Chapter 142. (Patreon)

Zac walked out of the concert hall with a frown on his face from the information. He still hadn’t found any answers what to do in his situation, and could only turn to his teammates for answers. After a quick glance around he found them sitting at another group of sofas the whole table in front of them filled with various foods and drink.

Zac had thought the demon was once again the culprit, but seeing the little Gnome lying prone with his belly looking like a little ball while the Zhix was constantly burping he wasn’t so sure anymore. He also saw the two Ishiate he was talking to earlier sit next to the group. As soon as they saw Zac arrive they quickly stood up and slightly bowed.

Zac was a bit confused, but thought perhaps his group’s wanton spending during the auction was taken as a sign of great power. Ogras looked over with a glass of whiskey in his hand.

“So, they are trying to create a power with access to their teleporters?”

“You knew?” Zac asked a bit surprised.

“Well, they didn’t have a lot of other options if they wanted to remain in charge. Of course, they will sooner or later realize that the distance of a continent is just a small inconvenience, and controlling the arrays aren’t enough to seize control.” 

“It seems they already have quite a few members already though,” Zac retorted with a sigh as he sat down.

From there he detailed the general outline of the New World Government’s plan.

“Just weaklings banding together to feel strong. It’s not too bad. There are various ways to circumvent that. You can just take control of a town close to a Government member. If you need to use their network just teleport to your own town, and run over to theirs,” Ogras said with a shrug, clearly not being worried about the situation.

“Besides, the multi-verse is a place where power holds sway. Power-structures like theirs never work out in the end, with just a few notable exceptions,” Ogras said, and even the Gnome who was fond of bureaucracy seemed inclined to agree, as he gave an unwilling nod.

“Your world is still in its infancy, and you still hold notions of equality. But you will soon see the reality when people will start to evolve. A D-Grade Powerhouse could destroy half of New Washington with a flick of his hand, what would he care about their little schemes? He’d just seize the whole network if he wanted it. A dragon doesn’t negotiate with ants,” Ogras said 

“You might be right, but that is still far off. In the immediate future they will have a commanding advantage,” Zac retorted with a with a frown.

There was not much left to do in the venue, apart from one thing. It had become increasingly clear during the meeting that using the teleporter to get to the undead incursion would be hopeless, no matter what he said. It was time to go with Ogras’s plan.

“I have no choice, I will need to use your method for access to the teleporter,” Zac said with a grimace.

The demon only nodded, whereas the others looked at them a bit curious. Zac wouldn’t explain what he was about to do, as he felt pretty sick about it already, and instead looked out over the floor. It appeared luck was on his side, as he saw the robust man head toward the area of the toilets. They were around a corner some distance away from the general area and was quite secluded. 

“I will be right back,” Zac said with a somber expression, and while using [Loamwalker] he disappeared. 

Between his attributes and the skill it essentially looked like he teleported, as he was one second sitting, and the next second gone, only a flash of his afterimage leaving a trace. In no time he was by the toilet, and was relieved to see that there was no one there at the moment.

Without a word he grabbed the neck of the robust man from behind, and before the poor man had time to react he was dragged into the handicap bathroom with his throat gripped in an iron vise. 

Zac was now holding him up hin the air with one arm, having taken out his axe with the other. The large man was held a few decimeters above ground, his legs swinging widely and his face quickly turning red.

“Scream and I will start cutting off body parts,” Zac said with a deathly stare.

He had already decided to go through with this despicable act, so he would go all the way with it.

“To help you understand your situation I’ll show you something,” Zac continued, as he displayed the part of his status screen that showed him being level 54.

Of course, he didn’t display any of his stats or his name, as the level was enough to convey his message. The man was still unable to breathe, but after having seen the prompt his eyes widened in terror and he stopped trying to get himself free.

“You should understand who I am by now. You can try screaming for help, but the government do not dare make an enemy of me, and would probably sacrifice you rather than getting themselves into trouble,” Zac continued as he placed the man down on the ground.

He didn’t actually know if it was true, but it did have a note of truth in it. The man took a few deep steadying breaths, but he did comply, as he warily stared at Zac.

“What do you want? You were at the meeting, they have set up all kinds of rules that I can’t just break as I wish. Don’t you think I’d have taken the money if I could?”

“What’s your name?” Zac simply asked

“I am John Bernard,” the large man hesitantly answered.

“Are you under a contract of servitude?” Zac continued.

“No, why?” the man answered with a confused stare.

“Good,” Zac said as a small glass bottle appeared in his hand.

Zac opened the stopper and took out the pill, which emanated a pungent odor.

“Wh-“ the other man said, but didn’t get further before Zac slammed the pill down into his throat with lightning-quick speed.

John was so surprised that he instinctively swallowed the pill, and Zac nodded satisfied.

“The pill I just had you eat is a unique poison called [Ten Steps to Hell],” Zac said, hiding nothing. “Every night you will experience a tremendous pain that will be so bad that you will think you have gone to hell. Every night the pain will get worse, and on the tenth day the pain will be so bad that you will die.”

“WHAT? Why are you doing this?” the man said, looking positively horrified.

