Chapter 766: Incursion Owner (1/2)
”What in the heavens, 5,053 D-grade Nexus Coins?” Catheya said with shock, her eyes as wide as saucers. “Are your followers trying to crush the natives under mountains of wealth? Even if they seize the planet, it will be a long, long time before you turn a profit. Knowing Zecia, it might not even be possible.”
“That’s what you think I’m worried about?” Zac said with exasperation. ”Why the hell has an incursion started up without my knowledge?”
“What, you didn’t know?” Catheya asked with interest.
“How would I know? I’ve been stuck in here for the last two years,” Zac said as he waved at the ocean outside the submersible.
“Just how powerful is your fate?” Catheya laughed. “You accidentally became an incursion owner? Is that even possible?”
“Be serious,” Zac groaned. “Can I stop this?”
“Stop it? Why would you want to?” Catheya countered with confusion written all over her face. “It looks like they have things in hand, and you seem to have the capital to endure their spending.”
“Have things in hand? They just endured the integration five years ago, and now they want to unleash that kind of suffering on others?” Zac said with a frown.
“That’s up to your followers isn’t it?” Catheya shrugged. “You should know their characters, no? Are they the kind of people who wantonly slaughter the innocent for power?”
“No, but..” Zac muttered.
“Well, there you go. Would you rather the slot go to my empire or those body-snatching cultists you mentioned in the Tower of Eternity? For all you know, your followers might be the saviors that save the lives of billions,” Catheya shrugged. ”There's more than one way to conquer a planet.”
“Still though,” Zac said with a shake of his head.
“Perhaps if they didn’t have such a monstrous leader who kept rushing between causing trouble and falling into piles of wealth they wouldn’t be pushing themselves to risk their lives like this. But you should know that your rate of improvement is terrifying. Your strength has what, doubled, since appearing in the Twilight Ocean? How long until your faction can no longer contain your fate?”
“I know,” Zac muttered. “But there is no need for them to go this far…”
“It’s like the people outside,” Catheya said. “Everyone has their dreams and aspirations. Few of those who have truly embarked on the path of cultivation are content with simply becoming average. Trust in your people that they know what they are doing.”
“I just wish I could be there to help him,” Zac muttered, but he knew it was impossible.
Even if he left right now, he would be far too late. The closest exit was over a week’s travel away, and it took close to two weeks to pass through the void when teleporting between sectors. By the time he reached Earth, the members of Port Atwood would long have entered the incursion and connection would be cut for at least three months.
And that didn't even factor in that leaving the Twilight Ocean now would cripple his cultivation, and possibly even kill him because of the imbalance between Creation and Oblivion.
“Well, help me make sense of the text at least if you can,” Zac sighed.
“Which part?” Catheya asked. “The Maximum level is the soft limit of entry. Going above that level tacks on a massive surcharge, and that surcharge doubles for every additional level.”
“Wait, that means that putting a level 110 through the incursion is a thousand times more expensive than a level 101?” Zac exclaimed.
“Exactly. And sending a level 101 is roughly a thousand times more expensive than sending one within the soft limit. Below that, the price difference is not quite as steep. However, you'd most likely be able to send over a hundred peak F-grade warriors for every level 90 warrior,” Catheya explained. ”Most likely, some of the generals or captains in the invasion are the reason for the exorbitant price.”
Zac slowly nodded, believing that might be the case. The three undead of the Einherjar should all be within level 100, especially Vilari who might not even have Evolved by now. Of course, the fact that she had taken the mantle of general over Joanna indicated the mentalist most likely had evolved by this point.
As for Joanna, he wasn't as sure. She had been around level 95 when he set off for Twilight Harbor, and gaining another 5 levels were well within reason even if she didn’t push herself. Most likely, she was a good few levels above 100 by now, considering the items he had sent back home for the Valkyries to enjoy.
The same was true for Ilvere, who was already at peak F-grade upon reaching Earth. He had entered E-grade just a few months after the Origin Dao ran out. The last two, Zac didn’t remember. Ciru was one of the gemlings of the younger generation, but Zac barely knew him apart from him being very talented in both combat and crafting.
It was no wonder that clans like Azh'Rezak refused to send a single E-grade through the Incursion. Azh’Rezak was barely scraping by to nurture a couple of Hegemons. For them to spend hundreds of D-grade Nexus Coins to let a level 77 pass through was impossible, especially considering they’d be restricted by the System anyways.
“Are the slots negotiable as well? And what's included in this fee?” Zac asked.
“Your force was provided ten thousand slots, and they filled them all. You can send more people, but the cost gets steeper for every additional warrior that gets teleported,” Catheya explained. “The surcharge is for approved arrays, gear, and the warriors themselves. For comparison, I had 5,000 warriors and a cost of 629 D-grade Nexus Coins when I led my incursion at 17. And a good part of that cost was for the terraforming array.”
“I remember a friend mentioning that the warriors in his clan could spend money to increase their strength even further?” Zac asked.
“I'm not sure about that,” Catheya slowly said. “Is his faction on the more poverty-stricken side? I guess some clans have their warriors pay their way to some degree. Another feature you can pay for is to unlock more of your strength upon arrival, but it's not worth doing so past a certain point.”
”The Ruthless Heavens are already matching your strength with the natives, and your restricted power is meant to unlock at roughly the same pace as the natives can improve if they make the most of the opportunity. Unlock too much of your strength, and you might be harming yourself. After all, there aren't many insights to be had if you simply slaughter all the natives like they were ants,” Catheya said.
”Then why allow it at all?” Zac asked with confusion.
”If a faction is willing to pay more than a planet is worth to send some younglings there, why would the Heavens not abide? It's all about balance. It would be more than happy to send a Hegemon through an incursion since the revenue that would generate could pay for the cost of integrating one hundred other worlds,” Catheya said. ”Thus increasing the odds of nurturing powerhouses.”
”The Ruthless Heavens indeed,” Zac sighed, but he still infused his will into the 'Accept?' button, giving his tacit blessing to the madness.
The screen disappeared, and a glance at his Status Screen indicated that the System had already charged him for the cost. He could only pray that they knew what they were doing when preparing everything. Between the Demons, Abby, and his other elites, they would hopefully have come up with a plan with a high degree of success.
Even then, Zac knew there would be casualties, perhaps even more than when Earth's Integration took place. After all, back then he had been involved with closing almost all the incursions. If he had sent his armies instead of going himself, the loss of life would have been catastrophic after having closed 2-3 of them.
It took him over an hour to calm his nerves, where he frantically kept trying to figure out a way to help his people. Unfortunately, it really looked like there was nothing he could do. Thankfully, Vilari had long returned with the resources from Twilight Harbor, and the foundations of his followers should have improved considerably by now.
Along with the vast wealth at his disposal, Port Atwood would probably be even better prepared than most C-grade clans. It wasn’t that these ancient factions couldn’t provide the resources, but rather that they wouldn’t. An incursion was a risky investment, with both the natives and other factions contending for the planet.
For most, it ended up as a training trip for the young generation, where they stayed for a year or two to enjoy the Origin Dao and hunt for rare herbs before returning. Few factions were willing to spend thousands of D-grade Nexus Coins on a couple of F-grade juniors who hadn’t even proven themselves.
That alone helped Zac calm down quite a bit. Being agitated did him more harm than good, considering how it exposed him to the shard in his head. The low susurrus of ‘helpful’ suggestions had grown considerably louder since the screen had popped up, making him barely able to think clearly.