Chapter 1384 (2/2)
Before Wuva could walk over and examine the box in question, Randidly spoke up. “Ah, that is also mine. It’s… paperwork I will need to eventually address.”
Despite the fact that Randidly couldn’t see Captain Quill’s face, he could feel the disappointment and sense of almost paternal worry radiating off of the leader of the Xyrt Brigade Clan. “Young man, never put off work that could be done today until tomorrow. That… well, I suppose it is your own decision. Ah, by the way, please keep in mind that we are here to help save your planet. While we are in different branches of the military, both of us fight for the Nexus. So please, if you have any problems, bring them to me. Do you have any questions?”
About living a life of virtue or about the Nether King above…? Randidly thought with more than a pinch of wry humor. Then he glanced up toward the sky, where the Great Rift was steadily being forced backward. “Did you… eliminate the culprit?”
“You are more observant than you let on, Mr. Ghosthound.” Immediately, Captain Quill’s tone changed. The harsh military discipline in his voice spoke of an entire career on the battlefield. His shoulders bore a physical weight that was an image that had no shape, only deadly purpose. The friendly figure who had been present earlier vanished. The soldier Randidly had expected now stood in his place. After Captain Quill took another puff from his pipe, he prompted his aide. “Wuva?”
Wuva brought his heels sharply together and straightened his spine. “The initial clash against at least three score Nether Heralds indicated that there was a Nether King commanding them from the rear. One of uncommon power. Our forces eventually overcame the Nether defenses, but not before the Nether King had escaped. In addition, it was clear from our investigations that the Nether King had broken enough of the System’s defenses that it was able to witness the general structure of the System. Whatever its true goal was, it now knows a much more efficient route than boring through the System infrastructure available in this world that hasn’t yet encountered a Calamity.”
“There you have it.” Captain Quill said calmly. “A capable foe that has eluded us. Now, if you have no further questions, I don’t want to keep you from your work. Besides, Wuva and I will just need to oversee the cleanup operation to make sure no Nether Heralds descend to your planet. Shouldn’t take more than a day or two.”
Feeling strangely like he had been dismissed, Randidly nodded slowly. Then, when Captain Quill began to give Wuva orders to erect a dwelling in the middle of Randidly’s island, Randidly drifted over toward the box of paperwork that Tatiana had sent for him. After standing around and looking at the Xyrt Brigade duo for a while, Octavius Shrike came over and stood next to him.
“Paperwork won’t attract attention,” Octavius pointed out.
Randidly could only sigh and pick up the box in resignation. I was just getting the knack for Living Engraving too… well, at least they should only be here for two days.
*****
The guard’s footsteps echoed down the long hallway. When another person rounded the corner to face him, the guard froze up for a split second and then belatedly reached for his Mana pistol. But when he recognized the other person, the man relaxed with an awkward chuckle. “Ah, Cale. Is it time for the shift switch already?”
The new arrival shook his head. The light in the hallway was from the floor, so the shadow of the man’s large nose stretched up across his face. “Nah, they changed up the schedule. Created whole new transition shifts to add extra protection to Mjolnir. Or so they claim. But there is definitely something fishy going in the underground warehouses-”
“Not so loud,” The first guard visibly winced and looked around. “You know what I think? It’s because of the impeachment proceedings. President Greyman is afraid of losing power and is tightening her grip on Mjolnir.”
Cale grunted in agreement but didn’t comment on the politics of it. “Hopefully a new president will set more reasonable expectations for this place…”
“Heh, you think? No matter what happens, nothing will change for us. Every President will want Mjolnir as a weapon,” The first guard moaned. Then he shook himself. “Anyways, I need to go inspect the silo. Let’s play cards sometime we both have a shift off.”
“Sure,” Cale responded, walking past the first guard and down the long hallway.
By that time, Acri had finished chewing through the ventilation grill. Taking advantage of humanity’s strange habit of not looking upward, Acri’s three-meter long, soccer-ball thick body slid silently out and across the roof, having enough length to bridge across the hallway and back again to support its significant weight.
Even though he had slimmed himself down and removed his eye-catching foliage to sneak into the compound, Acri was rather uncomfortable. This was much more difficult than it had thought it would be.
Acri’s three pyramidal heads were only a few inches behind the guard, sniffing him for the scent of blood. Slightly disappointed that the being below it was just a man, Acri pulled its heads upward and contented itself to keep its bulk above the man’s head.
Eventually, they reached a heavily armored door. The man dutifully provided a retinal scan, a fingerprint scan, then entered in an alphanumeric password to open the door. Acri slithered along the ceiling and following him into the room.
As soon as it did so, it sensed the thousands of pseudo-Raid Bosses below. Trembling with anticipation, Acri waited for the man to perform a perfunctory investigation and then departed.
Then Acri began to feast.
As an afterthought once all the Raid Bosses had been devoured for their experience, Acri gathered up all of the remnant bones that he could. Because of the strange composition of the Raid Bosses, they only dropped a marble-sized bit of bone that had functioned as their core. Which was convenient for Acri, because if they were any larger it wouldn’t be able to transport all of them.
As it was, Acri still had to hollow out a portion of its body and stuff them inside. Then, feeling bloated and that these marbles were a rather pathetic gift for Randidly, Acri resolved to find more high-Level monsters. So it dug its way through the wall and slithered away, the blaring alarms of the Zone 1 base fading behind it.