
"Is something wrong?" I asked, and Abraxas just shook his head.
"No, nothing is wrong. I just wanted to talk to you about your ns after we escape this ce," Abraxas exined, and I frowned. Lilith and I had already talked about this, so I wasn''t sure why he was bringing it up again.
"I have already told everyone that I can not make any promises right now, but I will do my best to ensure that everyone is able to live the life they want after we escape this ce," I answered truthfully. I have also told Lilith that we have our own problems to deal with when I get out of here, but I think that this training will give me the advantages that I need."
"I see, and what about the humans? What are your ns for them?" Abraxas asked, and I frowned. This was something that Lilith and I had talked about at length, but we still hadn''te to a conclusion.
"I do not know yet," I admitted, "but whatever happens, I will make sure that they are able to live happy lives. I have rtions with many of them, but there are many cruel ones that don''t seem like they are willing to change."
"I see," Abraxas said, "but you must understand that many of us have been living in seclusion for so long that we do not know how to interact with humans anymore. We will need your help in this regard."
"I understand," I said, "and I will do my best to help everyone adjust to life on Earth. It will be a new experience for all of us, but I am sure that we can make it work."
"Thank you, Daniel," Abraxas said as he stood up from his seat and gestured for us to leave the room. Lilith and I both stood up and left the room before making our way toward the training area.
Chapter 258 Working Together
Chapter 258 Working Together
The next six months were spent in constant pain as I forced myself to do the same grueling absorption of the Red Eyes'' power. I would have to spend hours in the light every day, and it seemed to get harder and harder every day. I had never felt so much pain in my life, but I never backed down. The red crystal room was starting to feel like a second home to me at this point, but one of chaos and discord.
Lilith was with me the whole time, pushing me to be stronger and never give up. She believed in me, even when I didn''t believe in myself. The thing that was between us had been palpable at night, so we spent all of our time projecting to different ces in the dimension. Projecting outside of this ce would create a paradox, and there is a chance that I would get sucked out of this loop, which might cause this body to go out of control.
There was a lot that wasn''t known about how my powers would react to certain things, and this was one of the main reasons why they needed to show me how to control all the power that the Great Red Eye possessed. I would only get one chance to confront the storm, and it would do or die when I did it.
While the two of us practiced projecting, I would lose focus, and then we would give up for the night. After that, Lilith let me work on figuring out how to absorb her power so I could return her to her human form. At first, she was apprehensive about it, but after some long talks about it, she let me start trying. The problem was, I hadn''t gotten any farther than that since I started trying.
Unlike while I was in the Power Cube, the power wasn''t being forced into me, and it wasn''t like I could just touch her and absorb it from her. Something was stopping me from connecting with her, but I was starting to get the feeling that it was the entity in the storm. It was somehow only allowing me to take power from it and stopping me from taking her power into my own body.
"I think you will have to wait until you can conquer the Great Red Eye when you leave this ce," Lilith said as she rxed on the bed, and I floated around the room in a pacing pattern.
"No, it is just a matter of figuring out how this ce works and what I can actually do about it. This suit restricts my Systems, but it can''tpletely stop them now that I have gotten stronger. The problem is that I still can''t scan you or anything in this ce. I need to get a reading on the Great Red Eye so I can determine what this energy is. If I can figure this out, then I can create a shield within this room that will block that powerpletely," I exined, and Lilith only shrugged in indifference. This was not the first time I had gone over this same point, but it felt like each training day was bringing me closer.
The only thing that I still couldn''t understand was why it was doing this. The power inside of the Great Red Eye wanted to be free, so why was it stopping me from helping Lilith? It didn''t make sense, but I knew there had to be a reason.
"I think you are just overthinking this," Lilith said as she stood up from the bed and walked over to me. " Maybe you should take a break for a while."
I wanted to keep going, but Lilith was right. I had been pushing myself non-stop for months now, and I needed a break. My power was still growing, but it wasn''t growing as fast as it had been. Maybe it was time to take a step back and reassess the situation.
"Alright," I said as I floated over to the bed and sat down. Lilith sat down next to me and leaned against my chest as she wrapped her arms around me.
"Just rx for a while," Lilith said as she closed her eyes, and I did the same. It felt good just to rx and not think about anything for a change.
After taking a break for a few days, I was finally starting to feel better. My mind was clear, and I was able to focus on training again. Lilith had been helping me every step of the way, but even she was starting to get frustrated with theck of progress we were making in returning her back to normal.
I had tried everything that I could think of, but nothing seemed to be working so far, no matter how much power I absorbed from the Great Red Eye itself or how long we spent projecting into other parts of the dimension together. It was like I had hit a wall, but I wasn''t ready to give up yet.
"Maybe we should take a break for a while," Lilith said as she watched me from the door of my room, and I just shook my head.
"No, I am not ready to give up yet," I insisted as I floated over to her. "I know that there has to be a way to help you change back, and I am not going to stop until I figure it out."
"But what if there is no way?" Lilith asked, and I could hear the fear in her voice. She was starting to lose hope, but I refused to let that happen.
"There is always a way; we just have not found it yet," I assured her as I took her hand in mine. "I promise you that we will find a way back for you. Before I came here, there was nothing that I couldn''tplete if I put my mind to it. I have had close calls in the past, but we need to turn the training up. Is there any way that we can get the others to help? You all know how to use the power, so maybe the answer is beating it into me?"
"I do not think that is a good idea," Lilith said, but I was starting to get desperate. This whole thing was starting to stress me out.
When I was outside of this ce, I never seemed to hit a wall. Even if I did, I was always about to get the help of everyone else. Now it felt like it was just Lilith and me against this insurmountable mountain that was the Great Red Eye.
"It is worth a try," I insisted, and Lilith just sighed.
"Fine, but if it gets too out of hand, then we are stopping," Lilith said as she led me out of the room and toward the training area.
When we got there, everyone was already gathered and waiting for us. It seemed that word had gotten around that I wanted to try something different with my training, and they were all curious to see what it was.
"Daniel wants us to help him beat information on how to use his power into his head," Lilith exined, and everyone just stared at me in disbelief.
"That is not what I meant," I insisted, but it was toote; they had already made up their minds about what I wanted to do.
"We will help you, Daniel," Abraxas said as he floated over to me with a serious look on his face. "But if things get out of hand, then we are stopping immediately."
I nodded in agreement before we all got into formation. Lilith joined the others that surrounded me in the center. It was time to see if this would work or not.
The first thing that Abraxas did was hit me with a powerful st of energy. I was able to shield myself from it, but just barely. The next thing I knew, everyone else was attacking me with everything they had.
I was getting bombarded from all sides with sts of energy, and it was all I could do to keep my shields up. This wasn''t working; they were just too strong. I needed to find another way before this got out of hand, as Lilith had warned.
"Stop!" I shouted as loudly as I could, and everyone immediately stopped attacking me. "This isn''t working; we need to try something else."
"Like what?" Abraxas asked as he floated over to me with a raised eyebrow, and I racked my brain for an answer but came up empty-handed yet again.
"I do not know, but we need to try something different. This is not working," I said as I looked around at everyone.
"Well, what do you expect us to do?" Azrael, the nt woman, asked, and I could see the frustration in her eyes. "This is the only thing that we know how to do."
"There has to be something else that we can try," I insisted, but no one had any ideas. We were all just standing there staring at each other until Lilith finally spoke up.
"Daniel is right; we need to try something else. Maybe if we work together, we cane up with something," Lilith said as she floated over to me and took my hand.
Everyone nodded in agreement before getting into formation again. This time, instead of attacking me, they surrounded me and linked hands. I could feel the energy flowing between us, and it was unlike anything I had ever felt before.
We were all connected now, and I could feel everyone''s power running through me. It was almost too much to handle at first, but I quickly adjusted to it and started absorbing it like I had been doing with the Great Red Eye.
Once I had taken in all of their power, I turned my attention to Lilith. Her power was still there, just out of reach, but this time when I tried to absorb it into my own body, nothing happened. It was like hitting a wall; her power just wouldn''t budge, no matter how hard I tried or how much power from the others ran through me first.
Then something inside of me started to pull at all the energy that was being fed into me, and I started to devour the energy of all those around me. Slowly, Abraxas, Lilith, Azrael, and the rest started to shift back into human form, but then suddenly, I burst with energy, and everyone was blown backward from me.
Chapter 259 Blow It Apart
Chapter 259 Blow It Apart
"What the hell was that?" Abraxas shouted as he got to his feet and stared at me in disbelief.
I didn''t know what had happened; one moment, I was fine, and the next, I felt like I was going to explode. Luckily, my suit had withstood the st, or everyone here would have been killed.
"I don''t know," I said as I looked down at my hands in shock. "It felt like something inside of me just snapped."
"Well, whatever it was, it returned us to our human form," Lilith said as she walked over and hugged me tightly. "You did it!"
"I would like to say yeah, but that is not what happened," I exined as Lilith let go of me, and I walked over the edge of what I was sure was the same kind of temporal area as the outside of this space was. "I created another dimension inside the other by sting a hole in it. This area can be left, but when you do, you will return to normal, but I don''t know how your bodies will all react to this. Are there any others outside that can help me train?"
"No, we are the only ones that can help you," Abraxas said as he walked over to me. "You will have to find a way to get stronger on your own since you are the only one with ess to all of the power in this ce."
"But what about when I leave?" I asked, and Abraxas just shrugged.
"I am not sure; it is hard to say," Abraxas exined, and I just sighed. This wasn''t what I wanted to hear, but it was better than nothing.
"So, what do we do now?" Azrael asked as she looked around at us, but no one had an answer for her.
Lilith and I stared at each other as I ran over what I knew and my options.
The first thing was that time would move slower in here, but everyone was not human, and I wasn''t sure how long the suits could keep the human body going. That meant I couldn''t leave them here if I wanted, and I had made things much worse and riskier for everyone. I would have to try and take them out of this rift I had created, but all on a test, and no way to even know if what I try will even work.
"You seemed troubled," Lilith said as she came over, putting a hand on my chest, and I nodded as she ran it up my neck and to my cheek, smiling at me.
She had purple hair, bright blue eyes, and tan skin but more of a Japanese facial structure. The others were all of different races but different than what I have seen in the same races. It was like these were alternate versions of some of the primary races of Earth, but that would make sense if they seeded it.
"I am," I admitted as I stared into her eyes and ran my hand along her side. "I don''t want to risk your lives any more than I have to. But at the same time, I need all the help you can give me."
Lilith nodded as she looked away for a bit before turning back and putting both her hands on my cheeks, staring into my eyes with a smile. "We will find a way; together, we are strong."
I nodded as I stared into her eyes before kissing her. It was a risk, but one I think is worth it in the long run. After we pulled apart, we heard coughing and turned to see everyone watching us with smirks on their faces.
"Are you two done?" Abraxas asked with a grin, and Lilith and I just blushed as we nodded. "Good, now that that is out of the way; any ideas on what to do now?"
"I will make a shield for you all and take you out all at once. I won''t be able to stop the Great Red Eye from feeding you power, but what I can do is force it to do it slowly. I honestly think that if you just try leaving, you will blow your suits and then end up ramping," I exined, and everyone seemed to agree with me.
"Alright, let''s do this," Abraxas said as he floated over to the center of the room. "Everyone, get in formation."
Everyone got into ce as I floated over to Lilith and took her hand. "You ready for this?"
She nodded with a smile on her face before we turned and flew over to our spot. As soon as everyone was in ce and linked up, I put up my strongest shield around us before flying us all out of the temporal rift and into what now seemed like the eye of Jupiter itself, but my shield buffeted the storm as only small amounts of it leaked in.
Almost instantly, everyone started to moan and groan as the power of the eye started to leak back into them, myself included. Only thanks to all the training that I had done so far with Lilith was I able to hold the shield as everyone, but myself started to change back into their more monstrous forms. Everyone was still contained in their suits when it was over, but I held the shield and gritted my teeth.
I was still taking in more and more of the power, and my tank seemed to be endless. So much power entered me that I started to glow red along with my skin that showed outside of my suit also became red. There was no way that this was going to be easy, and I wasn''t sure if I could hold on for much longer, but everyone else needed me.
The power kepting, and I could feel myself being pushed to my limits. The suit started to stress under strain as well, but it held, and the storm around us ceased and retreated out of the dimension to reveal the golden building once again.
With the storm gone and everyone safe for now, I let the shield drop as I fell to my knees and panted. That was way too close, but we had made it. Now, the real challenge would be getting out of this dimension and back to Earth.
"That was way too close," Abraxas said as he floated over to me with a concerned look on his face. "I don''t know how much longer your suit is going to be able to hold up under that kind of strain."
"I don''t either," I admitted as I got to my feet and looked at everyone. "But we can''t stay here; we need to find a way back to Earth."
"And how do you propose we do that?" Azrael asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I am going to going to st holes in this dimension until I can force all the Great Red Eye into me. Just from this one time, I almost doubled my capacity; I just need for you all to stay in something that can keep you safe when this dimension is destroyed," I exined, and everyone nodded.
"Then let''s do this," Abraxas said with a determined look on his face, and I nodded as everyone but Lilith floated away.
"Are you sure this will work? This is pushing things fast, but we could lose everything," Lilith said as she floated up to me, and I nodded.
"Even if we waited the full five years, that wouldn''t change the fact that we have hit a wall in my training. This is the only way that I am going to be able to gain enough capacity to take whatever this Great Red Eye is into me. I believe this will work, so I need all of you to believe that I can do this. You all have trusted me this far, and I have done the same," I exined, and Lilith kissed me before nodding.
"Alright, good luck, and I will tell the others what you said," Lilith said as she floated away, and I waited until she had reached the far-off golden pce. My sight could go for miles now, so almost nothing in this ce was out of my line of sight most of the time.
I put up a shield around me as I unleashed everything that I had learned so far in an all-out attack on the dimension. Holes started to appear everywhere as the dimension started to shake and tear apart. It was working, but it was taking too long, and I wasn''t sure how much longer my suit or myself could take it.
Then, in one final st, everything stopped moving as time itself seemed to stand still. In front of me appeared what looked like a ck hole except red around the edges with tendrils reaching out from it in all directions before disappearing again into nothingness.
The tendrils reached out and wrapped around me before pulling me into the darkness. I could feel myself being pulled apart on a molecr level as I was ripped through time and space, but I stopped as I started to pull them into me.
Then the Great Red Eye spoke to me for the first time since I had gotten to this ce.
"You should not havee here, but now that you have, I will make sure that you never leave," the voice said, and I could feel myself being pulled harder as I started to absorb more and more of the tendrils.
The power was incredible as it started to fill me up, and I could feel myself growing stronger by the second. The tendrils stopped pulling at me as they were almost all absorbed into my body which was now starting to glow red from all of the energy.
Then everything went ck as time itself seemed to stop before restarting again. When my vision returned, I was standing in a red room with a being that burned solid red and smelled like rage.
"You will never control what I am."
Chapter 260 Returning Home
Chapter 260 Returning Home
"I know," I said as I looked at the being in front of me. "But I can protect those that need it, and that is what I am going to do."
