116 Battle of the For (1/2)

Tai frowned as he glanced back-and-forth between the injured espers and Ed. ”Let me guess, you want more purple mana-cores?” He questioned.

”Of course.” Ed grinned. ”I won't make things too difficult for you. I'll only charge a single core per esper.”

”Are you insane?!” Tai shouted. ”You know damn well how valuable they are! I'll give you five to fix up everybody. Take it or leave it!”

”Sorry guys.” Ed turned around while sighing. ”It looks like your boss is too cheap to help you, and we're running out of time, so we really must get going now.” He started making his way towards the exit.

”Wait!” Tai grabbed him by the shoulder, gripping hard to stop him from leaving. ”I really can't afford to give any more. I have my own uses for them, otherwise I wouldn't have spent so much time and effort on collecting them. Name something else to trade.”

”Something else?” Ed smiled. ”Give me a cultivation technique I can freely pass to Harmony then. That seems fair, right?”

”That...” He clenched his teeth in anger. ”I don't have any on me nor do I have the authority to transmit Fire Dragon Sect techniques. I'm only a potential heir, and there are limits to what I can do.”

”Tsk.” Ed clicked his tongue. ”Then what can you even offer me? I can literally create almost anything I want, and the only thing I lack are rare and valuable resources. What are these injured espers worth to you?”

Tai closed his eyes in thought for several moments, seemingly debating on an answer. When his eyes opened, he seemed hesitant to make his offer. ”I'll give you the flesh of an incredible mutant.” He said through gritted teeth.

”Oh?” Ed rose a questioning eyebrow. ”I'm perfectly capable of hunting strong mutants myself. I think you'll need to make a better offer.”

”No, this is different.” Tai replied resolutely. ”This mutant is one of a kind, and I planned on selecting it for when you change me into a chimera. It's only the size of a few people, and I was originally preparing to give the leftovers to my subordinates.

”What kind of mutant is it? Don't tell me China has a dragon or something?” He joked while chuckling.

”Of course not.” Tai shook his head. ”Dragons obviously don't exist since all mutants developed from existing animals. There have been some projects to try changing pythons into dragons, but they've had little to no success.”

”Just tell me what it is then.” He demanded while crossing his arms.

”A bat.” Tai answered.

”A bat?” He questioned.

”Mm.” Tai nodded.

”Like, two wings, fangs, blind, and lives in a cave type of bat?” He asked.

”Yes, a bat.” Tai nodded again.

”I'm leaving.” Ed waved towards the injured espers as he tried to leave. ”What a waste of time.”

”You'll regret it if you don't agree to this!” Tai yelled. ”Trust me. This bat is an incredible mutant with unbelievable power.”

Ed stopped walking. 'A bat... He can't be serious? How strong can a bat mutant be?' He turned around. ”What makes it so incredible?”

”You won't believe me even if I try to explain it.” Tai sighed while shaking his head. ”Just believe me and heal these espers. I swear on the honor of the Fire Dragon Sect that you won't regret it.”

Ed eyed the injured espers while rubbing his chin. ”Fine.” He nodded. ”But if you screw me, you can forget about anyone becoming chimeras.”

”Of course.” He agreed.

”Alright. Go get me some human bodies.” Ed sighed. ”Try to find weaker ones. Strong bodies are a pain since it takes longer to clear out the native mana and reform the flesh.”

”Got it.” He nodded. ”Just wait here.” He left the room to collect the bodies.

Several minutes passed before Tai's subordinates started carrying in dead bodies of ordinary prison guards. Ed set to work healing the dozens of injured espers. Fortunately, it only took him half an hour to finish since the guards were fairly weak when they were alive. But by now, the water was up to their chests. They really had no more time to spare.

The group traveled to the manullium gate. A huge crowd of espers were waiting outside of it within the flooding waters. It would seem they still hadn't managed to break all the way through to the other side.

”Carlos. Ed.” Tai gestured towards the gate, requesting for them to help.

”Haha, let's get it done.” Carlos smiled as purple wind swirled around his body.

”Sure.” Ed agree as purple flames appeared. He shot streams of flame towards the gate, and Carlos shot his wind towards the flames. A raging purple inferno blasted through the tunnel that had already been dug into the gate, rapidly expanding the tunnel to be larger. They slowly moved forward while continuing to create and expand the tunnel. It only took them thirty minutes to create a large opening that reached all the way through the other side.

”So, this is the compound.” Ed commented as he stuck his head out the opening. There were tall walls in all four directions. Some soldiers patrolled the walls while others were stationed at various steam cannons. There were platoons training in various training fields throughout the compound, as well as mechs driving up and down the streets. 'Damn, it's a lot bigger than the fort at the mine I broke into a long time ago...'

Suddenly, multiple sirens started going off throughout the base. Clearly someone had alerted the higher ups that the gate had been broken through.

'Not good.' Ed frowned as he quickly fell back from the gate. A stream of mana-bullets and mana-shells slammed into the front of the opening, creating large elemental explosions of all kind. ”TAI!” He yelled back through the tunnel. ”IT'S STARTING!”

”MEN, MOVE OUT!” Tai's voice loudly echoed through the manullium gate turned tunnel. Footsteps echoed as thousands of men and women marched forward in a long line. Nearly fifty espers were in each row.