Defiance of the Fall

Chapter 115: Going home

Thomas Fischer looked down toward the sprawling city of New Washington from the window of his large office.

“What is your opinion, Julia?” he asked as he turned around to the two people sitting by his desk.

“The man calling himself Monk is clearly a high ranker. It might be bluster but he looked at our warriors as though they were jokes, and that was after he used [Eye of Discernment] on them,” she reported.

“My guess? He’s actually the Super Brother-Man,” she concluded.

“Bah, the Super-Brother Man is a true monster. We still don’t understand how he is increasing in power that quickly since he’s in the top of all the ladders. That man was strong, but he clearly knew very little, to the point that he might not actually be a cultivator,” a sturdy-looking general next to Julia said with contempt as he looked at a TV that showed the meeting between Monk and Julia. “You just want to finally get a high ranker to join to validate your little experimental department, even if you have to make things up.”

Julia frowned but looked stubborn.

“He gave off the feeling of blood and barely restrained power. Besides, we suspect that Salvation is staying put in Cradle of God. He punched away John like he was a ragdoll, and never seemed overly worried about his situation in the middle of a military compound,” she retorted.

“Anyone in this room could do the same with John, and besides he was agitated and didn’t have proper form. I heard he was riddled with openings, so the feat was nothing special,” the general said with a harrumph.

“As for blocking the investigation skill of Sargeant Miller, a fractal flashed on his forehead during the test. He likely possesses a skill to protect his identity. Our conclusion is that he might actually pretend to be the Super Brother-Man or some other top ranker as a protective measure.

“And look, it worked. You let him walk scot-free after committing crimes in broad daylight. That kind of favoritism will make the government lose their footing and respect,” the general concluded.

Thomas only sighed and mulled it over.

“For now it does not matter whether he is Super Brother-Man or a fake, he is here now and it’s an all hands on deck situation. If our plan works he and the others will be at the auction in two weeks, and we will find out more at that time” he concluded, and both the advisors nodded in agreement.

“Do we still know the whereabouts of the other parties that have arrived through the teleporter?”

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Zac walked along a wide road of New Washington. It was an interesting town, as it felt it was either undergoing extremely rapid industrialization or a real degradation. The old, but modern, buildings were partly dismantled, making room for thick spiked walls and fortifications. The occasional car actually zoomed past him but seeing it was a rarity.

Zac doubted that the government actually had managed to start pumping for oil already, so gasoline should be finite. But it might actually last surprisingly long it would last with a large part of the population missing and dead, and fewer people driving due to safety concerns.

Since he learned the news of his hometown he was itching to move, but Emily had told him about the importance of information brokers so he was currently on the way to an information market, just to compare the info they got from the government liaison. Julia seemed to have been upfront, but Zac wasn’t the best judge of that. After having asked around in various shops and from shady looking people he entered a non-descript office building some ways off from any main road.

There was no electricity in the building and the first four floors were deserted. However, as he reached the fifth floor it was cleaned and manned. A beautiful young lady sat at a reception desk, smiling at him as he entered, almost giving the feeling that this was a normal corporation. The gruff-looking and armed guards to the side, and the fact that it only was dimly lit from candles, somewhat ruined the feeling though.

“Welcome to the House of Whispers,” the lady said with a smile.

“Uh… Yeah,” Zac said a bit hesitant, feeling that the owner of this information dealership was trying a bit hard with a name like that. “I’m here to buy some information?”

“Certainly, we take payment in either Nexus Crystals or Nexus Coins. Unfortunately, we do not accept Union Credits, is that all right?” the receptionist answered.

Union Credits was a new global currency that the government was trying to introduce. They were unwilling to let go of control the financial system and tried quite hard to give it credibility. They maintained a 1:1 exchange ratio with Nexus Coins, and even had exchange station set up across the town. However, their success seemed limited, as even in New Washington many places seemed to prefer the System-run currencies.

Zac only nodded and was shown to a small room where a clean-cut looking man in a suit soon entered. What followed wasn’t any stealthy meeting where secret notes were passed, but a surprisingly unexciting transaction. Zac listed the information he needed, and the information broker simply quoted a price if he possessed the information.