"You are foolish to think that you can stop me," the being said, and I shook my head.
"No, I am not," I said as I stood up to my full height. "I may not be able to control you, but together, we are stronger than anything else in this universe. Work with me so I can learn how to control your power."
The being was silent as it considered my words before we were thrown across the universe to a gas giant much more significant than Jupiter, covered in swirling storms. We dropped down into one of the storms where lights shed around, but there was a pattern in them, and I could see them interacting.
"What is this ce?" I asked as I looked around, and the being just smirked.
"This is my power source; it is what gives me the strength to do what I do," the being said as it floated over to one of the lights and started to coalesce into a humanoid shape. "You have much to learn."
I nodded as I looked at the being before me and knew so little about it.
"If this is your power source, then why are you all the way over here?" I asked as I looked at the being, and it just shrugged.
"It doesn''t matter; what does matter is that you will never be able to control me," the being said, and I could see the smirk on its face.
"We will see about that," I said as I charged forward with everything I had, but it was like hitting a brick wall. The being just stood there and took my attack before punching me in the stomach, sending me flying back.
I hit the barrier around us hard before falling to the ground in pain as blood started to pour out of my mouth. The being floated over and grabbed me by the throat before mming me into one of the walls.
"You are so weak; it is pathetic," the being said as it squeezed tighter, and I could feel my body start to give out. "Just give up now, and I will make your death quick."
I stopped and looked down at the suit that was barely holding together. Why was I still wearing this thing?
I sted a hole in the space of the Great Red Eye''s prison, and he was blown back. I ripped my suit like it was paper, and I was me again.
"You can not control...me?" The Great Red Eye asked as he burst through my dimensional tear.
My roots had already filled the space, and I focused on the beaming ultraviolet light from thousands of points after scanning him. This was an energy-based being that had its consumed by its star that copsed and shifted to a red giant, but from how it happened, Star Child thought that someone added mass to the sun to cause this, but he was there. I had notes in my mind from the information he collected, and now it was helping me trap this thing that was a storm of something that could be no better described as angry ghosts.
"No, but I can contain you," I said as the Great Red Eye struggled in my grasp. "And that is what I am going to do. You are going to help me protect those that need it."
The Great Red Eye was silent as it considered my words before finally nodding. "Fine, but know that I will always be trying to escape."
"I know," I said as I looked at the being in front of me. I knew he was full of regret because he had kept his people''s essence somehow after death and created the being that was the Great Red Eye now. I was going to have to figure out how to release those people, but that would be for another day.
For now, I had what I needed, and together, we could protect Earth and its inhabitants. But that gave me an idea as I brought my Memory Crystal to my forehead.
"What is that thing?" The storming figure asked me from the ce where my lights pinned him.
"Your new home, and all you people. I will ce you in a ce where you all can practice rxing for as long as you all need. If your people are still with you, then that means I can activate their consciousness inside my crystal and one day even give them and you a real body," I exined, closing my eyes and shaping a world from a memory of Yellow Knife park in the Yukon.
I had gone there with Melody and her grandparents when we were younger, so I figured it was a pretty rxing ce. It was no storm, but it was a start, and I ced the Great Red Eye inside before sealing it up.
I put the crystal down by my heart as I felt power enter me from it. The Great Red Eye would help me protect Earth, but he would also help me protect all of the others that needed it. Together, we would be able to keep everyone safe.
This whole thing had been a pain in the ass, but I had done it, and now I was back in the dimension inside the storm, but the ce was starting to fall apart. That was no good, so I created a spaceship that would be able to keep everyone safe for the trip back to Earth, but this was child''s y now.
The Jupitarians all came out to see, but I guided everyone directly into the ship that sucked all their power slowly the moment each of them got in. The ship would store the energy and keep them alive on the trip back to Earth. Lilith was thest to get in, and I looked at her with a smile.
"Ready for this?" I asked, and she nodded as she hugged me tightly before getting on the ship.
I watched as it took off before flying up next to it, and we made our way back to Earth, where everyone would finally be safe. The entire time I moved in the vacuum of space in a gravity bubble, I thought about how I would exin this. I had just been gone for three hours now, but a year and a half had passed, and I had been through a lot.
I was also going to have to exin Lilith, but I was more than ready to face the three dragon sisters when they came. I hade so far, and now I was finally able to protect everyone I loved.
"Papi?!" Sofia cried, and I grinned as her face appeared in my view as I flew past the moon.
"Sorry, I got lost in a storm," I said as I slowed down,ing up to Earth. "But I am home now."
"We couldn''t contact you, and even Gaia and Dawn were worried!" Sofiained, and I sighed.
"A lot happened, and I have been gone for longer than three hours. I have a ship full of people that need to be contained for a while, and I consume a being that was trapped in the red storm of Jupiter. The people I rescued are also the ones that seeded Earth," I said, and Sofia stayed quiet for a bit which was pretty surprising. Out of all my wives, she hardly was ever without something to say.
"You really have been busy," She said, and I chuckled.
"Yeah, well, I have a lot to tell you all when I get there," I said as the Central Forest came into view.
I flew into the middle of the forest where everyone was waiting for me, including my wives and Annokale Generals. As soon as Inded, they all rushed me with questions that were assaulting my mind from every direction.
I closed my mind for a moment as my wives all put up their hands to make everyone quiet as I set the ship down slowly. I ordered my clone in Area 51 to capture the Shalgoth and bring everyone home. I still had people in my mind, cubes in my chest, and a lot of work left to do, but things we no longer dire.
"I am not going to tell you all, but I will show you all," I said, and my roots extended to everyone, and I let them all experience what I had just gone through but just not feeling. It happened in an instant, and almost everyone around me gasped out.
Even my wives were speechless as I looked at all of them before letting my mind reach out and touch the Earth. Gaia came over to me and hugged me as the seemed to understand that I was back. Dawn also came over, and soon Melody and all the rest surrounded me.
The end of Volume Two: Preparation For An Intergctic Invasion.
Volume Three:ary Invasion: Battle For Earth begins tomorrow!
Chapter 261 Just Over A Day
Chapter 261 Just Over A Day
The next two days flew by as I started to reach out to everyone, creating bunker and new and improved interdimensional cubes thanks to my learning how to create pockets like that at the end of my training in Jupiter. By creating multiple dimensional rifts in a small controlled ce, and then a special coating of gold and Dark Matter to seal them. The ones that I had found fused five, but in the new ones, I only did it twice, and this gave much shorter dtion, but it would still see everyone in there for a while, meaning I had to also create environments and living spaces for everyone in each one.
The Jupitarains were all still on the ship, but they would be there for two months still, and we had moved them to a safe ce.
This gave everyone else who was staying in the high-powered Interdimensional Cube time to adjust, figure out how everything works, and get used to it.
I took some time off so I could spend time with all the girls until everyone was in the high-powered cube across the earth and safety chambers to house them. I had over three thousand clones doing this work, showing up in one ce, building the ce, and cing a cube. After that, there would be an interactive picture of Anya in Tree-D that would exin what wasing and what everyone needed to do. The entire presentation was a lot moreplicated than that, but most people were using them. I couldn''t be everywhere at once, even with the cubes, so I had to leave it open like that.
"Gah!" I sighed as I sunk into a regeneration bath after what felt like forever. I never realized how much I missed this pool until I was away from it for so long!
"You look like you needed this," Melody said as she cuddled into me. The other women were leaving us alone for a while.
"We got a lot done over thest few days, and we should even know when the sisters get here. The new mechs that are being built for everyone are looking crazier than ever, but I think that is because Sofia is finally starting to get along with Aiko," I said, and Melody giggled.
"You know why that is, right?" Melody asked, and I shook my head, making her giggle more. "Her and Eddie started sleeping together after the space battle! Now she is in a much better mood, so she can handle Sofia!"
"No way?! That is hrious but great! Good for those two! Especially if all the new crazy mech is the product of it, I fully approve!" Iughed, and Melody giggled and kissed me.
"I love you," She said, and I kissed her back.
"I love you too," I replied, and we just held each other for a while.
---
Three jumps out, Galliadra, Korrenka, and Lindemia, grew closer to the Milky Way Gxy, or Gxy AE433655438, on the star charts. Just a blink to most, but the sisters all had a target, and that was earth. They were getting closer, and they were not alone.
The Korrenkan fleet was made up of over five hundred ships, all of different shapes and sizes, all with one purpose, to take out the empire and save their sister. The battle would be fierce and bloody, but the sisters would not lose. They could not.
The Lindemian fleet was thergest, made up of over a thousand ships. They were all different shapes and sizes as well, but they were all heavily armed and armored. They were ready for anything, and they would not fail.
The Galliadran fleet was the smallest, made up of only two hundred ships, but they were the most heavily armed and armored. They were ready for anything, and they would not fail.
The three fleets were ready, and they wereing. Originally, the sisters had nned oning alone, but each of them decided to bring fleets after their mother had actually warned them.
"What do you make of our mother''s warning?" Lindemia asked her two sisters in the room that they were all projected into.
"I think she is just being paranoid," Galliadra said, but Korrenka disagreed.
"I think our mother is right to be worried," Korrenka said, "We do not know what we are walking into, and we should be prepared for anything. If she, of all beings, is worried, then we should take care. I have noticed that there have been strange power spikesing from that cluster, and I am sure they areing from the ce where our target is. Once we make the next jump, I will be able to get a better read on what we areing up against."
Lindemia thought for a moment before she nodded her head. "I see your point, sister. I will have our fleet prepare for anything," Lindemia said, and Galliadra sighed.
"Fine, I will do the same," Galliadra said, "But I still think our mother is overreacting."
Korrenka just shook her head as the projection ended, and she turned to look at the view screen in front of her. They were getting close, and she was not sure what they were walking into, but she would be ready.
While their mother was known for having a short temper, she was normally a meticulous nner, but something about this creature really bothered her. The fact that one of their sisters could be taken by this creature was also something that none of them had ever experienced. This Daniel Brighton seemed to be much more than any of them could really understand, but that was when Korrenka was studying where they were going between the jumps.
It took them twelve hours after a jump to make the next one, and they were limited to 100 light years per jump. This meant that they had to make 14 jumps to get where they were going, but Korrenka spent those twelve hours in between jumps learning what she could about the creature known as Daniel Brighton.
Lindemia nodded and then returned to her body in her ship and held a ball in her hand floating in front of her. They were close now, and she could feel it. They would be in range to make the final jump in 24 hours, and then she could watch Galliadra smash the ce up, but she did not think her first sister would win. This creature controlled half of her mother''s heart, and if he got enough power, he would be able to not only use but counter all their abilities.
Korrenka would prove to be formidable, even if Daniel knew her power. She was the thinker of all the sisters, but Lindemia was the nner, and no one but her mother knew what her powers were. This would be something that would give her an advantage, but notpletely. Therge battle force she brought would also y an important role as they repaired and fortified Daniel''s defenses.
The Galliadra, Lindemia, and Korrenka all knew what they had to do, but each of them was thinking about something different as the final jump approached. They would find out soon enough what this creature was truly capable of.
Galliadra was thinking about how she was going to smash this ce to pieces, Lindemia was thinking about how she was going to outsmart this creature, and Korrenka was thinking about how she was going to kill him to gain the greatest favor for her mother.
They all had different goals, but they all wanted the same thing. They wanted to destroy Daniel Brighton and im the ultimate prize, their mother''s heart.
Chapter 262 200,000,000 Lightyears away!
Chapter 262 200,000,000 Lightyears away!
"Daniel!" Calishora called into my mind, waking me from the bed with Melody.
"What is it?!" I asked as I pulled Melody''s arm off me to sit up.
"It''s my sister! They are close! We need you up here!" Calishora said, and I sunk into the bed and grew up from the floor of Octavia''s tree.
"Wow! That was much faster than I got here, Papi! When are you going to teach me that little trick?" Sofia asked as she came over to give me a kiss. Gaia, Dawn, Omega, Octavia, and Calishora were all standing around the now digital and holographic table.
"You know now," I said, as I gave all of my wives the ability without even touching any of them but Sofia. My connection to the world was so strong now that ask long as I was connected, I could reach anything, anywhere, that was also connected to something in this world. "What do we know so far?"
"They are way bigger than we thought," Omega said, "They have over a thousand ships with them!"
"Ships? I thought that they would being alone? What else do we know? How far away are they? How long till they are here?" I asked as I looked at the table, but the targets were not on the map of the sr system.
"They just jumped in around the 200,000,000 lightyear mark, but we only found it because Calishora was here to help us narrow down the direction. I was able to ce a pointer on her finger to mark on the map the exact direction of them. Olivia sent a hard beam ofpressed light to that area, and we started marking them. They know were know that they areing and are close, but until they jump again, we won''t know how long it will take them. For now, the ships seem to be dormant, but they are sitting close to the sun. I think this is because they need to recharge each time," Sofia exined, and I nodded, but Omega spoke up.
"What do you n on doing? We had still seen no signs of the Gideons, so what do the rest of us do?" Omega asked as he looked around the room. "May we could whip something up, but we have nned to meet our foe on the ground while you take on the sisters, right?"
"Things stay the same. I will still be dealing with all the Drakar and you all with the Gideons. From what we have learned, each force should stay in its own zone and fight somewhat honorably. This will be the only advantage we have besides Mox''s Andariel. It is the lowest rank and a scouting unit, but it helped Sofia and Aiko get a better idea of their weapons and armor systems," I exined, and then looked down at Sofia, who was leaning into me. "Gobbles has also helped you both with modification, right?"
"That roon is adorable, but I have never seen a more crazy critter when ites to repairs and upgrading. Aiko pulled a gun on him when he started to dissemble one of her mechs, but Gobbles pulled it apart before she could raise it up! I just stood there andughed at them, but now they get along, and the white roon just runs around tearing things apart and putting them back together to make them better," Sofia exined, and I grinned, imagining Aiko and Gobbles fighting like with Mox.
"I have seen him in action. He will be an asset to you all if you let him. Just because Gobbles likes to tear things apart does not mean that he can''t put them BACK together again," I exined with a grin before gesturing towards the table, "Can a projection of the enemy fleets be brought up in front of here to better exin our n?"
"One second, Papi," Sofia said with a grin as she put her hand on the table and then brought up what looked like a 3D animation of the enemy fleet. "This is from Augusta, our top strategist. Her projection shows that you should hit them here," she said as she pointed to just in front of our sun.
"Good. Calishora, What do you know about the ships that each of the girls is bringing?" I asked, turning to my Dragonic wife, and briefly thought of Lilith, who was now human or slowly reverting back to one.
"Korrenka has heavy ships that are known for their shields. Each of her ships is more durable than the first ring of our sun, but they are slow-moving due to the weight and propulsion issues," Calishora said, making me nod as I reminded myself that we were dealing with tech that is millions of years ahead of us in some ways. "Lindemia brings middle-sized ships known for their speed. They have tested various types out by having races withinrge areas like mountains and show deep trenches in order to battle each other across a distance."
