Chapter 1234 (2/2)
The issue of Donnyton’s pride is a small thing. Mrs. Hamilton stretched her right pointer finger out and tapped the secondary message. But the fact that it is dangling a special bonus in front of us… After all, when has the System given us presents that weren’t lined with fish hooks?
Because it wasn’t that Donnyton didn’t possess the requisite power to clear Danger Zones that it hadn’t accomplished anything in the past year. And with the Order Valorum taking over more and more of the patrols in the borderlands to handle Raid Bosses, Donnyton actually had a surplus of manpower at the moment.
Yet the reason that Mrs. Hamilton, Donny, and Regina agreed to wait to challenge more Danger Zones was because much of their strongest individuals were currently deployed to cap the already cleared Danger Zones. Because each clear resulted in another world that had been starved of Aether being connected to Earth.
Daniel squirmed uncomfortably, but he didn’t say anything more. Shaking her head, Mrs. Hamilton glanced at the third report she had made today. It was definitely the strangest. It was a letter that they had received from the sister village of Donnyton. Whatever force had previously cut off communication between the two worlds was now gone. The letter informed Donnyton that a delegation would come through in three days to discuss the resuscitation of trade between the villages.
Resuscitation… such a word choice… Perhaps a fluke of the System translation…?
It was likely an opportunity, but this report also gave Mrs.Hamilton pause. Never before had the communication between the villages been so formal. Had the previous owners of Donnyton’s sister Village been defeated and replaced with another force…?
Drawing as though by magnetism, Mrs. Hamilton’s eyes went to the first report, detailing the happenings in Orchard earlier that day. Knowing that the combined forces of Alana and Hank could only defeat the giant avatar and force the culprit to retreat was disturbing, to say the least. As was the report that the giant blood beast had brought up the taboo term of the ‘Red Revival’ while attacking President and Chairperson of the World Council Theodora Greyman.
Perhaps sensing that Mrs. Hamilton’s gaze shifted, Daniel asked, “Has Decklan really betrayed us?”
This time, Mrs. Hamilton didn’t attempt to hide her sharp annoyance. “Daniel, I’m quite shocked that I should have to warn you of all people to speak more conscientiously. And even if Decklan was involved, I’m not going to paint him as a villain until I understand the situation.”
“It obviously reflects badly on us.” Daniel insisted. “Everyone knows that Donnyton was against the Hero Initiative. What if they assume that we were involved-”
Mrs. Hamilton shook her head slightly and then allowed her nascent image to manifest in the vaulted ceilings of her office. The corners became heavy with wedding and several heavy shadows seemed to watch down on the discussion happening below. As the webbing gently fluttered above, Daniel froze below.
A single grey spider the size of a quarter slowly spun a long thread to allow itself to settle onto Daniel’s shoulder. It crawled across his shoulder until it rested one of its thin threads against the delicate flesh of his neck.
“Is something wrong, Daniel?” Mrs. Hamilton’s voice was ice. Even to her own ears, her words sounded strange and distant. As though it wasn’t her human mouth that spoke, but the spiders above that whispered with manipulating her human body. “You are quite high in the hierarchy of us here at Donnyton, but your status as head librarian comes with a certain set of responsibilities. Your current behavior is… disturbing. Did something happen?”
For a second, Daniel bit his lip. Then he nodded slowly. Mrs. Hamilton felt a flash of relief. Regardless of whether it was a sufficient justification, Mrs. Hamilton was at least willing to listen to his explanation.
Daniel kept his voice low, but his shoulders were still frozen as the grey spider rested a foot against his neck. “Yes. It’s not that something happened, but… Well… rather you… you were right; the expansion of the Wildlands couldn’t continue like this. We received word that the second theory that you had turned out to be accurate. The term that people are using is bubble cities.”
Immediately, Mrs. Hamilton’s gaze sharpened. She pulled open the drawer to her desk and retrieved several pieces of paper and a pen. When it rains, it pours… Looks like I’ll be writing four reports today. “I assume Kharon encountered one?”
“...or if they weren’t the first to find one, they were the first one to survive.” Daniel licked his lips nervously. “It was apparently the entire southside of Chicago. We aren’t sure of the details, but that area wasn’t put as part of a Zone but operated in isolation for a similar amount of time to us. Periodically monsters would attack the isolated area, but it was a relatively safe existence. So when Kharon encountered them, there was already an established political entity in operation.
“Whatever the population originally was, it had been reduced to half. And about nine-tenths of those people were forced to wear iron collars and support the ‘Chosen’ who had obtained Classes. The leader… the reports are gruesome of the state of the… compound where the Chosen stayed. It was so bad that Helen took it upon herself to eradicate the rot.”
Daniel spread his arms wide. “This is why I’m worried! Our main advantage was that we were one of the first to connect to New Earth, and definitely the most advanced in System knowledge,” Daniel continued. “But our population has always held us back. Without the constant influx of population from the Wildlands… if most of the population now remains in these bubble cities-”
Feeling profoundly tired, Mrs. Hamilton let her image fall away. Sensing the change in the air, Daniel’s nervous rant stumbled to a stop. It wasn’t that Daniel was wrong, just that he couldn’t really conceptualize how small of a threat these bubble cities were in the short term. In a week that was supposed to be a celebration, there were several more imminent existential threats looming on the horizon.
Mrs. Hamilton picked up her pea-green cup and took another sip; she winced when her coffee had gone cold. Then she lightly said, “Daniel, if you don’t believe in Donnyton, please leave. But while you make that decision, please leave my office; I have work to do.”