Chapter 333: The Underworld Council (1/2)

Things went quite smoothly after the bodyguards were subdued. The leaders of the Union were swiftly captured and imprisoned as the forces of Port Atwood were called over. Ogras wanted to summarily execute everyone to make an example, but Zac decided on a proper investigation and trial.

The Union was a huge enterprise, and it soon became obvious that not everyone was aware of the slave trade, even at the top. In fact, in the meeting that Zac interrupted, it wasn’t obvious that it was a slave camp they lost, but it was rather called a mining camp. Everyone had known about the trade with the invaders, but many thought they were using raw materials rather than people as a currency.

When Zac explained the situation with the slaves, everyone professed their ignorance of the matter, staunchly arguing that they only dealt with traditional business ventures. But as the days passed Calrin and his gnomes easily unraveled who was guilty and benefitted through the revenue streams, and with the interrogations that a shrouded Ogras led they soon had a full picture of what was going on.

As for the normal employees of the Union, things went even smoother than Zac could ever have expected. Verana had been proven right. The moment they started to release the news that they only wanted to deal with the brass because of the slave trade, the normal workers quickly calmed down.

There were a few that fled and disappeared among the large population, either for fear of the unknown, or perhaps because they had done something they were afraid would be unearthed. But most happily went about their days, especially after Zac increased the general salaries by 25%.

But taking charge of the sprawling entity that was the Union wouldn’t take just a day or two. There were so many businesses with complicated relationships, and dozens of strategic resources to inspect. Luckily they had the whole network in their hands already.

The Union had used the same type of system as the New World Government, with one Lord creating a hub for all the mayors in the network. It wasn't clear who the true Lord was, but many believed it to be Little Treasure who had fled before Zac made his entrance. And since he even didn't stay behind to defend his domain when their headquarters was assaulted the whole system was immediately awarded to Zac as the assaulting Lord.

Zac himself was mostly uninterested in the practical proceedings and rather focused on the massive archives of intelligence that the Union had gathered the past months. Their secret intelligence dossiers on the demonkin and human Incursions were probably even more thorough than the Council’s due to their frequent encounters.

He knew he had to deal with the Demon Incursion as quickly as possible, but he was a bit unsure of what to do. The reason he came here in his undead form was to level up his Undead Class, but after his recent battles he felt there were some clear limitations to his Undying Bulwark Class as it currently stood.

Most of his skills were aimed at keeping himself alive, with [Deathwish] being his only offensive skill along with his learned skill [Unholy Strike]. He still kept training his utilization of the Dao every day with the trinket, but it would be some time until he could activate [Cyclic Strike].

The lack of offensive and movement skills made his impact on a battlefield limited. It was not like a video game, he didn’t have any taunt skills that forced all enemies to attack him. The moment the invaders realized he was a tough nut to crack they could simply assault his allies, completely circumventing both [Deathwish] and [Immutable Bulwark]. His whole plan was for naught if his gained levels came at the cost of the lives of his friends.

But as he read through the stacks of intelligence of the Underworld he found a possible solution to his problem in one of the scouting reports. But before he had time to send for the person who submitted this report a Valkyrie knocked on the door to the office he had commandeered for himself.

“I am sorry to disturb you,” the Valkyrie said after entering. ”Some ambassadors from the Underworld Council is here, what do you want to do?”

“So they came after all. Took them longer than we expected. Have Joanna and Sap Trang join me in Conference Room C,” Zac said as he donned his mask.

He had kept his modified appearance throughout the visit, but he only wore the mask when in public. As he walked through the richly decorated halls he sighed in wonder. Most of the original interiors remained, but most electrical functions had been swapped out with day crystals. It was an interesting mix of the old old world and the post-integration era, and it actually meshed quite well.

The old fisherman and Joanna joined him soon after he sat down at the ornate table, and just minutes later three warriors entered the room. It was two humans and one of the molemen, each of them radiating even stronger auras than the bodyguards of the union. And it was clear that this power came from battle rather than absorbing crystals and eating pills.

The female moleman especially gave off the aura of a powerhouse, and Zac realized that she might be at the same level as someone like Thea. It was to the point that he was a bit tempted to use [Inquisitive Eye], but he knew that it would likely fail or even backfire. The other two were likely rankers as well, or at worst just shy of making the cut.

One of the humans was a middle-aged man that was built like a bear with a large sword on his back. With his large bushy beard he gave off the aura of a brute, but an intelligent light in his eyes indicated he wasn’t all brawn. The other human was an old lady with graying hair. She didn’t have any distinguishing items on her, but two snowballs slowly rotated around her, meaning she was likely some sort of ice mage.

The moleman had two large daggers fastened to her waist, and from the aura they emitted Zac realized they were actually one Spirit Tool. Spirit Tools that were split into dual items were far harder to create from what Zac understood, making them as rare as defensive Spirit Tools, or perhaps even rarer.

That this rogue had gotten her hands on such a good item proved once more she had survived some trials and found her lucky encounters, just like him. The only way she could have gotten such a good item was if she completed some harsh quest from the system.

It was clear that the Underworld Council hadn’t sent some middlemen to meet with him, but rather some of their core warriors.

“Welcome,” Sap Trang said with a kindly smile. “I am Sap Trang, ambassador of Port Atwood. This is Joanna, leader of the Valkyries, and lastly Mr. Black. We apologize for not getting in contact with the Underworld Council sooner, our time down here has been a bit hectic.”

“I’d say,” the large man said with a wry smile. “I am-“

“Wait,” the moleman interjected, looking at Zac with animosity. “You are no human. You are not one of the four founding races. You reek of death, and not like a warrior.”

Zac was a bit surprised that his origin was immediately exposed by the moleman. Not even the people of Port Atwood knew he wasn’t human. They just thought he had gotten some odd class like Death Knight, which gave him such a spooky aura.