"How do they attack?" I asked, and she answered as fast as she could. "Galliadra ships are small but have powerful engines allowing them to be really quick. They are also known for their maneuverability which makes them tough to hit."
"Ok. This is good to know. For now, I need everyone prepping the mechs and getting everyone to safety. Octavia, you and Omega can monitor them and let me know as soon as they make that next jump. That will start the clock on how long we have before Tiamat''s daughters arrive at what I had to assume to be the sun," I said, and I looked around the table. "This is it, but we are ready. Everyone has been working hard, so I want to make sure that we all make it out of this alive. No one takes chances, and everyone works as a team. Gaia, I would like you to stay with Sofia and Dawn, you will stay with me, and Omega, you are with Octavia at all times, and you leave to the underground immediately if the Crystal domes Diamos is creating around Central and South forests is prated. There is also a massive halfpipe corridor between them."
I looked around at everyone, and there were a lot more worried faces than hopeful smiles, but nothing about this was going to be easy. It was better for everyone to have a bit of doubt right now, but not all was bad. Thanks to the Gideons looking like they woulde second, I had a chance to take on at least the first sister before they got here. And while I didn''t think that it would be easy, the control I had now was much greater than ever. If there was anything I could do to tip the fight, it woulde from me.
"Everyone, this is our chance to leave an impression on them. You all have done so much for humans, and now it''s time that I return the favor," I said as I looked around at the serious faces again. "When this is all over, we are going to need to sit down and figure out how we can work together better in order to protect what is ours."
"Daniel?" Sofia said as she tugged on my arm lightly, "Come with me? We can talk more about thister."
I nodded before kissing her forehead gently and getting up from the table. Dawn grabbed my hand before quickly kissing me as well. She wanted to say something but just couldn''t find the words, so she just hugged me tightly instead while everyone watched us silently until Gaia finally broke it by hugging both of us at once with a whisper of ''I love you.''
"We should get going," I said softly before looking towards Omega, who just nodded. He understood that things were about to get very dangerous, and we all had our own roles to y in this. There was no time for goodbyes, but everyone gave me a hug as I made my way out of the tree.
I stopped at the Guardian base first, where Gobbles was now busy tinkering with some more machines while Mox and Aiko watched him work with wide eyes from across the room. I chuckled softly before making my way over and ruffling his fur lightly with a grin. The roon looked up at me for a moment before going back to work without even missing a beat in what he was doing.
"What is he doing?" I asked as I looked between Mox and Aiko, who just shrugged in response. "He is upgrading our weapons systems by adding energy weapons to them." Mox finally answered after a long moment of silence, "Gobbles here has been working non-stop since we got here on making sure that we are prepared for what is toe."
I nodded before patting Gobbles on the head lightly one more time before moving away and towards where Eddie stood, ring up at this menacing mech. I had to admit that it was rather intimidating, but I knew that it would be worth the wait.
"Eddie, you ready for this?" I asked as I came to a stop in front of him with my arms crossed over my chest. My arrogant and bad-mouthed clone just nodded before walking over and hopping into the cockpit with a smile on his face. I chuckled softly before pping the side of the machine lightly and watched as it came to life effortlessly.
"The new work the Space Roon did really gives me more on-ground movement and flexibility like I never thought possible! I am just scowling at the fucking thing because It is hard to believe that it can work so good. I would show you, but you don''t have time for that bullshit !" Eddie said with a smirk as the machine shifted and moved around slightly as if it was getting adjusted to its new pilot.
"I''ll take your word for it. Just make sure to stay close to me and out of trouble," I said with a smirk of my own before making my way back towards where the rest of the Guardians were waiting outside with mechs ready to go. Gobbles had truly outdone himself this time, not only in repairing their damaged machines but also in making them better than they were before. He added energy weapons that didn''t need ammunition but recharged using light from the sun or any other star in space which meant that they would never run out of power so long as there was a star nearby. It was an impressive feat, but we would see how well it worked once we were in the thick of things.
The Guardians all nodded at me as I approached, with Eddie following close behind me. I could feel his excitement emanating from him even through our link, but I pushed it down for now and focused on what needed to be done. We had a long day ahead of us, and I wanted to be prepared for whatever came our way.
Chapter 263 Too Fast
Chapter 263 Too Fast
The Guardians were under Aiko''smand, but she had arge group of people that she recruited from all over the world to be with her in themand center. They had more than enough people so that every pilot had a guide, acting like the Annokale had with the Systems.
The Guardians themselves were all clones except for Eddie, but it was harder to kill than a cockroach, and he was part of me, so if he did die, he would return to me. In a sense, he was like one of my children, just like the sisters were to Tiamat. It was strange to think that way, but it was true that I could just make Eddie a new body and return him to the way he was just before death.
I couldn''t do this for everyone yet, but I was close with the girls. The problem was that Eddie was a part of me and always fully connected. If I really wanted to, I could listen to his thoughts without him knowing or knowing his every feeling. I didn''t want that for my girls, so instead, I infused a clone into each of their mechs. I still had no real clue what the Gideons were capable of doing.
Even after we had people question Mox, his knowledge was limited by his rank, and he was the lowest in the military, and we would be facing some of the higher levels, ording to him. This strike force that ran with Beta was an extremely new addition to his crew, ording to Mox, since he was sent out the moment that they arrived. That time was around when I was born, ording to how long it took Mox to get here, and the date that hended when I was almost 8.
It was strange for him to suddenly see a new group of people, but an order from the top was an order. From what Mox could tell me, they were all expert killers and would probably train every day, which wasn''tforting in the slightest. With that being said, he never met them face to face.
All of this information led to one thing, and that was I couldn''t risk Aiko or any of the girls in those suits. If Beta did have some sort of power like I did, they could just force their way into the suit''s system and take over their body if they wanted to. I didn''t want that happening, so each girl had a clone connected with them as well, and they would be stored in a safe ce. It would also help memunicate with them during battle if things got too hectic.
Eddie didn''t need it, but the rest of the Guardians did, from what Mox could tell me. The thing is that I could be wrong about this, and that was always a possibility. From my understanding, Beta was an extremely powerful Gideon, ording to what Olivia said, but far from the strongest. That still puts him miles above Mox in rank and skill.
If they were anything like me, then they would constantly be changing as well to adapt to any situation that came their way, and that was something we needed to be prepared for. We had the advantage of nning this out before they arrived rather than getting caught off guard like when the Annokale had firste to earth or even my first entrance into Area 51. I didn''t want a repeat of being caught without pants down, so I was here to go over some of the mechs to see if I could do anything that might help them. I was already going to have a clone to send out clones for me with Aiko, but they would be very strong, but they wouldck my powers or true abilities.
My strongest one was in the Annokale master ship with Olivia, and she could handle anything that came her way. This was why I had given every Guardian a powerful long-range energy weapon before leaving. Gobbles helped with this so that they could fire on any enemy ship going towards the sun but not be able to harm our own ships or any''s surface. It would take some time to charge up and then fire, so they needed to be careful when using this new power, but it would give them an edge if used correctly during battle.
"Ok, everyone! We are going to do a quick run-through of what we are up against so that everyone knows what they need to do! From what we have been told by Mox and other sources is that there will be three different groups attacking us," I exined as I looked around at all of the Guardians standing in front of me inside the base that we had been using as our home here in New Zend. "The first group will consist of small fighters known for their speed and maneuverability. They are normally scouts, but they work well as light infantry. These are the only units that most of you are going to be familiar with. The Andariel''s."
"These little fuckers are what we were up against when we fought them in the simtion," Eddie said with a sneer, and I nodded in response. "They are rather annoying but can be taken out if you hit them in the right spot. They go down like flies when you do, but they will constantly be swarming you."
"The second group is a bit bigger than the first and known for their durability and shields. The Alpha Andariel''s, and they are slow-moving, but each mech is almost as durable as our sun," I exined, making everyone''s eyes widen in disbelief. "These will be the hardest to take down, so we need to focus on taking out their engines first. The problem is that I just have images of what they look like in my mind and a small amount of info on each one, so this and then the next models are going to be harder to gauge."
"What about thest group?" one of the Guardians asked, and I took a deep breath before answering. "Thest group is made up of what we believe to be their best mechs, the Duriels. They are a mix between speed and durability with powerful engines that make them hard to hit. There is also a step up from those, but there is only one of them. That will be their leader, Tor."
I let out a sigh as I looked at everyone. They were all trying to process this information, and I didn''t me them one bit. This was a lot to take in, but they needed to be prepared for whatever came their way.
"Ok, everyone! You all know what you need to do! We still have no clue when the Gideons are arriving, so make sure you are ready!" I called out before dismissing the Guardians and disappearing into the ground.
I came back out of the ground into Anya''s ce, where she was sitting quietly. The light from outside caught in the white blonde hair and on the Memory Crystal sticking out of her forehead. I hade in silently, but I could tell that my wife could sense me as she took in a deep breath.
"You''re back," she said quietly as she turned to look at me with a smile. "How did it go?"
I walked over and sat down next to her before putting my arm around her and pulling her close. "It went well. We are as prepared as we can be for now. There are still other things not rted to the fight going on right now, but I have all of my clones focusing on getting everyone into safety. There have been some deaths and resistance, but when I was gone in the red storm of Jupiter, I learned a lot about myself. This power that I have, it can really do almost anything, and this is really only the beginning. There are still things that I can''t deal with yet, and we are hundreds of years away from being close to facing things like that."
"I guess so, but do you really see us all as monsters?" Anya asked. She had seen everything that I had been through and the hard truth that I had to learn, but it wasn''t so ck and white.
"No, You are my family, along with all the rest of my wives and friends, but everyone else I need to treat like a beast. There are going to be some that want to stay the way they are, but there are some that will evolve and want to be more. I can''t tell the difference, so I have to be careful, but with time I will," I exined as I looked down at her. "But for now, we need to focus on the fight ahead and making sure everyone is safe."
Anya nodded as she leaned her head against my chest and took in a deep breath. "I just worry about you. You are constantly putting yourself in danger, and I know that you can handle it, but I still worry."
"I know, but I will be careful. I promise," I said as I kissed her on top of her head before we just sat there in silence and enjoyed each other''spany. I had to enjoy these small moments, but it was only about ten hours since we had first discovered that the sisters were rtively close but still 200,000,000 Light years away.
This could mean that they were still two to five days out, depending on how far they could jump, but I ended up letting my eyes slip close. Overthinking things when I was missing information was just going to make my head hurt.
The moment I seemed to fall asleep, I felt Anya shaking me.
"Daniel!" Anya said with urgency, and my eyes snapped open, fully awake.
"What is it?" I asked, but Octavia popped into my view.
"The sisters just jumped! 100,000,000 lightyears in one go! We have exactly twelve hours before they reach our sun out close to us!" Octavia exined, and I sunk into the floor and into her tree.
This was too fast!
Chapter 264 Why Are You Different?
Chapter 264 Why Are You Different?
I opened my eyes and looked around. I was in themand center with all the other Guardians gathered together. Octavia had just informed me that Beta and his forces were now 250,000,000 lightyears away from us, and it was time to prepare for the fight of our lives. Everyone was on edge as we went over strategy and tactics for the battle ahead.
We discussed new ways of using the Guardian''s weapons, their best positions for each type of enemy, and how we would use our clones effectively. We also had an AI created by Mox to help us n and give us readings on the fields of energy outside our ships.
Even with all this nning and preparation, no one could quite predict what the enemy would do once they reached us. All we could do was be ready and pray that my people were stronger than they were.
"Well, I think that is everything," I said after giving each person their specific tasks. "Now it''s up to all of you to make sure that we are sessful in defeating the Gideons. Good luck, everyone."
The Guardians nodded and began to disperse to their posts. I followed them, making sure to keep an eye on the monitors in themand center. The Sisters would reach the sun in 10 hours, but Gideons would being straight for earth from what we could tell. Their main force was still over 30 hours away, but they had somehow jumped a smaller force of five ships within 2 hours of earth.
Since they were so close, I was tempted to just deal with them myself, but this was a perfect first run for the Guardians. Eddie was leading the first group that was in charge of the interception in space, but I knew this was going to fail. The point was to slow them so we could lock on to them with Orbital tforms Sofia was in control of with her hound, Lycan The Lychon.
"Everything is good to go, boss! You can go kick some Space Dragon ass! Make those bitches bend a knee!" Eddie called down from hit massive fifty-foot tall Mech dubbed The Exo-Hunter.
"I will leave this all to you then," I said, and then sunk into the ground heading to where Gaia and Dawn were waiting in the grove where I first met Dawn.
When I reappeared, the two women were waiting for me, but Calishora was with them.
"What are you doing here?" I asked after my body reformed. I had told her that she was not to be a part of this.
"I am just here to give you some final warnings," Calishora said as she walked over in a golden dress that looked amazing on her blue skin.
"Oh? I thought we went over everything?" I asked as I took her into my arms and kissed her passionately.
When we stopped, she stayed in my arms andid my head on my shoulder. I could feel that she was worried about me, and that was understandable, but I was not going to be alone.
"I know that you are going to meet them in the sun, and you should be at your strongest, but we also gain strength from stars, but not as much as you. My point is that you still need to be careful," Calishora said as Dawn and Gaia gathered around us.
"Already way ahead of you. All of our main bodies are hidden deep below the''s surface, and I will be taking an extra full copy of myself to store on Venus. I am almost positive that I am going to lose more than once, but I will stop them. If they reach the, I will use my main body, so I am not even going to be at half-strength the first time I face them. Lindemia is hiding her power, and I am certain that I will have to die at least once to get that information out of her. Considering your power and the other two, there are only so many things that it could be," I exined, and Calishora stepped back in surprise.
"Daniel will also have both of us with him, and Octavia will also be joining us. The four of us will be able to handle things, I am sure," Gaia said, and then absorbed into my body, and I sucked in a deep breath.
The feeling of her in my mind was warm, loving, and confident. ''I will have to wait until all three of us are absorbed before we can talk over your partition. I think it would rip me apart if I tried to control it,'' Gaia said in my mind.
Gaia was talking about the Red Eye that now resided in that half of my mind that I had partitioned to control the manyplicated parts of my mind unconsciously operated while I consciously made the choices for it to happen. It was like I was half being and half machine; my conscious thought would give orders to make my body down just that with almost no limit but my own understanding. The girls were going to take over that while also controlling and using the stop to make me even stronger so I could use all of my minds like never before.
"Well, I guess I will let you get to it, but make sure you go see all the girls. We all love you, and we will all be working as hard as you to protect our home," Calishora said, and I nodded and gave her a kiss.
I watched her leave for a moment and then turned to Dawn, who was giving me an odd look.
"What is it?" I asked, and she sighed.
"You just are so dramatically different in your power level, but you still seem the exact same. Maybe wiser, but you said you were gone for a long time, and you took in an interdimensional being made from pure energy into your body. Why are you more confident? You are about to border on the realms of god-like beings, but your heart is unchanged? I have read all the files that Octavia held in the short time that you disappeared, and all the beings seem to be twisted by the power. Why are you different?" Dawn asked skeptically, and I shrugged.