“Because I have the antidote,” Zac answered as he took out the other bottle. “One week from now, open your teleporter for five minutes at 3 am New Washington time. If I do not pass through the teleporter, do so again the next night at the same time. When I come through I will hand you the antidote. And a handsome reward,” Zac explained, adding the sentence about a reward after a brief hesitation.

The man looked at the glass bottle in Zac’s hand like a drowning man looks at a liferaft. 

“Why not just give me the bottle, and I promise I will open the portal. There’s no need for all this,” the man entreated.

“I prefer to do things my way. And you might be scheming all kinds of things right now, but the following days will show you reality. Feel free to visit as many healers and you wish. I didn’t get to the top of the ladder without having my own means. Noone on earth will be able to save you except for me.”

Zac felt a sour taste in his mouth as he played the villain. He simply channeled his inner Ogras, thinking of what he would say to get what he wanted in this situation.

“Remember. One week from now, 3 am sharp,” he finished and disappeared before the man had time to say anything else.

Soon he was back at the table and saw Ogras grinning at him.

“The things we do for love, huh?” he said.

Zac recognized the quote and only rolled his eyes in response. 

“We are done here. We should have them take us to a hotel. I want to stock up on various things for port Atwood, and hopefully we will find some experts in various fields that will accompany us back,” Zac said. “That is provided they will let us stay though.”

There was no point in pretending that he wasn’t in charge anymore. No one would believe Sap Trang was the leader instead of Zac after his display of power earlier.

He was unsure what the government had decided regarding his party. They were ushered straight to the venue after arriving, and it seemed they were considered somewhat a risk. But at the same time they had clarified their position here at the Auction, and hopefully the government wouldn’t bar them from exploring the town a bit.

Last time he was here he hadn’t really explored New Washington, as he was eager to get to Greenworth. But this time there were various things he wanted to get for his city. There were all kinds of things the town was in need of, from seeds to materials, and even technology. Most of it could be bought through calrin, but Zac suspected such things would hold almost no value to the current settlements, which meant they could make huge savings. 

He was also hoping he could snag a couple of solar panels for himself, but he wasn’t too hopeful. The government was clearly searching for them as well in order to power their town, and now they had around fifty towns to power.

“If the things in the auction were the best of the best, then there might not be much of value in the town,” the Gnome said hesitantly.

“There is a bazaar where independent cultivators and hunters can sell their things. Who knows what they’ve found while out farming kills in the forests. I am sure that many of those here are hoping to sell their own things as well,” Zac said, causing the little merchant to perk up.

“Can we even go? That little lass didn’t seem willing to let us into the city,” Ogras interjected.

As if summoned Julia actually emerged from a door not much later, and started walk toward them.

“I hope today has been satisfactory to you all,” she said with a smile as she arrived at Zac’s table. “I understand you have spoken with the leaders of the New World Government, who have given your party access to the town. Will you be staying here for a bit, or are you heading back to Port Atwood immediately?”

Zac’s brows rose, as he didn’t expect the government to be so amenable after their little altercation. Especially not considering their stance with their plans for a closed network.

“We’re planning on visiting the bazaar and leave tomorrow,” Zac simply answered.

“Excellent. In fact, there will be an informal gathering at the bazaar in roughly two hours, where many of the guests here will sell some of the things they’ve found, or trade them for other treasures more suited to them,” Julia answered with a nod.

Zac wasn’t surprised, as the government didn’t sell commissioned items, but only their own. Many should have found things that they had no use for, and desired to trade them for something that could give immediate benefits. 

“The car is waiting, I will take you to one of the still operating hotels who is located close to the bazaar,” Julia said and the group started to walk out.

“It was an impressive spending spree you had, Mr. Monk, even outbidding Ms. Marshal,” Julia said with a smile as she shot a glance at him as they walked toward the exit. “You and two high rankers fought tooth and nail over that stone. It must have been something quite impressive. A few of our treasurers are a bit unsure whether they made a good deal or a horrible one after seeing your bidding war.” 

“Well, it was an interesting stone. Who knows if it will be worth the sky-high price though?” Zac answered with a shrug of his shoulder. He wasn’t about to disclose the fact that the stone seemed to be something that all Spiritual Tools wanted.

Zac went over to the Ishiate before they left to exchange some pleasantries. Unfortunately there was no way for them to create an alliance or create their own network at the moment as none of them were lords, so they could only make some loose promises of future cooperation.

The plan of the government was to create one leading entity, whoever they had who was close to becoming a lord, to become the main hub of the network. Every non-lord who wished to join would become a vassal. In practice, they wouldn’t go by feudal rules where the lord actually commanded the vassals, but that was just what the government said. Who knew if this lord would get a taste for power and want more. Then again, Zac suspected the government had some sort of failsafe for that situation.

The group finally exited the opera house accompanied by the two steampunk Ishiate, and went down toward the stairs toward the waiting limousine. Julia had been a bit curious about the two new companions, but it was easily explained. Zac could only hope there wouldn’t be any further complications if they managed to recruit some people back to the town.

Suddenly Zac froze after having walked down the small set of stairs, as an intense hair-raising sense of danger exploded in his mind.