Chapter 342: An Easy Gig (1/2)
“I am not really part of Firmament’s Edge,” the alien wept. “My company was just one of many contracted by them to scan newly integrated planets. I just wanted to use their name to make you back down.”
Zac couldn’t help but shake his head at the Technocrat’s bad luck. Perhaps Firmament’s Edge was a terrifying existence in the multiverse, but unfortunately for the alien Zac was perhaps the only Draugr who had never heard of them before.
“Who is the traitor you mentioned? What were you looking for?” Zac asked.
“I don’t know,” the Alien wheezed, but his eyes widened in horror when black smoke started to emanate from the corner of Zac’s mouth. “I swear, I don’t! We were all given scanning equipment before being transported. We were simply supposed to immediately report back if the equipment found whatever they were looking for.”
It was a huge relief to Zac that it seemed as though the true leaders of the Technocrats hadn't been warned off by the silver ball that was lying next to the alien. Zac gazed at it for a second before he reached over and crushed it in his fist, twisting it beyond redemption.
“Then why did you mention a traitor?” Zac asked with a scowl after turning back to the dying Technocrat.
“It’s a rumor my boss heard. A top person in Firmament’s Edge stole something extremely valuable and fled to unintegrated territory. But small people like us have no way of finding out the details. If we did, our home planets would get incinerated in a heartbeat,” the alien winced.
Zac kept pushing for more answers, but the alien started to become rambling and incoherent in less than a minute. His brain was breaking down like the rest of his body, and Zac ended his life with a merciful swing.
He did, however, manage to find out a few more tidbits. The hidden incursion in the underworld was truly a Technocrat Incursion, and it was controlled by a small corporation attached to the Technocrat faction. They only possessed five E-grade warriors, the foreman of the company along with four cultivator bodyguards.
Better yet, it seemed that The System truly had it out for the Technocrats because it essentially confiscated any and all advanced technology that they tried to sneak to Earth. Only minor items without destructive capabilities or components that needed massive amounts of refinement were allowed through, but at exorbitant cost.
Most of their time had been spent building their base since they essentially needed to produce everything from scratch. Of course, the Technocrat’s name wasn’t just for show, and they already had production lines for all essentials they needed for their mission.
They had created an arsenal of weaponry with the help of the plentiful minerals and crystals in the underworld, creating an impervious defense. Even the two dangerous drones had been created almost from scratch on Earth, proving how great their capabilities were. Luckily they required a few hard to make components that limited their number. But still, rooting them out would be far harder than their low levels indicated.
He also learned that time was of the essence. The technocrats had been arduously digging toward the surface the past three months, not resting a second after they finally managed to manufacture a monstrous machine that was strong enough to rip through the reinforced ground. They expected to be able to reach the surface in less than two weeks, at which point they would set up some massive scanning device they had brought.
Zac couldn’t let them reach the surface. His amulet was spotted even though it was inside a Cosmos Sack, proving the quality of the scanning devices Firmament’s Edge possessed. Unfortunately, the alien had no idea how the tools worked or the limits of their capabilities.
He only knew that they couldn't send transmissions through space since the System blocked them. But they might be able to find anything that Leandra had ever touched. Or even worse, they might find Kenzie even if she stayed within the Mystic Realm.
The Technocrat company that had arrived on earth hadn’t expected to find anything and only saw the Incursion as an easy gig. They would arrive at the planet, scan it with the items, steal some resources, and then return to get paid by Firmament’s Edge.
They had only brought a small crew of mostly non-combat personnel, wanting to keep their costs as low as possible. But that would all change if they found signs that Earth actually was the planet that Firmament’s Edge was so desperately searching for. The Great Redeemer would be the least of Zac’s problems if that happened.
Zac looked down at the dead body of the technocrat, but he still held off on deactivating [Profane Seal]. Keeping the towers around did drain a decent amount of miasma, but there was a good reason for keeping it. A towering aura billowed out from Zac's body, causing the air to shudder as Zac kept changing between infusing it with the Dao of Heaviness, Sharpness, and Rot.
It was his Dao Fields, and he unleashed them to the fullest in hopes of catching and destroying any hidden machines. The technocrat turned delirious before Zac had the opportunity to ask anything about the items he possessed, so Zac was afraid to release the cage. What if a hidden spycam found its way back to the technocrat incursion?
A smattering noise drew Zac’s attention, and he looked over in the direction of where the sound came from. Dozens of small detonations took place in the air, looking like flies getting zapped by electricity. Zac looked at the spectacle with confusion until he managed to snag one of the flies as it exploded nearby.
The thing was as small as a grain and seemed to be made from platinum, but Zac couldn't be completely sure of its original form since it was pretty torn. It was covered in cuts so minute that Zac could barely see them, and bent and twisted as though it had been subject to extreme pressure.
It appeared that the thing was immune to his [Winds of Decay] skill, but it was helpless against the Dao. It wasn't surprising since the Dao wasn't simply increasing the power of skills, it was attacking with the fundamental truths of the universe. It was hard to block out and even harder to heal from when wounded.