Chapter 265 Everything
Chapter 265 Everything
"Truthfully, I think it is because I know this still isn''t enough and that I need to get stronger. I might one day, but I think that is a way off. Even getting my full mind back and running at 100%, I am still nothing like Tiamat or Alpha. If they could get free, they could pick our world up like a baseball. I am not human; I am Annokale, and I am trying to protect what I love; that is all of you," I said, and Dawn smiled but shook her head.
"Maybe you are right, and you might be twisted one day, but I think that your potential is so great that this level of power is a grain of sandpared to what your true potential could be. I look forward to the day that you start to slip, and ording to my estimation, that shouldn''t be for another 13 billion years, so you had better not lose now," Dawn said, and then absorbed into my body.
I got the same feeling from Dawn as Gaia, but not as strong, but that was understandable; we had only just met.
I smiled and closed my eyes. I was ready; this would be the most epic battle so far in my lifetime, and I promised myself that no matter what happened, I would stay true to my purpose and protect the earth.
I absorbed back into the ground and formed from the ground in Octavia Tree, where there were two of her and one Omega.
"So you are here to take one of my lovelies away?" Omega asked in his Joe ck body, and I smiled.
"Yes, I am. We need her help for theing battle," I said, and Omega nodded.
"Well, take good care of her, please. She is a powerful one, and I know she will make you proud in this time of great peril," Omega said and then handed me arge disc. It was an AI he had been working on to help us with our task ahead.
"This should give you an edge against your opponents. Good luck, Bright One," Omega said, and then walked over to Octavia as her clone stepped up beside me.
"Come, let''s go save the world," Octavia said and then absorbed into me. This time it was all ready to go, and excited to kick some space dragon''s ass! She was Omega''s girl, so I had not expected the same, but I definitely didn''t expect this level of excited edginess.
"Woah, what is up with you, clone?" I asked with a smile as I gave my head a bit of a shake.
"Sorry, I gave you some of my more excitable emotions in the clone to keep a cool head down here. She will be fine once she fuses with your subconscious," Octavia said calmly, and I shrugged.
"I guess that makes sense," I said and then pulled up the map to see the sr system.
"The Gideons are going to be here in 1.5 hours, but you have time till the sisters get to the sun. What are you going to do? Go get set up?" Omega asked, and Iughed.
"Nope, going to see all the girls and make sure everything is in order, and I will meet the sisters at the targeted destination. I have to make a few stops to set up a few surprises on Venus and Mercury. Stay safe, and get out of here if it looks bad. You all know what to do if everything goes south, right?" I asked and then nodded. "Good; I am off to see Anya about it right now."
With that, I disappeared into the ground and reappeared in Anya''s tree where she was waiting for me.
"Do you have all three of them?" she asked, and three heads grew out of my body, making Anya flinch back. "Please don''t do that, girls; you are going to give me nightmares," Anya said, pushing some of her white hair out of her face to reveal her Memory Crystal.
They giggled and absorbed back into me as I shook my head with a smile, walking over to kiss Anya. She was going to help me with the switch by letting me go into her crystal so my mind would shut down. During this time, their girls would take control of my subconscious, and she should be able to operate my body enough to let us know it was safe. Everything should be fine, but if something did happen, I would have to make a new clone and new clones for the others.
"Are you ready? It feels strange that you will be in my mind, even if it is only for a brief moment," Anya said as she hugged me tightly, and I returned it.
"I will only be in there for a blink if it works or doesn''t, so no worries. Another time we could go in and relive some of our favorite times, right?" I said with a smile, and she nodded.
"That would be really nice. I would like to revisit the back of my father''s bookstore with you," Anya said fondly, and Iughed as we pulled apart.
"Now that''s what I call date night! Okay, let''s get this going; there is a lot of background noise with these three," I smiled, and Anya smiled, but suddenly I was on the floor, trying to get up with Anya''s help.
"Take it easy! It took the girls three hours to get full control of your body, so I am sure things are going to be shaky for a bit, but you need to just sit down, Daniel," Anya said, and I did as she said as I gasped for air.
Everything. I could feel everything and one on earth like never before, and the world was alive. I could feel thest of the humans being rounded up and forced into the cubes by the faceless clones that I was controlling from my main body. I could sense lions in Africa killing a gazelle and a pod of whales in the ocean, and I could go on forever.
Chapter 266 Remake Everyone
Chapter 266 Remake Everyone
"It''s so much to take in," I said as I forced my eyes open to stare into Anya''s crystal blue ones.
"Just take it a bit at a time and keep looking at me. You are trying to get used to what it is like to have a full 60% of your strength unrestricted. I am sure it will be easier with time, so just take deep breaths. You can do this," Anya said, putting her hands on the sides of my face, and I nodded.
I closed my eyes and let the energy take over me. It was like I had be one with the, like some superhero from tv. It was almostical to think about it, and that thought helped me bring my mind to focus.
Quickly, my mind started to organize the things I was feeling, and then it lessened them until I felt like my mind wasplete. I could feel the three women, and I got a mental picture of them giving me a thumbs-up.
"I am better now. My mind was just sorting everything out, but my brain is good now," I said, and Anya sighed and kissed my forehead.
"You had better go see the other girls quickly and then get going. Even with the time you have, you are going to have to do a lot of setting up if you hope to win. Do not underestimate this fight. I know you seem to think that you can take on anything, but that doesn''t mean you shouldn''t be giving it your all every time. Don''t hold back; this isn''t one of our stories, and you aren''t some hero. You are just Daniel, and we all love you and want you toe back home," Anya said, and I nodded.
"I promise that I will give it my all and hold nothing back. I wish I had more time with my current power, but I will have to learn as I go. I will see you when I get back," I said.
"One more thing. Do you really think that this crystal will survive if the gets destroyed?" Anya asked, but I shook my head.
"No, but it is connected to me. As long as you do what I told you, I will take everyone into my Memory Crystal. This is the worst-case situation and not something that I want to have to use unless we have to," I said, and Anya nodded.
"Yeah, even if you can remake everyone, I think that should be the worst-case situation, but we should be seriously considering it going forward. I don''t want to waste your time, but just consider this when you are heading to the sun. If you were to store everyone in your mind and then escape alone, would that not be the safest route? You would have time to find a good hiding ce to build a new home for us and then recreate us all. I know that this would be asking a lot of you, but considering the situation we are in, do you even think that we are going to be able to get away from the Cleaners or the two that are attacking us right now? Is it really worth constantly running? What if you made us the same but as a new race? The Cleaners are only after humans, right? I know it is radical, but if all humans died, then they would be forced to stop chasing us, right?"
I nodded and couldn''t help but to agree with her in my mind over the implications, and then I summoned all the women into my view.
"Instead of meing to see each of you, I will just speak to you like this. I love you all, and I am going to fight the sisters now. You all have your own battle, and I know you will seed, but I just wanted to see all your faces before I go. I will be back soon, and I call on the power of this crystal to guide me and make sure Ie back safe," I said, and then everyone nodded in agreement.
"Good luck, Daniel. May you return victorious," Anya said, and I smiled at her before leaping into the sky and soaring off toward the sun. I need to know that you are all okay and that you are going to keep on fighting no matter what. I am going to do everything in my power to make sure that this is safe from destruction, so just keep the faith and focus on your own battle. I believe in all of you," I said, and the girls all nodded, even though there were tears in their eyes.
Anya took my hand and kissed my cheek before I stepped away.
"I will see you soon, but for now, fight well," she said, and I smiled.
"I will be back as soon as I can," I said with a smile, and then I stepped out into the night. Taking a deep breath, I looked up to the stars and focused on the mission at hand. Even knowing the odds were against me, I was determined to put an end to this once and for all.
Part of me wanted to visit each of the girls, considering how long I had just been away from everyone. Now I was going to leave the again to face foes that were going to try and kill me without holding back.
I lifted up into the air, but as I rose, I started to consider what Anya had said.
The truth was that things would be a lot easier if I was just able to get away by myself, and I was having trouble trying to justify what I was trying to do by taking the along with me. Yes, it was a perfect environment for humans, but the universe was covered ins.
It had been a bit of a romantic idea from the start to turn this into a moveable object, and given enough time, I knew it could work, but time was not on our side. The fact was that everything that this provided us with was something that I could create anywhere.
Chapter 267 Weaponizing Venus
Chapter 267 Weaponizing Venus
I pushed out of the atmosphere, and then triangted my destination, and started to stretch myself using Calishora''s ability. The ability allowed her to move a point or object anywhere within her range of influence, which was about 100 feet cubed. This could also move me in this space, but I had to be able to fit in the area, so that gave me an idea.
Instead of using the cube, I tried a few other shapes, learning that the 100-foot cube was the maximum it could be. This meant that I could move 10,000 feet if I were to make myself fit in a 1-foot cube, which was pretty fast, but I needed to travel 237 million miles. That just meant I would have to be smaller and dense, but my weight didn''t affect it.
So, now I was 1/50 of a foot tall, a quarter inch, and stretching myself half a million miles. Each ''step'' took about five seconds, giving me just under twenty to ponder before I got to Venus. With the girls in my head now, I only had to do this twice before they subconsciously took over for me, leaving me to think about Anya''s proposal.
If worse came to worse, it was my n to put everyone''s consciousness into the Memory Crystal and then escape. Anya had suggested that I not wait for the worst to happen and I just remove everyone from their human bodies and leave. Once I created a new home, I could remake all the humans, not as humans, but as a new species.
To do this without Earth, I was going to have to create living conditions that the new people could thrive on. The thing was that life has evolved all over the cosmos in strange ways that seempletely impossible, but the beings that gained sentience looked nothing like humans. In the end, I was just going to have to work with what I understood because knowing and understanding something were not the same.
Water. It was the building block that we needed to sustain life, but that would be provided as I constructed the new world around a star. I would only have to siphon hydrogen from the star and oxygen from the asteroids that I farmed. To do something like this, time was going to be a significant factor, and it might take hundreds of years before I could even make the ce livable. I alone could speed up time just by slowing down my perception, but everyone else would have to live during those years toplete the structure. Sure, I would have an infinite amount of time with the girls, but would everyone really be okay working that entire time?
People were no longer going to die, but that wasn''t the way humans were built. We reach certain points where our bodies start to degrade, and the connections between our cells weaken, slowing down our regeneration. What would happen to humans if that never happened?
That was a worry forter, but I knew that the first step was to survive and then worry about the future. I just had to make sure that the sun was safe, and then I could start to think about the new home.
I reached out with my senses and felt the sun around me as I got closer. It was a powerful force, and I could feel the light absorb into my skin as I approached Venus. I was getting close, and I knew it was now or never. I had to prove to these sisters and the that I was going to protect them and make sure that they survived.
I stopped just above Venus, looking down at the swirling atmosphere. The was clouded in dense dust that was filled with sulfuric acid and carbon dioxide, and I could feel the heating off of it. Because of these clouds, the was one of the hottest in our sr system and would never be around long enough to create any type of life before the sun swallowed it. So, I was going to turn it into a weapon.
The first step was getting to the surface of the, and I knew that the way down was to use my Calishoran power. I focused my attention on a single point on the and then stretched myself to the surface. Instantly, my body tried to light one fire, but my body reacted and became metallic, making me cool down dramatically. Then I was forced to create google to even see anything from all the wind and dust.
Once I was able to see, I looked around at the hellish surface of the and shook my head in awe. This power of mine was so unbelievable to take me to a ce like this where no normal human could ever go, and now I was going to do something more unbelievable.
"Gaia, can you hear me?" I asked.
''Like we were sitting beside each other. It seems like it is time,'' Gaia replied in my mind.
"Are you going to be okay here alone?" I asked, but I felt her smile.
"I will hardly be alone," Gaia said as a clone of myself split from my body using her voice. "I will have you with me, even if you will be asleep. We should begin the process now."
Since Gaia and Dawn had watched over Earth, we decided to try and weaponize Venus and Mercury. That was the n, and now it was time to try and put that into action, but I was concerned with how it was going to work.
"One more time. If it is too much, pull back. This will not be the same as how you controlled Earth. You are going to have to make the core your body, then break the apart, and finally hold it together until I die at least twice. The thing is, you aren''t taking in energy, you are trying to absorb part of the, and then you have to keep the core spinning and hot while all the pressure is crushing you," I exined, and Gaia nodded.
Chapter 268 The Clash of the Titans: Eddie Takes on a GIANT Gideon BattleShip!
Chapter 268 The sh of the Titans: Eddie Takes on a GIANT Gideon BattleShip!
"I understand, and I will be careful. I will also be sure to keep you safe, even if it means I have to make myself a much smaller target. I think I can manage this," Gaia said, and I nodded.
"Good, then let us begin," I said, and Gaia started to form a bond between us and the.
As soon as the bond was created, Gaia started to absorb the, and I could feel her rush to the core in my clone. Not even the Sun could affect my body now, so I wasn''t worried about the''s heat; it was the sheer volume of what Gaia was about to try and absorb.
As soon as she hit the core, the world started to shake around me, and massive cracks started to appear, but I could feel she wasn''t even close to being done. The started to break apart; I quickly spread my body over the''s surface like a massive. Within a matter of minutes, thanks to the Great Red Eyes'' power, I had the in a, clenching everything together, but this was much worse than I thought it would be.
''How are things going down there?'' I sent it to Gaia, and she didn''t reply at first, making me worry until she did.
''Sorry... This is... A lot... Must focus... Need more time.''
That meant I would have to hold on, but the question was, how long would I have to hold the like this? We had 9 hours left, and we still had the smaller of Mercury to do this too. Depending on how long this took, I might have to change my ns, but ns tended to fall apart when you hit the battlefield. Especially ones so farfetched, but if it works, I will have a serious advantage over the sisters.
After an hour, Venus seemed to calm down, and Gaia finally responded to me. I was slowly able to start retracting my body as she spoke in my mind.
''I have control, but it is a lot. I will be able to get it ready, but it will take some, so I will need you to buy some for me. I suggest you take control of Mercury and hand it over to Dawn. The currents and the heat of this world feel almost like the rage of a dying, so I can only assume that Mercury will be worse,'' Gaia said, and I mentally nodded to her.
''Good. I will head off to Mercury now and then to the Sun. I love you, and hold on until I get back,'' I said, and then headed towards Mercury with less than 8 hours until the sisters arrived.
[Eddie]
1 hour previous to this, Eddie was floating out in the open in his massive ck mech, sting Metallica, singing along, and with his microphone turned off at the request of literally everyone. Daniel was not what you would call an overly talented singer, and Eddie did not get any of those talents in the spit.
"Sleep with one eye open, gripping your pillow tight! Exit light! Enter night!" Eddie belted out, but his music suddenly turned down as red lights started to sh the image of a massive warship that appeared about 100,000km past the moon''s dark side. Eddie flipped hisms back on, paused his track, and looked for his Fight Music ylist. "We got a booger on the moon''s dark side, but the snot ball isn''t moving. tforms raise your shields but do not fire until I give the order. ording to Mox, as despicable as the Gideons are, they are honorable, so if only onees out, I will send a clone to meet with him. Do not ept radiomunications from them, and block all signals they fire at you."