After Zac agreed upon the price, a text document was shown containing the information. Apparently, they usually put it on an USB-drive, but since Zac didn’t have one at the moment he bought one for five Nexus Crystals from the broker.

All in all Zac paid roughly 6 000 Nexus Coins to confirm all the information he learned earlier. He also had the broker download a copy of the government map onto the USB drive.

“We also have a missive on the Rankers in case you are interested. Some of the data is acquired from the government and some from our own investigations. It even has the names of the Top Ten on the Ishiate ladder. Only Ten thousand Nexus Coins,” the broker added with a smile.

It sounded pretty interesting to Zac and it wasn’t very expensive, so he nodded and the broked added another file to the drive.

Finally he bought some information about the rulers and the state of Greenworth. Since the town was somewhat close to here the report was pretty detailed, and as Zac read through it his eyebrows scrunched up.

According to the missive there were five decently powerful people that held control over roughly half the city, whereas the New Government was in control of the other. However, the government officials in Greenworth were essentially corrupt puppets for the cultivators, giving them almost a complete grasp of the town.

According to reports things were in a far better state compared to how they were like in a place like Fort Roger, but it was a place where many died ignoble deaths. Zac was in no mood to continue buying any information, and simply took the USB drive and made to leave.

“Since you’ve spent a fair deal of coins at our establishment I’ll give you a freebie. There is something going on with the Auction in two weeks. The government seems to be luring strong people there. Your party is only the 5th that has arrived through the teleporter in the last week. Do with that information what you will,” the man said with a smile.

Zac stopped for a second and nodded in thanks, after that he left. He wasn’t soo surprised they knew he came through the teleporter. They clearly had some men on the inside in the government providing them with information.

He made a beeline toward the south, only briefly stopping to purchase a laptop from a street vendor who had them piled on the road. Zac guessed that they were simply taken from empty homes and reinstalled.

After that he finally left town, preferring to run rather than finding some vehicle. He felt he was likely faster compared to a car anyways with the roads being gone. The first hour or so was pretty uneventful, but soon he was starting to get accosted by beasts.

Some were mutated versions of anything living in forests, from snakes to boars. Even a few large birds tried to snatch him up. Some were things he’d never seen before, likely additions from the other planets. Still it was clear they were beasts from their behavior.

It was far more chaotic than he was used to on the island, where the barghest were everywhere, and the biggest surprise you could get was the occasional imp. On the mainland, he was sometimes attacked by level ten boars and the next hour a level fifty eagle. Zac was starting to understand why he barely saw anyone after he left the town.

He thought he would see far more humans out hunting to gain levels, but he barely saw anyone after traveling for a while. But it made sense since it was just so random out here. For Zac it wasn’t very dangerous, but for most people death lurked behind every corner. If he was in a town when the integration happened he’d likely have stayed within the safe walls and done various tasks to gain Nexus Coins. And with those Nexus Coins buy Crystals that could be used to level up.

But that very mindset had put humanity in a passive state. The government was more concerned about consolidating their power, rather than combatting the real threat. The undead incursion was already as large as a country, and the others were growing as well. He heard no news of any incursion except his being defeated, but there were some rumors going about the city about some Marshall Clan being about to fight one.

The undead situation was one of the most troubling ones, as they were one of the forces that simply unceasingly devoured everything until a planet was sucked clean and all its inhabitants were killed. He still remembered their description from the information crystal he got from Ogras long ago.

Still, Zac was only one person, and he possessed no means to stop the invasion at the moment. Even if he went running over there and started swinging away it would barely make a dent since they already had created millions and millions of Zombies.

Zac put those depressing thoughts out of his head and refocused on his journey. The first step was to find his family, after that he’d have to figure out how to keep them safe. He knew that he’d have to get involved with the incursions sooner or later, but not today.

He kept pushing forward for a few days, following the guidance of the information he bought. He had long since learned how to charge electronics with his energy, and could essentially keep a laptop going indefinitely if he held it in his lap. After the first day the town was marked on his Automatic Map though, so he could put away the computer.

Along the way he saw some small towns. Most of them seemed deserted by now, only empty husks remaining. Zac didn’t know whether the inhabitants were killed or just moved to larger towns for security, but it gave a very eerie feeling. But after three days on the road he started seeing some familiar architecture.

He had finally reached his home.