"Are you sure that we should wait? What if they just shoot us?" One of the Guardians asked, but Aiko was the one that spoke up on thes
"Even an energy weapon shot from that far would take time to get here and would not be strong; projectiles would take even longer. You are ready to undock at a moment''s notice and are under the orders of Admiral Eddie''smand!" Aiko exined and switched to a private channel with Eddie and the other generals selected for the DEO, Defense of Earth Operation. "We have 8 ground cannons locked on, but we will lose one and gain two in fifteen minutes. Since we know the distance, we have some Daniel clones popping up strategically to build multi-weapon tforms and recharge stations."
"Good. They are staying quiet like the dead of the night," Eddie said as he zoomed in on the massive ship.
Eddie zoomed in on the Gideon''s massive BattleShip and was immediately intimidated by its sheer size. Each weapon protruding from its hull held a potential for destruction, with hundreds ofsers, missiles, and energy cannons ready tounch at any moment. Its jagged edges glinted in the light, giving it an even more menacing appearance. Eddie could make out several figures moving inside the ship, which suggested arge crew was onboard. Suddenly, a ck mech emerged from the ship''s side, hovering over it like a guardian angel. The massive robot had various weapons attached to its body and seemed to be controlled remotely since there were no life signs from inside.
"Got a big fucking scary looking ck booger on the radaring out of that god awful looking ship covered in all sorts of fart cannons! Girls get the weapons hot, but keep your fingers off the trigger! I will send one of the Guardian Hulks from Sofia''s tform to meet this thing, which will probably turn into a fight. Don''t shoot!" Eddie said, and Sofia came on the radio.
"We are all not as dumb as you are, Admiral Eddie! I will load the Hulk up with a few special toys I want you to try, so don''t die immediately. I need to know what should be put into production and what should be scrapped," General Sofia ordered, and Eddie groaned as he dropped into the Guardian Hulk.
Chapter 269 Mis’s Take on Turdeous: A Golden Showdown!
Chapter 269 Mis''s Take on Turdeous: A Golden Showdown!
Eddie took a deep breath as he prepared to jump into the Guardian Hulk. He made sure all of General Sofia''s instructions were followed and double-checked all switches and buttons on the mech before powering it up. As soon as the machine was ready, Eddie felt his heart pounding in anticipation.
"There are six different types of kic rounds, but none of them are standard bullets. I need you to make contact with his shields and the body with each type. None of them are meant to damage, so keep that in mind when using them. There are multiple pulses that you can use, but you will have to be in close range for them, and you will have to stay in that range for thirty seconds for your body to get a good scan. You have a single Melee weapon, but it has fifteen different transformations that it can do to allow you to see what fighting style and weapons will be more effective. While this can be countered, it will give us an initial advantage, so try to get through a few of them," Sofia exined as the door for the Hulk opened.
"How much time do you think I will have in this fight and do you really think I am going to be able to get close?" Eddie asked, and Sofia nodded.
"While closebat is impractical for us because we are used to using ranged weapons to keep ourselves safe, Dragons are easier to fight up close, ording to Mox. That and duels are extremelymon things among the Gideons, so I expect that this one will try that. There are rockets with different payloads, along with three energy cannons and an assortment of an extremely powerfulsers. These are the most important things to test. Theser should be able to fry their electronic if they are simr to ours; if not, they will likely not do anything. I think it is thetter, but that is why you are going to test them out, got it? Sofia ordered, and Eddie nodded, grumbling as he turned to get in the Guardian Hulk.
The ck robot seemed toe alive when Eddie stepped inside, its powerful engines roaring to life. Its massive hands flexed with strength, and its bright blue eyes glowed with determination. Then, without warning, Eddie felt the full force of the Gravity Drive engaging and thrusting him into space toward the mysterious warship. As Eddie flew closer to his destination, he could feel the rising tension inside the cockpit. His stomach churned as he prayed for sess. He tried to distract himself from the fear by humming Metallica, his favorite band, but it did little to ease his anxiety.
Aikoa contacted him over thems, asking him if he thought that the upants of the ship just wanted to talk. Eddie snorted at this suggestion, reminding her of their first meeting when she invited him out for drinks - no more than he had expected then. Despite her serious tone, Aikoa still managed to make light of the situation.
"Just be careful out there; I know that we are all using clones right now, but don''t go in all crazy and get killed right away. We need real-time battle data from this. While Ipletely trust Mox, he has been out of contact with his kind for a long time. Not only that, but he was part of the recon squad, and I don''t think that he would have had ess to high military weapons and units," She said.
It would take twenty minutes to reach the side of the moon they were aiming for. Eddie turned up the music to Freak on a Leash by Korn, trying to keep his nerves in check.
Then a request for transmission came in, and Eddie immediately killed the music and cut off allmunications with Earth before epting the request. He wanted to make sure there was no chance for them to get any information. One of the keys to fighting a war was information; the more you knew about the enemy, and the less they knew about you, the better.
"Greetings, Earthling," A voice without an image said, and Eddie started tough. "Really? Did you get that from some nies UFO movie?!" Eddieughed and then stopped. "Alright, you ugly grey pile of shit, I don''t suppose that you just want to turn away and fuck off back to where you came from, do you?"
"Are you really the human that is representing your?"
"Me? No, I am just all his worst traits rolled into one big prick!" Eddie chuckled. "So you are part of Annokale, known as Daniel?"
"Something like that, but I am my own person, not that it is any of your fucking business. Now, did youe here to talk me to death, or do you want to see who has the prettiest toys?" Eddie taunted, but the Gideonmander was unfazed.
"I am pleased that you were not serious about us leaving-" The voice started to say, but Eddie cut him off.
"Oh, I am serious, but I know that you won''t go on your own. I am just going to send your body back in the general direction of your golden turd of a god!" Eddieughed and then flipped the switch to activate his energy shield. It flickered a brilliant blue as he adjusted course and rocketed toward the ck mech.
Aiko cut themunication, and Eddie continued to hum the same song as he closed in on the enemy unit. This wasn''t one of the ones that Mox had listed, and it almost looked like they had specially equipped this thing for this fight. From what Eddie could tell, it was kind of like they were doing the same thing as he was doing - testing the waters.
But the moment of truth was finally upon him. With a fierce shout, Eddie mmed both fists down on his controls and let loose a barrage of kic rounds at the enemy. All lights came to life on the ck mech as it powered up, preparing for what was sure to be an epic showdown. The Gideonmander spoke again, threatening revenge, but Eddie merelyughed in response.
"Shut it, Turdeous! I don''t want to hear you yodel about golden turds!"
"I am Mis, and you will regret insulting my great and Glorious-"
"Steaming pile of golden shit. Yes, I get it. Now let''s go!" Eddie roared and fired a salvo of shots at the opponent before flying straight into the fray.
Chapter 270 Guardians of the Galaxy: Smackdown in Space
Chapter 270 Guardians of the Gxy: Smackdown in Space
Eddie flew through the air, his fists primed and ready. Heshed out with a flurry of punches, staying close to the enemy mech and trying to dodge any iing fire. He had to stay in close quarters and keep the pressure on. He knew that if he could oust the enemy, they would eventually be overwhelmed and be forced to retreat or suffer defeat.
The two mechs shed, each blow sending a shockwave through the air. Armor tes dented with each impact, sparks flying through the void of space. Eddie focused on keeping his shield in top condition while also going for quick strikes and dodges when necessary. The fight went on for what felt like an eternity until finally, the Guardian Hulk began to gain ground, pushing Mis back, but just when Eddie came in for the kill, Mis used a powerful gravity shield to push Eddie back.
The impact knocked him off-bnce, and he groaned as his Guardian Hulk spun out of control towards the dark side of the moon. He gritted his teeth and tried to get the mech under control, but it was toote. The enemy had gained the upper hand once more, firing shots at Eddie''s mech with devastating uracy.
Forcing all power to his shield, Eddie barely managed to repel the shots and set course for a nearby asteroid. He mmed on the brakes, skidding behind it just in time before Mis could fire again. Panting heavily, Eddie checked his systems for damage and found that he had been lucky - only minor scratches were visible on the armor ting.
"Got anything else for me to try?! Or can I turn down for what?!" Eddie called as the beat yed in the background.
"Yes, but what does that even mean?!" Sofia called, and Eddie grinned as she turned all power systems to the max, giving him about 45 seconds of raw power.
"YEE-HAW!" Eddie cried and then was flung back, and the hulk adjusted for the boost in power as it charged towards Mis, fists raised and ready for action. The two mechs shed once more, sparks flying as they were both pushed to their limit.
Both mechs went at it like apes with bare fists even though they were covered in weapons, but neither of them wanted to give a single inch. Eddie had to focus on his defense and wait for an opening because he knew that if he missed this chance, there would be no second one.
Finally, just as the hulk was about to run out of power, Eddie saw the opportunity he was looking for. Heshed out with a powerful punch, catching Mis off guard and sending him flying back into the void of space. The ck mech exploded in a bright sh, leaving Eddie alone in the area.
He let out a breath that he didn''t realize he was holding, but he was out of juice.
"Eddie?! Are you okay?" Aiko asked over thems as Eddie turned off the music.
"For now, but I am not..." Eddie started to say, but then the radar started to beep that something had locked on. "Looks like they are giving me a free ride home. Drop battalions 3 to 10 to low earth orbit, and clear the stations. 1 and 2 will group with me when I reconnect. Throw me control of the stations and then unload on-"
Before Eddie could finish, the Guardian Hulk was bathed in a disintegration beam that destroyed the bonds of subatomic particles. Eddie''s clone and mech were broken down to carbon, and when the beam finished, there was nothing left.
On the ground on earth, Aiko gave themands, and 63 energy beams fired at the Gideons ship, but before the beams made it halfway, the ship vanished.
"Now that is some high-ss bullshit! How the fuck did they just disappear?" Eddie said as he fused into his clone body.
"They backed off to Mars, but they left a fleet that is heading to your location. All the Beams were a miss, but I don''t know how much damage they would have done, if any. From your encounter with the Gideons, his shields were enough to withstand the damage you threw at him," Aiko said.
"Well, I guess we''ll find out soon enough. Time to see what Mox''s forces are made of!" Eddie grinned as he checked his weapons and prepared for battle.
Guardian into his radar and one of the Annokale spoke over thems. "You gave them quite the fight to start off with!" Beltzer called.
"Yeah, but they fried me into space dust before I could do anything else, and I wouldn''t have made it back. I will call it a ''better than a kick to the balls with a frozen boot'' kind of fight. Just keep on your toes; I have no idea how many of them are going toe at us in the first wave," Eddie called.
"All of us have shed with the Gideons before," Tim called her thinner female Guardian with six canons orbiting around her mech. "We will handle it, don''t worry. With this kind of firepower, we can take on anything."
"Don''t get ahead of yourselves, and make sure to use every advantage and dirty trick you know!" Pyke called from his red pirate-looking mech with an assortment of weapons on it.
"I hope that Daniel will see how amazzzing we are!" Meckal hissed into thems.
"Get your damn tongue out of my headset!" Eddieined, and everyoneughed. "Okay! Serious talk, Tin Cans! I want everyone to give these bleached wrinkled turds everything you got! I swear to god, if we don''t have these bastards before our smug bastard of a leader gets back to our mud ball, I will kick all your asses, got it?! We are going to war, and we aren''t going to stop until these little bitch are either dead or have died enough times that they just fuck off! I want everyone to work together and not fight. You are a bazillion years old, so start acting like it, and show this that you can protect it, Got it?!"
"Yeah," Everyone said.
"The fuck did you just say to me? Do I sound like your fucking grandmother?!" Eddie snapped.
"Yeah!"
Eddie pushed a button and shocked everyone. Literally.
"I am going to ask one more time, and then I am just going to push that button and tape it down while I go fight these fuckers! Now, ARE. YOU. READY?!" Eddie spat into hisms.
"YEAH!!" Everyone screamed as the Gideons got closer.
Chapter 271 The Impossible Quest for True Peace
Chapter 271 The Impossible Quest for True Peace
Almost a light year away, I was floating above Mercury as Dawn was getting control over the. I had told her that I was going to do it, but she told me that this was her job and that she could handle it.
"How are things going down there?" I asked but didn''t hear anything at first.
[I should be able to get a hold of it soon, but I think this is dead.]
"That is fine. I had assumed as much. Just get the core spinning again, and that will start the seismic activity on the surface. That should be enough to have it primed for my takeover after my first death."
[Are you scared of dying?]
"No, because I am not actually dying. What I am worried about is that I am going to failpletely," I said, trying to look at the massive sun that was filling me with power, but from this distance, the sun was all-consuming.
[Fail? You have a n, right?]
"If by n, you mean wiping all traces of humans from existence and then storing them in my mind for a couple hundred thousand years while I build them new bodies and a world, then sure. But I don''t know how everyone is going to feel about this," I said, turning to face away from the sun. Even if my eyes could filter all the light, it was distracting to look at all the res and explosions. When I turned away to look out into space, everything was solid ck unless I squinted.
[Daniel, they don''t get a choice in this. That isn''t how it works, and you aren''t even one of them. What you are doing is for their own good, and you are giving them a chance at life. That is something that they would not have if you had not been created on this by the being of light. They are the ones that drew the attention of the Cleaners, not you.]
"You have a point, but I grew up with them, and I love some of them just as I do you and Gaia," I replied as I stared into nothing.
[Then do what is best for everyone. You are this species'' only hope of survival, and even if you do win against the sisters, and the Gideons, there is no winning against the Cleaners. While in your mind, Octavia shared all the information that you know about them, and it is clear that they won''t stop. It might be better just to let them clean Earth and start new. Think about it. What is easier to track? A or a single person that is not even their target? The Human Race is done as a species, but they can have another chance as something else. Other species have interfered in the past to create the humans on this because they had been wiped out before. You are the ones that found their creator. Yet, humans are always, and will always be, looking for war. The problem is that they can not be united, but this is a problem, ording to Octavia, across the universe with all intellectual species.]
A string of thoughts came to mind about all the sessful races that were surviving the constant onught from the Cleaners. Each of them was ruled by a single leader. Next, I was fed thoughts of all the failed worlds and species, but this one took more time to process. Few of them had been led by one person, but the ones that did, did it toote. What I wasn''t seeing was anyone living peacefully. These must be fed directly to me by her from inside my head. It was kind of nice, rather than sorting through this all at once on my own.
"I am not seeing anything peaceful," I said, and I felt a mental nod from within.
[Yeah, Octavia said she was sure that there were some, but to keep a race like that peaceful and alive, they would have to be undetectable. There is a very good chance that there are some hiding in ck holes. There is an entire system of universes inside of them, ording to the files, but travel through them is impossible with any known technology. Again, these races probably wouldn''t share it. Considering your power, you might be able to survive the trip to look for some after this is all over.]
"If other people can''t go there, then I could just hide everyone there, right?" I asked.
[I said the same thing, but Octavia said it would only be temporary. If someone figured it out once, they would figure it out again. There is also the fact that if you have one or both hearts of Alpha and Tiamat, they will be drawn to you. Defeating them both is the only way that you are ever going to live in even the shadow of peace. From what Octavia has shown me, the universe denies peace, and everyone seems to find a reason to fight about something. Humans have made that very clear since they existed, and now seeing the other species are no different. Peace really does seem like nothing more than a fairy tale from one of the books you have read.]
"I disagree. I think that it starts with having amon enemy and knowing the only way to survive is by working together," I said, thinking of the rtionship between myself and Dawn and how much I had grown since we met.
[But therein lies the problem. Why does there always have to be an enemy for peace? That isn''t really peace; that is just bringing the conflict to someone else. You can''t stop one war and decide to start another and call it peace.]
I couldn''t argue with her. Instead, I just stayed quiet as we stared into the inky darkness of space. With all the information Octavia had given me, I knew it was true. Even if I managed to defeat the Cleaners, another war woulde eventually. It seemed like the only way to stop this cycle was by creating a truly peaceful world where everyone got along and lived without fear or the necessity to fight.
"Truly, peace is impossible," I said with final finality.
[I don''t think you know what that word means. I am not trying to say that it isn''t possible, but violence can''t create peace because there is always a loser and a winner. Peace is such a hard thing to achieve because it means something different to everyone.]
"But what does it mean to you?" I asked as I watched a space station float by in the distance, and my mind drifted away from the question.
[Peace is a state where everyone can live together in harmony and feel safe just being themselves. It doesn''t matter if they disagree with each other, the difference is respected, and people listen to one another instead of shouting. In this kind of world, differences are celebrated, not feared. That is peace.]
I nodded thoughtfully, understanding now what she meant. She was right. This was something that could never be aplished through violence because then there would always be winners and losers. But by listening to others and respecting their differences, perhaps something like true peace could exist.
"Hm," I hummed as I looked at the stars in front of us. "Maybe someone will find a way someday."
[I think that I am fine now. Thest jump is 2 hours away, but we don''t have an exact location on where near the sun they will arrive.]
"It is ok. We will find it eventually," I said, my mind already turning away from peace and nning for the future of humankind.
Chapter 272 The Calm Before the Cosmic Storm
Chapter 272 The Calm Before the Cosmic Storm
As I floated above Mercury, a strange sense of calm washed over me. I knew this was only temporary, and soon I would be faced with a battle that would decide the fate of not just Earth but humans as well. But for now, everything was still.
"I''ve been thinking," I began, my voice soft in the silence of space. "You said peace is a state where everyone can live together in harmony and feel safe just being themselves." Dawn remained silent, letting me continue. "That may be true, but what if there''s more to it than that? What if the real key to peace isn''t just respect and understanding, but actual unity?"
[What do you mean?] she asked cautiously.
"I mean, we need to find a way to bring everyone together so that it''s no longer about winners or losers, right? It''s about working side by side for the greater good."
[I understand what you''re getting at, but how do you propose to aplish such a thing?]
"If I''m honest, I don''t know yet. But there has to be a way. If we could figure out a way to neutralize the Cleaners and create some form of stability in the universe, maybe then others would see the value in making peace instead of war."
For several moments, Dawn didn''t respond. And then, finally: [It''s a noble goal, Daniel. But with each new species and world we discover, we find more reasons why they fight rather than work together. That''s not going to change overnight.]
"I know," I admitted. "But just because it''s difficult doesn''t mean it''s impossible. Maybe all it takes is one person ¨C or one being ¨C to start the process."
[Haven''t you already tried that, though? As the Guardian of Earth, you''ve done your best to protect your people.]
"And look where that got us," I replied bitterly. "We''re on the brink of destruction, and the entire universe is against us. Clearly, ying defense isn''t enough anymore. We need to be proactive, not just reactive."
There was a long pause before Dawn spoke again. [Perhaps you''re right. But remember, even if you manage to defeat the Cleaners, there will always be another threat around the corner. Peace is something that must be constantly worked towards and maintained.]
"I know that better than anyone," I replied, thinking of all the battles I had fought. "The point is, we cannot give up on it, even when it seems hopeless."
Dawn seemed to consider this for a moment before responding. [Then let us continue on our current path. Regardless of whether we achievesting peace or simply push back impending darkness for a short time, it is still worth fighting for.]
I nodded, knowing she was right. We couldn''t predict the future, nor could we control the actions of others. All we could do was strive to be better and act in the best interest of those we cared for. Even if our attempts fell short, perhaps there woulde a time when someone else would pick up the mantle and carry our dreams forward.
With that, I left Dawn and continued my journey through the vast expanse of space; I contemted the enormity of our mission. There were so many factors beyond our control, and the possibility of failure loomedrge in my mind. But I knew, deep down, peace was something that I needed to put away.
War was already on Earth, and my Guardians were already fighting with the Gideons. Their battle was going good so far, but from what I could tell, the Gideons were still feeling us out. They had notmitted any more than small groups of mechs, but those small groups were holding well.
My fight was nearing as well, but I wasn''t thinking about it.
"Do you think that you can win?" The Great Red Eye asked as a swirling red form that only I could see.
"No."
"Good. At least you understand. These creatures have been alive longer than some stars have existed. The Sisters are deadly like nothing you have ever seen before."
"Why are you speaking to me now?" I asked since this was the first time since I had absorbed the being that it had spoken.
"Your life is connected to mine and mine to you. Our fates have twined together, and it is clear you are going to fight a losing battle. If you cease to exist or be a ve, so do I," The figure said, and then red glowing eyes appeared in its face. "I did not leave the safety of my dimension just to be killed or a ve. Do you understand?"
"Yes, what happens to me, happens to you, but I have to give it my all. If I run now, I will just have to fight again."
"True, but you need to be prepared to leave when you fail. This is not a question of if you will, but when."
"You really don''t have any faith in me, do you?"
"And you do not understand just what you are up against. The runt that you captured is not the same as her sisters, and they will not be tricked like Calishora. These creatures subjugate entire gxies or destroy them. There is no in-between for them. The only reason this gxy is still intact is that you have something that they need. Remember that when you are fighting them since I know nothing I can say will stop you."
With that, the Great Red Eye vanished, leaving me to my thoughts once more. Its dire warnings weighed heavily on my mind, but I couldn''t afford to let them deter me. I hade this far, and there was no turning back now. The fate of Earth and humanity rested on my shoulders, and even if victory seemed impossible, I knew I had to try.
As I continued on my journey toward the decisive battle, I couldn''t help but think about what Dawn had said earlier ¨C that maybe all it took was one person or one to start the process toward peace. At that moment, I realized that I may not be able to createsting peace in the universe, but perhaps I could nt the seeds of hope for future generations.
Maybe, just maybe, my actions could inspire others to strive for a better tomorrow. Even if the odds were seemingly insurmountable, I wouldn''t give up on the dream of true peace. It was a worthy goal and one that deserved every ounce of effort I could muster.
The void of space around me seemed to stretch on forever as I flew towards the Sisters'' location, dwarfing any sense of scale I had previously experienced. Despite the vastness of the cosmos, however, I felt a renewed sense of purpose coursing through my veins. Whatever challengesy ahead, I would face them head-on.
And so, with a heavy heart and unshakable determination, I prepared myself for the cosmic storm that awaited me. Though the shadows of doubt and despair loomed ever closer, I refused to falter. For Earth, for my friends, and for the countless lives hanging in the bnce, I would fight until I couldn''t, but I would not let everything be for nothing.
This was my impossible quest for true peace, and I would see it through to the very end.
Chapter 273 Into the Storm
Chapter 273 Into the Storm
I soared through the darkness of space, propelled by my newfound speed and strength. My goal was clear - confront the Sisters and save my from their wrath. It wasn''t an easy task, but I had grown stronger over time, gathering knowledge and abilities that would help me face these godly beings.
Octavia''s voice echoed in my mind as I drew closer to the site of our uing battle. "Stay focused," she whispered her presence a steady source offort against the building anxiety. It was just the two of us now, with Gaia and Dawn having merged into Venus and Mercury, respectively, to help me in my fight against the Sisters. Their absence was felt deeply; they had been integral parts of my journey so far.
As I neared the ce that I assumed the Sisters wouldnd near the sun, I could see it engulfed in a cosmic storm that raged around its surface. The sight of this infernal storm was both awe-inspiring and terrifying. I knew I had to brace myself for the ferocious gales and celestial disturbances that awaited me within it, but nothing could have prepared me for whaty ahead.
"Octavia," I whispered through our mental connection, seeking reassurance from her vast wisdom as we drew nearer. "What do you think awaits us in there?"
"There''s no way of knowing for sure," she replied solemnly, her voiceced with a hint of apprehension. "The Sisters are ancient beings, born from Tiamat eons ago. Their powers are unmatched, and their malice knows no bounds."
I swallowed nervously before steeling my resolve. "Well, if they want Earth, they''ll have to go through us. We''ll give them one hell of a fight!"
With those words, I plunged into the tempestuous depths of the cosmic storm, bracing myself against the intense forces ripping through space around me. The winds howled like banshees, each gust an icy de that threatened to tear me apart. Sr res exploded all around, creating new hazards at every turn. Yet, my determination remained unwavering.
It seemed like only moments had passed when Octavia''s voice suddenly echoed inside my head with an urgent tone, "Daniel! Can you sense that? A powerful presence is near!"
Her warning sent shivers down my spine as I strained to detect our adversaries amidst the chaos of the storm. And then, a massive single draconic-looking space ship appeared out of almost thin air.
While part of me was awestruck by the massive ship, the other wondered why there was only one?
"Octavia, there''s only one ship," I said with my voice betraying the worry I felt.
"Perhaps it''s a trap," she responded. "Or maybe they''re overconfident and believe that they don''t need their entire fleet to deal with us. Either way, we must remain cautious."
Closing in on the ship, I prepared myself for whatever surprises the Sisters might have in store for me. As I approached the vessel, I could sense the overwhelming power radiating from within its hull.
"This is it," I muttered under my breath. "Let''s do this."
With an unwavering grip on our mission, we maneuvered toward the ship at breakneck speed. As if sensing our arrival, the ship began to open up, revealing a docking bayrge enough to amodate my entry. I couldn''t help but wonder whether this was a gesture of goodwill or anotheryer of their trap.
Regardless, the hesitation wasn''t an option. As I passed through the entrance into the belly of the ship, I noticed several dragons adorned with gold and crimson armor bowing in respect ¨C or fear ¨C towards me as I made my way deeper inside. The air was thick with tension as I continued forward, acutely aware that all eyes were locked on me., ready to see how it would all unfold.
The interior soon opened up into a vast chamber where, amidst dazzling golden d¨¦cor andvish furnishings, stood the formidable figure of Galliadra herself. The powerful dragon looked absolutely regal, her metallic scales shimmering against the soft lighting that illuminated her presence.
I forced myself to maintain eye contact with Galliadra, trying not to let my fear show. We stared each other down, sizing each other up before the battle that was about tomence.
"And so we meet, Daniel," she spoke with a voice like thunder, filled with both disdain and amusement. "I hope you are prepared for the storm that awaits you."
"I am," I replied, my voice steady despite the ever-present fear gnawing at me. "I will do whatever it takes to protect Earth and those I love."
For a moment, she didn''t respond, merely considering me with a predatory gaze. Then, almost imperceptibly, her expression seemed to shift.
"Intriguing," Galliadra mused. "Perhaps this battle will be more interesting than I anticipated. However, know that praise her greatness, the True Goddess, Tiamat, has sent us here for a reason, and we are unstoppable."
"Is that really all you do? Repeat your mother''s name and do whatever she tells you? Just how old are you?" I asked, making the dragon narrow her eyes at me as she looked down at me.
"How dare you?!" Galliadra snarled, her powerful voice echoing throughout the chamber. The fury in her eyes was something to behold ¨C as if she could incinerate me on the spot with nothing but a mere nce. "Our loyalty to Tiamat, the greatest goddess of all time, is unbreakable, and it is through serving Her that we have be the unstoppable force we are today."
I refused to back down, despite the overwhelming rage emanating from her. "I am sure that is what your youngest sister thought, Calishora, but now she is my wife and loves me far more than she ever did your mother. You know that she does not consider you even people. You are nothing more than a part of her that will be absorbed one day. Are you really fine with this?!" I pushed. I was going to fight her, one way or another, so I might as well push as hard as I could to see if there was even a chance for change.
Galliadra''s face contorted with anger, and for a brief moment, I worried that she was about to unleash her full fury upon me then and there. However, just as quickly as it had surfaced, the rage appeared to dissipate, reced by an unnerving calmness.
"Enough," she hissed through gritted teeth, her voice cold and controlled. "You may have swayed one of us away from Tiamat''s path, but your words will not have such an effect on me."
I could sense that pushing her further might only serve to escte the situation, but I couldn''t help but give it one more try. "Galliadra, please listen to me. There''s a chance for a different existence - one where you choose your own destiny instead of blindly following orders from Tiamat."
For a fleeting moment, there seemed to be a hint of doubt in her eyes. However, she quickly masked it with defiance. "You overestimate your ability to influence me," she replied sternly.
"How can we have a meaningful conversation if you''re unwilling to see past the blinders of your loyalty?" I challenged her. "Come on; let''s talk like equals. Take a human form, and maybe we can find somemon ground."
Galliadra hesitated before scoffing dismissively at my suggestion. Taking a deep breath, she acquiesced to my request with a resigned sigh.
Slowly, the powerful dragon began to shrink and morph into a humanoid shape. Her golden scales shifted seamlessly into smooth, glowing skin while crimson streaks ran through her lustrous raven hair. The transformation was nothing short of breathtaking, as Galliadra now stood before me in an imposing yet undeniably beautiful human form.
Her features were chiseled, with high cheekbones and piercing golden eyes that retained their draconic power. Standing tall with an air of regality befitting her status as Tiamat''s daughter, she wore a flowing gown adorned with the same gold and crimson color scheme from her scales. The gown hugged her figure, showcasing her toned physique and entuating her every curve.
Upon her brow rested a golden Licanta, each of the Sisters'' signature crowns that controlled their powers while in humanoid form. Galliadra''s Licanta was intricate and unique, with delicate interwoven patterns forming an ornate design resembling both me-like tendrils and dragon scales. It extended around her head like a wreath, symbolizing her control over fire and time.
This beautiful yet imposing piece couldn''t be more different from the one I had crafted for Calishora. Hers had been simpler and more elegant, reflecting not only her individuality but also the new life we''d built together ¨C free from Tiamat''s grip.
As she looked me up and down from her new perspective, there seemed to be a glimmer of curiosity shining through her stoic facade. Even as she continued to maintain her defensive posture against me, I could tell that our conversation had struck some chord within her.
Despite my intense focus on the seriousness of our meeting, I couldn''t help but admire the stunning transformation before me. The fusion of beauty, power, and regality standing before me reminded me once again of the daunting challenge I faced in convincing her to change sides ¨C or, at the very least, reconsider her blind loyalty to Tiamat.
Chapter 274 Beat Freedom Into You
Chapter 274 Beat Freedom Into You
Galliadra''s eyes narrowed as she assessed me in return. The air between us crackled with tension, a silent standoff that held the promise of either resolution or impending conflict. Octavia''s presence in my mind remained a steady anchor, a source of support as I navigated this delicate negotiation.
"I have taken human form as you requested," Galliadra stated, her voice retaining the echoes of her draconic power. "But know this, Daniel, I am here only to hear what you have to say, not to change my allegiance."
I nodded, acknowledging her stance. "Fair enough. I won''t force you to change, but I want you to understand the consequences of blindly serving Tiamat. She sees you and your sisters as mere extensions of herself. Is that truly the life you want? To be absorbed into her without ever experiencing true individuality?"
"You as act as though I have not lived for an eternity already thanks to Tiamat, praise her name. Why is it so much for her to ask for the life that she gave back after millions, and possibly billions of years?" Galliadra asked in a cold voice, and that made me pause.
It was the first time that any of them, or Tiamat had said anything that made sense. Still, even if they lived millions of years or more, what did that matter if it was never for yourself? While thement struck a chord with me, it also gave me more fuel for the fire I was trying to build.
"Sure, you live till the end of time, but what have you aplished for yourself?" I asked, and Galliadra scoffed at me.
"How can you ask such an arrogant question? I have helped conquer entire gxies! I have watched the rise and fall of countless races, causing many of the downfalls myself!" She growled, but I could tell I was starting to get under her skin, and it was my turn to scoff.
"No, those are your mother''s aplishments. All of those things were done on her orders," I exined, and I could feel the mood of the room starting to shift to hostile, so I asked a question. "If you knew that there was life on another nearby, would you go and end their existence without your mother''s permission?"
Galliadra''s gaze intensified, and for a moment, the air felt charged with the weight of her internal struggle. The question seemed to stir something within her, a conflict between her loyalty to Tiamat and a flicker of individual thought.
"I... I would need to consult with my sisters and seek Tiamat''s guidance," she answered, her voice wavering slightly.
I seized the opportunity, pressing on. "But what if you could make that decision for yourself? Another question, do you actually deep down inside really enjoy killing people? Ending hope?"
"What does any of this matter to you?!" Galliadra finally snapped, and I shrugged.
I seemed to be striking some kind of cord that resonated with her, but her allegiance to her mother was much stronger than her sister had been. Calishora acted tough, but she had been loud, and full of bravado, but her mental state was that of a house of cards. This one was different, but I needed to find out just how different. There was a chance that after we started fighting, there would be no going back, or hope of them changing sides.
"I am curious. Calishora was not a bad person deep down inside, your mother forced her to be that way. So, I am trying to figure out if this is amon theme, or not," I exined, but that only seemed to spark her rage even more.
"My sister was always weak! Do notpare her to me!" Galliadra screamed, her eyes glowing.
Well, this was going about as well as I had imagined, but if there was even a chance I could turn this around on Tiamat, I would pull out every trick in the book to steal these women from that cosmic bitch!
Galliadra''s anger radiated through the chamber, and I could feel the intensity of her emotions. Yet, there was a glimmer of something else in her eyes ¨C a struggle, a conflict that she couldn''t entirely suppress.
"Your sister wasn''t weak. She found strength in choosing her own path, in breaking free from Tiamat''s control," I insisted, my words cutting through the heated atmosphere. "I believe there''s more to you as well, beneath theyers of loyalty forced upon you."
Galliadra clenched her fists, visibly torn between the ingrained loyalty to her mother and the unsettling realization that there might be another way.
"I''ve seen what true individuality can bring ¨C love, connection, a life of your own choosing. It''s not weakness; it''s strength. I''ve witnessed it in Calishora, and I''m convinced it''s not toote for you," I urged, my tone softening.
Her gaze faltered, a flicker of doubt crossing her features. Octavia''s voice echoed in my mind, urging caution but acknowledging the potential breakthrough in our conversation.
"You can be free from Tiamat''s grip, Galliadra. You don''t have to be a pawn in her cosmic game. Choose your own destiny, and I promise, you won''t regret it," I continued, my words a mix of sincerity and determination.
For a moment, the room held its breath, the weight of our words hanging in the air. Then, Galliadra took a step back, her eyes narrowing once again, but this time with a different kind of focus.
"I will not be swayed by your words, Daniel," she dered, her voice regaining its cold edge. "I am a daughter of Tiamat, and my loyalty to her is unshakeable."
I sighed inwardly, recognizing the limits of my influence at this moment. The spark of doubt I had seen in her eyes was there, but it was not enough to ovee the deep-rooted loyalty instilled by eons of servitude.
"Very well, Galliadra. If you choose to continue down this path, then I will just have to beat freedom into you!" I yelled and burst forward as Galliadra started to transform.
Chapter 275 The Clash of Clocks
Chapter 275 The sh of Clocks
The tension in the chamber escted as Galliadra''s anger red, her human form quivering with the intensity of her emotions. I maintained myposure, refusing to be swayed by her outburst. Octavia''s calming presence in my mind offered support, a silent reminder that I had to tread carefully if I wanted to bring about any change in Galliadra''s perspective.
"Galliadra, I don''t mean topare you to Calishora in a negative light. I only seek to understand your individuality, beyond the influence of Tiamat," I said, attempting to diffuse the rising hostility.
She shot me a venomous re, her golden eyes burning with resentment. "You seek to undermine the legacy of our great mother. I won''t allow it!"
Suddenly, I was flung across the room to m into the door I had entered from. I looked up at Galliadra, but her massive dragon form hadn''t moved, or that was what it looked like.
''I am tired of this talk. I only entertained you because of how weak my sister was, and I was curious to know what kind of tactics you used,'' Galliadra spoke in my mind as I dropped back to my feet.
"Tactics? Well, I guess I could try the same thing, but I assumed that each of you would be different," I chuckled, but internally, I was still trying to figure out what just hit me.
For some reason, this seemed to surprise Galliadra, and her massive dragon''s head tipped at me. ''What do you mean?''
Good, we were back to talking, but I knew this wouldst for long. "Yeah, I did try to sweet talk her, but in the end, it wasn''t because of my words that Cali betrayed your mother. Your mother is the one that betrayed Calishora, and was trying to kill her," I exined, but Galliadra started tough, and it was a strange sounding out of a creature as big as she was.
"Do you truly believe your words have any impact on us? We are beings of immense power, molded by Tiamat herself. Your attempts at maniption are futile," Galliadra scoffed, herughter echoing through the chamber.
I took a deep breath, knowing that I needed to try a different approach. "Galliadra, I''m not here to manipte you. I''m here to offer you a choice, a chance at true freedom. Your loyalty to Tiamat doesn''t have to define your existence. You can break free from her control and live a life of your own."
Herughter ceased, and she regarded me with a mixture of scorn and curiosity. "You speak of freedom as if it''s a concept I canprehend. I am a creation of Tiamat, bound to her will. To defy her is to defy my very essence."
And that was the problem. Truthfully, I had tricked Calishora and made Tiamat try to take back what she had given. It was only because I was able to draw both Calishora and Tiamat into my head. I didn''t really think the same thing would work with these sisters.
Calishora had already been a ss house of cards, but I was sure that these sisters were built of stronger stuff. Tiamat would also not be tricked the same way twice, meaning that I needed a new way to deal with these women. Unfortunately, I didn''t think that was going to happen without a fight.
As the realization sank in that words alone might not be enough to sway Galliadra, I prepared for the inevitable confrontation. The room''s atmosphere crackled with an impending sh, and the air seemed to vibrate with the tension between us.
"I had hoped we could find a resolution without resorting to violence, Galliadra. But if that''s the path you choose, then so be it," I dered, my tone firm and resolute.
Galliadra''s eyes red with draconic power, and her imposing figure began to shift back into her fearsome dragon form. The ground beneath me trembled as she roared, signaling the beginning of our battle.
I moved to dash forward, but I was suddenly flying out of the loading bay, and into space. Not only that, but it felt like I had been hit by a truck... no, I had experience with that, and this was clearly worse.
''Daniel! She controls time! I analyzed the first hit, and it was from her tail only tapping you, ording to the data. I still haven''t figured out the information for thest attack, but if her powers are anything like Calishora''s, you are going to have to get some distance from her,'' Octavia ryed to me, and I shot back.
"So, she can slow down time? If it is like Calishora, then there is a limit to its range of effect, but that limit is pretty crazy," I said, remembering how Calishora had mentioned the area of influence was like a sphere, but it could be stretched into a line to dramatically increase its range.
Before I could continue that thought, I put up my hands just before a massive beam of energy sent me flying out into the storm that surrounded us. I hadn''t felt it till the veryst second, but I had felt something, whatever that meant. The cosmic storm raged around me as I struggled to regain control of my trajectory. Octavia''s analysis proved crucial, and I focused on putting distance between Galliadra and myself.
The fact that she could manipte time was not unknown to me. Calishora had exined each of the girl''s powers as best she could during our training. The issue was that no amount of exining could have prepared me for the real thing.
"Is there any way to counter her ability?" I asked, weaving through the cosmic storm.
''I need more information,'' Octavia replied, and I groaned.
"So I need to "Experience" her abilities more, so you can understand them?" I asked, but I suddenly started to slow down.
''She is here!''
I turned my head, but I felt like I was going in slow motion, to face the massive dragon that had just appeared behind me. I wasn''t sure if dragons could smile, but this one was.
"You think that you can get away from me? Time is on my side!" Galliadraughed as my body started to age at a rapid pace.
Chapter 276 Stop Playing Fair
Chapter 276 Stop ying Fair
My brain wasn''t working properly, and it was nearly impossible to think as every part of my body started to age. Besides the pain it was causing, my brain seemed to be forced into some sort of loop that tried to find logic in what was happening.
I tried to move, but my body was sluggish. It was like trying to swim in toothpaste, forck of a better analogy. Not only that, but with my mind screwed up like this, I couldn''t even use any of my abilities.
''Octavia! Do you have enough information yet?! I screamed in my mind, but then suddenly, the pain stopped, and my body returned to normal.
"Huh?" I mouthed and looked at Galliadra, who was still clearly concentrating.
''For some reason, your body still registered you as a human and tried to age you, but your body is made up of energy,'' Octavia replied, and I nodded, focusing on Galliadra, who was starting to look frustrated.
''What are you doing?! How can you block my powers?!'' Galliadra screamed into my mind, and I grinned.
"I think we are a bad match-up," I chuckled, but Galliadra started to suck in energy to her mouth.
"Watch out. Energy or not, that energy she is collecting will disrupt your own energy. While you don''t have cells, the radiation from the cosmic storm,bined with the disruption from her energy absorption, could still have adverse effects on you," Octavia warned.
"Great," I muttered, realizing that this battle was going to be more challenging than I had initially anticipated.
Galliadra released the energy she had absorbed in the form of a powerful beam, and I quickly dodged, narrowly avoiding the destructive force. The energy beam tore through the cosmic storm, creating a temporary rupture that sent shockwaves reverberating through space.
As I evaded the attack, I noticed Galliadra''s frustration growing. It seemed that my resistance to her time-manipting abilities and my ability to avoid her attacks was irking her. However, I couldn''t afford to letcency set in; I needed a n to turn the tide of the battle.
"Octavia, any ideas on how to counter her abilities?" I asked, trying to maintain focus while dodging another barrage of energy beams.
''She primarily maniptes time, but that has no effect on your body, but it can still slow you down. We still don''t know what else she is capable of, besides her ability to gather energy and spit it back out at you. I think your best bet is to try and close the gap and restrain her," Octavia exined as I flew as fast as I could to avoid getting vaporized by the beam pouring out of Galliadra''s mouth that seemed unending.
Easier said than done. I took all of my concentration just to keep ahead of the beam of blinding light that was chasing me. Unlike Calishora, who seemed to only be able to st off the atoms mashing beams at a time, and needed to recharge, Galliadra was like a goddamn garden hose!
Garden hose...? Wait! If she was spitting it out like this nonstop, then I had to being from somewhere not inside of her!
''Where is she getting that energy from?'' I asked, already knowing the answer.
''The sun? Where else would she be getting it from?'' Octavia asked, and I nodded to myself, turning from the sun.
''The first step is getting away from the sun then," I returned as I swerved from the beam that was still chasing me.
Getting farther away wasn''tpletely helpful, since the beam could still reach me, but it was much easier to evade at this range. The only problem was that I didn''t have a way to fight her. I tried to send my own st of energy at her, but Galliadra just absorbed them, adding more fuel to the nonstop beam.
''This is beyond annoying!'' Iined.
''I can agree with you, but that won''t help you. I need more information about her. The scans I can make from here are all blocked by whatever is absorbing all your energy, so I need you to get closer,'' Octavia exined, and I let out a huff.
"Just get closer to her, she says," I muttered, but in the vacuum of space, no sounds of myints were heard.
Just how the hell was I supposed to get closer without getting de-atomized? I had hoped that pulling some range would have made her follow me, but she clearly saw through that. I had put myself in an even more precarious spot since I needed to get closer now.
I really felt frustrated. I hade into this fight knowing it was going to be hard. I was only at a quarter of my strength, but I had assumed the sun would make up for it. Instead, my own strength was being turned against me.
''What is wrong? Are you trying to run away?'' Galliadra taunted me, making me growl internally, but then I remembered something.
During my fight with Calishora, I hadn''t won by just beating her down. There was another aspect of the fight that I had forgotten about. The girl''s loyalty to Tiamat. While I couldn''t convince Galliarda toe over to my side yet, I could still use her loyalty to their mother against them like I had with Calishora.
I had been looking at this like some fair fight between two honorable people, but I was not that. I was trying to save the people that I loved, and the world that I lived in. That meant I couldn''t y fair, and it was stupid for me to even try.
Sensing my thoughts, Octavia spoke up. ''What are you thinking?''
''Having all this power and responsibilities has made me mature, I think. I need to go back to the way I was when I fought Cali, and really start getting under this woman''s skin. I think it is time to start poking the bear,'' I replied as a grin spread across my face.
Chapter 277 Provoking the Dragon
Chapter 277 Provoking the Dragon
With determination in my heart, I altered my approach. Instead of trying to engage Galliadra in a direct confrontation, I decided to tap into the psychological warfare that had proven effective against Calishora. If I couldn''t defeat her physically, I would aim for her emotions and exploit the chinks in her mental armor.
''Octavia, I''m switching tactics. I need you to feed me information about Galliadra''s past, her memories, and anything that might stir emotions or doubt in her. Let''s see if we can exploit the emotional vulnerabilities hidden beneath her draconic exterior,'' I conveyed through our mental link.
''I''ll do my best, but it won''t be easy. Her mind is heavily shielded, and essing her memories may provoke a stronger response from her,'' Octavia warned, and I nodded, ready for the challenge.
As I continued to evade the relentless energy beam, Octavia delved into Galliadra''s memories, searching for anything that could potentially sway her allegiance or at least distract her momentarily. The cosmic storm around us became the backdrop to this mental battle, an arena where willpower shed with emotions.
Images shed through my mind ¨C glimpses of Galliadra''s experiences, her interactions with Tiamat, and moments that defined her long existence. I sifted through the memories, looking for emotional triggers that might resonate with her. Meanwhile, Galliadra continued her relentless assault, seemingly unfazed by my attempts to probe her past.
Suddenly, a barricade pped between our minds, and a vision of Tiamat filled my view. I had expected this, but I had left the connection open for her toe to me. Unfortunately, she didn''t take the bait.
''So, you think that you can look for weakness? You think that I would let you infect another one of my children? Who do you think that you are dealing with, Bright One?'' Tiamat asked me calmly in my mind with a smirk on her draconic face.
I had to keep moving since the attacks from Galliadra weren''t stopping. ''I see that you are doing well, Lady Smelly Crack!"
''What did you just call me? Do you not understand your position here?" Tiamat growled at me, then tipped her snout up. "You cannot win against Galliadra. Even if she stops her beam, and your body can withstand the time dtion, she will slow you down too greatly. You will die before your body ever has a chance to react!"
I almost wanted tough out loud, but this is what overconfidence does to a person. Currently, I was at least three times stronger than when I fought Calishora, but that was thanks to being so close to the sun. The n was to make them think that this was my maximum current strength, and it seemed to be working, probably.
''Thank you, Great Queen Needs a Cat... Or is it a Pile of Scat? I always get your name mixed up! Anyways, what''s up? Just here for a mental chit chat while I steal your girl?" I taunted, trying to get her to bridge the gap to try and mentally attack me. Sadly, she seemed to have learned a thing or two from our previous exchanges and didn''t engage me like before.
''You underestimate the power of Tiamat. You may have swayed one of my daughters, but Galliadra is a different matter. She is resolute in her loyalty, and your attempts to manipte her emotions will prove futile,'' Tiamat asserted, her voice dripping with disdain.
I kept moving, evading Galliadra''s attacks while maintaining the mental banter with Tiamat. ''You know, I''ve always wondered ¨C is being a tyrant and controlling others really fulfilling? You''ve had eons to rule andmand, yet your children are rebelling against you. Is that the legacy you want to leave?''
A low growl echoed through the mental space. ''You dare question my choices? You, a mere mortal with a fleeting existence. I am the True Goddess and my rule is absolute.''
''Funny, you say that, but your daughters seem to be finding their own paths. Calishora chose love over blind loyalty, and now I''m here, offering Galliadra a chance to break free. Your grip may not be as tight as you think,'' I retorted, hoping to nt the seeds of doubt in Tiamat''s mind.
''Not every version of yourself is good, and some are even useless. If I can say anything about what happened with Calishora, it showed that side of me was too weak. Her mass was less than a single. Do you understand just how little of me was lost to learn such a valuable lesson? A single drop of my blood will create another version of me, recing her, forever,'' Tiamat exined as I tried to get closer to Galliadra, but failed time and time again.
Something about this felt very off. Tiamat sounded far more like the Goddess I had expected her to be, not so childish as in my previous talks with her. It was almost like she had been ying me this entire time. She had let me think that I held some kind of advantage.
''That is a fair assessment of things,'' Octavia echoed in my mind, snapping me from my worries. ''There is a good chance that is exactly what she has been doing. The fact that you were able to get even one part of her on your side is impressive, but I think it was only because she underestimated you.''
And now the tables we turned. Still, I had no choice but to continue with my n. Death was not the end for me, but this was not painting a pretty picture of the future.
I forcefully cut off the connection to Tiamat and pulled some distance from Galliadra. ''I guess that I am just going to have to go for it, but I do think we will have a better chance with Venus to defeat Galliadra. I will try to get closer, but I think we''ll be dead if I get within a kilometer of her. They have been ying with us, and I am sure Tiamat wants her to kill me as soon as possible.''
''Do you have any other ns?'' Octavia asked, and I mentallyughed.
''Hope that you can feed me enough data before I let the storm take over. I have no to control here, so most of my powers are useless without material. I am going to have to hope that letting the Great Red Eye loose on her will at least do some kind of damage. You will be sent back to earth, but memories and energy will be sent back to the next body, and I can n a better counterattack from there,'' I exined, and I felt Octavia nod.
The n wasn''t perfect, but things were not looking good. Galliadra was not even trying from what I could tell, just belting out a constant stream of cosmic energy. What would "trying" look like?
''How long will you fly around like an... what do you call it? Insect?'' Galliadra taunted, trying to reverse the tables on me.
Her words fueled my determination. It was time to execute the next phase of my n. I needed to get close enough to Galliadra to unleash the power of the storm within me. My mind raced as I plotted my course through the chaotic cosmic storm.
"Hey, Galliadra! Is that the best you''ve got?" I taunted, drawing her attention. "I thought you were supposed to be a powerful dragon, not some oversized cosmic fire hose!"
Her eyes narrowed, and the intensity of the energy beam increased. I could feel the heat and pressure building as I skillfully maneuvered through the storm, dodging the relentless assault. Galliadra seemed to be getting more frustrated, and that was exactly what I wanted.
''Keep her attention on you, Daniel. I''m almost done gathering the necessary information,'' Octavia informed me through our mental link.
I continued to y the part of the elusive target, leading Galliadra further away from the sun. The cosmic storm created a mesmerizing disy of celestial chaos around us, but I remained focused on my goal. As Galliadra pursued me, I seized the opportunity to speak directly into her mind.
''Galli, is this really what you want? To be a puppet controlled by Tiamat, endlessly spewing energy without purpose? There''s so much more to life than blindly following orders. I''ve seen it in your sister, Calishora. She found a way to break free, to choose her own path. You can too.''
I knew it was a long shot, but I had to try. Galliadra''s response was a surge of anger that resonated through the mental link.
''You darepare me to that weakling? I am a loyal servant of Tiamat, and my purpose is to fulfill her will!'' she roared in my mind.
As Galliadra''s frustration grew, I detected a shift in her focus. It was a subtle opening, an opportunity to close the distance without being immediately obliterated by the constant energy barrage. Taking a deep breath, I made my move, darting toward Galliadra with all the speed I could muster.
''Now, Octavia!'' I mentally shouted, and the lights went out as I gave up control of my body, and Octavia''s energy was shot back to earth.
Daniel''s body stopped, and Galliadra''s beam of cosmic energy mmed into him. Instead of incinerating him, the cosmic energy was absorbed directly into his body. Galliadra stopped her breath and focused on the insect that should have been dead.
His body was covered in red energy that flickered off him like a burning me, and he was looking at his hands with a strange expression.
''What was going on?'' Galliadra mused.
Within Daniel''s body, the Great Red Eye was getting used to the feeling of having a body. The energy he had just received felt good, thanks to the proper calction the Eye and Octavia had made just before the switch.
"Who are you?" Daniel''s body asked out loud.
Even in the empty void of space, Galliadra heard it clearly. Something was different about this creature now. ''Mother? What is this thing?''
Tiamat was silent for a moment before responding. ''It is old, but even this change is not enough to defeat you. Stick to the n. Even if we kill Daniel, he is no different than you. He is a part of Star Child, just like you are part of me. Your mission is to make sure that Earth, and every human on it is destroyed,'' Tiamat responded, before another long pause.
''I can''t kill him, but as he has done to me, I shall do to him. Take everything from him, destroy every scrap of earth and its people. As much as I want him to suffer, I do not want to give the Gideon anymore than they will have already gained. I also expect them to leave before we get there, but Korrenka will hunt them down,'' Tiamat instructed, and Galliadra mentally nodded, turning her focus back to Daniel.
''It will be done, Great Mother of All, Tiamat.''
Chapter 278 The Unleashed Storm
Chapter 278 The Unleashed Storm
As the Great Red Eye settled into control of Daniel''s body, a surge of power emanated from him. The red energy that enveloped Daniel''s form intensified, swirling and pulsating with an otherworldly force. Galliadra, unsure of the sudden change, maintained her guard, ready to unleash another onught of cosmic energy.
''Daniel?'' she questioned, her voice filled with uncertainty.
The Great Red Eye, now in control, looked at Galliadra with an intensity that sent shivers down her draconic spine. "I am the Great Red Eye, the storm that consumes worlds and redefines existence. I am the harbinger of cosmic annihtion."
Galli, taken aback by the deration, tightened her grip on her powers. ''What madness is this? Tiamat, what has he unleashed upon us?"
Tiamat''s voice echoed in Galliadra''s mind, cold andmanding. ''He is a force that transcends your understanding. A power born from the chaos of the cosmos. Embrace it, for it is the key to our victory.''
The Great Red Eye floated in the vacuum of space, its crimson glow piercing through the cosmic storm. With a subtle motion of Daniel''s hand, the energy around him condensed, forming into ethereal tendrils that reached out toward Galliadra. It was a disy of power that defied thews of reality, a manifestation of the storm''s raw might.
With the confidence gained from her mother''s words, Galliadra focused her Time Distortion abilities into a tube to extend the range. The shape captured Daniel''s form, and the red tendrils, but didn''t slow them, or cause any aging effects to his body.
''What is this?! Why are my powers not working?!'' Galliadra raged in her mind as she released her ability so she could retreat from the tendrils, but they suddenly sped up.
Tiamat, watching from Galliadra''s mind, clicked her tongue in displeasure. She was about to lose another one of her children to this creature''s traps! Tiamat had yed the fool to see the extent of Daniel''s powers, but there always was more!
''Retreat if you can, if not, do not let him have you,'' Tiamat ordered, then asked, "You know what this means, right?"
Panic. For the first time in her life that stretched over the eons, she understood what the word meant. Her mother was telling her that she would have to kill herself if she was caught.
''Why don''t you send Korrenka to help me? Where is Lindemia?!'' Gilliadria pleaded as she rushed to her ship with the tendrils close behind.
Tiamat''s response was cold and calcted. ''Lindemia is upied with other matters, and Korrenka is tasked with hunting down the real Daniel. You must handle this yourself. Do not fail me.''
Galliadra, now in her ship, activated its defenses, creating a powerful barrier to shield herself from the approaching tendrils. The Great Red Eye, however, seemed undeterred. The tendrils adapted, shifting their form to prate through the barriers with ease.
''No, no, no! Mother, help me!'' Galliadra desperately pleaded, realizing the gravity of her situation. Tiamat, unmoved by her daughter''s distress, continued to observe with a sense of detachment.
''You are a dragon of power and loyalty. Face this trial with dignity,'' Tiamat instructed, her voice echoing through Galliadra''s mind.
Meanwhile, the program Octavia had startedpleted its data gathering and analyzed the vulnerabilities in Galliadra''s mental defenses. They began to feed information into the Great Red Eye''s consciousness, exploiting the doubts and insecurities hidden within Galliadra''s memories, but the storm didn''t care.
The Great Red Eye had only agreed to capture this sliver of a god. He cared nothing for the creature''s feelings and didn''t care if it came alive or in essence. His new master could give her a new body.
With the tendrils closing in, Galliadra''s ship was rapidly losing its defenses. Desperation gripped her as she considered her limited options. In a final act of defiance, she gathered thest of her energy and channeled it into a concentrated burst aimed at the approaching tendrils.
The Great Red Eye absorbed the energy effortlessly, its crimson glow intensifying. "Your efforts are futile, dragon. I am the storm that devours all resistance."
Galli''s ship, now defenseless, was engulfed by the tendrils. The Great Red Eye''s power surged through the vessel, destabilizing its molecr structure. Galliadra, realizing the impending doom, desperately reached out to Tiamat once more.
''Mother, please! Spare me from this fate!'' she pleaded.
Tiamat''s response was unwavering. ''You chose this path, my daughter. ept the consequences.''
As the tendrilspleted their assimtion of Galliadra''s ship, the Great Red Eye absorbed the dragon''s essence. The dragon didn''t resist, and a burst of red energy expanded outward, momentarily illuminating the cosmic storm. Galliadra''s presence, once powerful and resolute, was extinguished.
The Great Red Eye, having pulled the essence of Galliadra into the Memory Crystal, turned its attention back to the cosmic storm. The tendrils, havingpleted their task, retracted into the swirling mass of energy surrounding Daniel''s body.
"My purpose is done," the Great Red Eye breathed, its voice echoing with a strange fusion of Daniel''s and the storm''s presence.
Instantly, Daniel''s body burst into light and shot into the distance towards Venus.
Tiamat was furious.
"Another useless, weak, pathetic part of me," Tiamat raged, reaching out into the cosmos to grab one of her ve worlds.
The celestial body was pulled towards her, and with a mighty roar, Tiamat devoured it. The Great Mother of All sought sce in her dominion, attempting to fill the void left by Galliadra''s demise.
"Why must all my children be so useless?!" Tiamat roared, but her scream was cut off.
"I will give my life in a heartbeat for you, Greatest mother ever! Tiamat!" Korrenka chimed in, her face appearing before the angry Tiamat.
Seeing the one child that was most loyal to her calmed Tiamat. Normally, Korrenka''s pandering was another to the Great Mother, but today it was wee.
"What do you have to report?" Tiamat asked, and an image of what should be a appeared, but there was something wrong with it. "Why does it look like that?"
"No clue, but a light just shot into it, and it looks like it is waking up," Korrenka replied, and Tiamat focused on it.
The in question, Venus, was not covered in dirt, but massive metal sections. As Tiamat observed the, she studied the intricate details of the mechanical structure. The''s surface had shifted, revealing a vastwork of metallic tes, gears, and intricate machinery beneath. Massive pistons and hydraulic systems extended across the''s surface, creating a mesmerizing disy of technologicalplexity.
The entire mechanized structure seemed to pulsate with energy, giving off an otherworldly glow. As Tiamat continued to watch, the variousponents of the mechanized Venus began to move in a synchronized dance, each part contributing to the intricate transformation.
The outeryers of the folded and shifted, revealing humanoid shapes emerging from the metallic depths. Limbs extended, joints articted, and a colossal figure started to take form. It was a gigantic robot, its features resembling a fusion of advanced technology and celestial design.
The robot''s eyes glowed with a fierce intensity, and intricate patterns adorned its metallic surface, reminiscent of ancient runes. As the transformation nearedpletion, the colossal robot stood tall, radiating power and an aura of otherworldly sophistication.
"Looks like that massive thing is my target, right?" Korrenka asked, and Tiamat nodded.
"Treat this as a level 2 Baul ss Gideon Mechanized Armor. The abilities will be different, but you will be able to use its size against it. You have my permission to absorb all the units that you brought with you, and I am sending Galliadra''s to you as we speak," Tiamat exined, and her daughter nodded.
"Thank you, Great Mother. How long until they arrive?" Korrenka asked as she sent the order for her legions to prepare for assimtion.
"They will take three hours," Tiamat said, then asked, "I assume you will have the fight done before that?"
"Yes, Great Mother! I will not be like my other sisters! You can count on me, or I will give my life in your name!" Korrenka replied with fervor, and her screen vanished, leaving Tiamat to stew.
There was still one more child to check on.
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