A Lewd Cultivator in Brockton Bay 73 (Patreon)

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A Lewd Cultivator in Brockton Bay

Chapter 73

-VB-

Peace only lasted for so long. 

Because Endbringers returned. Not to Brockton Bay, thankfully, but they came back to the East Coast. 

“You’re not going,” Vicky ordered firmly, standing in front of the front door. 

“... Hon, I don’t even have my costume on,” I replied to that.

She looked me up and down. 

Amy looked to be in agreement with her sister, too, though she wasn’t crossing her arms in front of her tank top like her sister was. Because unlike Vicky, she was going to be on standby for when the Endbringer battle came to an end and the humanitarian crisis took over. 

“I’m not going to the battle,” I told her. “I’m just going to be with Amy and keep her safe.”

Vicky kept glaring at me for a while longer. “You promise?” she asked sternly.

“I promise,” I replied with a firm look of my own. “Can’t leave the kids behind because I wanted to punch something that I probably can’t reach.”

Because today, Behemoth had decided to hit Iran right at the Strait of Hormuz. 

Personally, I knew very little about the targeted city called Bandar Abbas, but I knew that the place was crucial for the still dominant crude oil economy because it was close to the Strait of Hormuz. And if that strait got closed permanently because of how damaging the radiation was or because Behemoth blocked it off… The current flagging world economy would start stagnating hard.

But this was Behemoth. I couldn’t fight against that thing in the first place because I couldn’t get close. Radiation was an obstacle I couldn’t overcome yet. 

“Okay,” she said as her shoulders drooped. 

I reached out and hugged both her and Amy. 

“We’ll be back. I promise. Can’t leave the kids alone.”

“... Okay.”

I kissed her and led Amy out of the house. I scooped her up into a bridal carry and after giving Vicky one more nod, I jumped away. 

As I bound across the city, I saw how the people were miling about nervously. Endbringer battles always left everyone feeling slightly nervous. The thought of such a disaster missing them by what always felt like a hair’s breadth made everyone careful.

Even the odd gangsters in their full colors moved reservedly. They kept away from other gang members and even their own. And they should. Breaking the Unwritten Rule and the Truce would see anyone summarily executed if they weren’t caught by the PRT and the police.

(But the police might kill them, too, in some places, so PRT was the best bet if they wanted to stay alive after breaking the Truce.)

I also saw a glimpse of the giant lake that Leviathan put into the city. Captain Hill Lake, as it was being called, was twice as big as the one from canon but instead of being uniformly 

With one final jump, I touchdowned on the top of the PRT ENE HQ’s rooftop with a soft landing comparable to a leaf gently settling on the ground. I set Amy down gently, and she dusted her ruffled costume. No matter how smooth it felt for me, the winds still buffeted our clothes, and they were a mess. I straightened myself as well.

“You came.”

Both of us looked up to see Velocity. 

Which was a surprise for me. 

“Hi, Velocity,” Amy spoke up with surprise evident in her tone. “You didn’t go?”

He shook his head. “There’s no point. Anyone who gets in his kill aura doesn’t need rescue anyway.”

I hummed. “So I guess you’re the one they are relying on to patrol the streets?”

“Along with Assault, yeah,” he replied as he relaxed, though there was sadness in his eyes.

During Leviathan’s attack, Protectorate ENE took a huge hit. Not as bad as the villains but still bad enough that, if it hadn’t been for the influx of independent heroes and vigilantes from the Coalition’s aftermath, Brockton Bay would have maintained the downsliding status quo. 

The Protectorate and the Ward ENE lost Dauntless, Triumph, Battery, Gallant, and Shadow Stalker, leaving only Armsmaster, Assault, Velocity, Kid Win, Clockblocker, and Vista. 

“And the kids?”

“On standby.”

“Even Vista?”

“What about her?” Amy asked me as the three of us walked toward the rooftop door to walk inside. “She’s a Ward.”

“And her Shaker makes her more or less immune to Behemoth since she can stretch space, right?”

“Her space can also transfer Shaker and environmental effects, including radiation.”

“... Ah. I can see how it can be an issue.”

-VB-

Waiting for the Endbringer battle to end was both boring and nerve wrecking. 

I … considered most of the Protectorate ENE to be my friends. At the very least, they were my sparring partners and law and order partners. Even if my brand of justice was a little bit more brutal and indiscriminate and theirs was bound up by red tape and a calmer sense of justice, whether that was a personal or job-related cause. 

So it would hurt if any of them died.

Thankfully, only Armsmaster and Miss Militia had gone. I could guess what Armsmaster was going to do with that power armor of his, but I wondered what Miss Militia would do in an Endbringer battle against Behemoth. Would she just snipe at Behemoth from afar? She can’t make Tinkertech weapons, so shooting some kind of cryo-rounds to cool off other fighters wasn’t an available option. 

One of many things to ask her. 

“What are you thinking about, Alan?” Amy asked me. 

The two of us were sitting next to each other at a waiting room that a teleporter was supposed to show up in to take us to the affected area. She’d already done a round with the PRT ENE’s infirmary, so she was resting next to me. 

“Just about the Endbringer battle and how our friends are fighting it.”

“From what I remember,” Amy hummed. “Miss Militia shoots sodium bicarbonate grenades. Someone at the New York fire department apparently tinkers, not a Tinker but tinkers in the traditional sense, and made a fire extinguishing grenade.”

I blinked.

“And because it’s not a Tinkertech…”

“She can make those extinguisher rounds, yes, but those are different from fire extinguisher grenades, because those aren’t like hers.”

I stared at her. “Wait, how do you know so much about her power?”

She grinned. “Well, I was a Miss Militia fangirl when I was younger. It would behoove me to not know something so simple about my most favorite heroine!” she crowed a little before tittering. 

Zap!

Both of us looked up and saw -.

“Strider,” Amy said as she stood up from her chair. “I’m guessing that Behemoth left?”

“Yeah, it did. People need your help as always.”

“Okay. And this is my husband, Alan. You might know him as Rabbit.”

“Ah, yes. The man who nearly crippled himself to get you to the hospital. A lot of people thought that was romantic,” he nodded.

“They do?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“Oh yeah, you should be hearing what some of the girls are saying online. They were swooning over the dashing and heroic rescue of his girlfriend.” He snorted. “Anyways, where’s your usual outfit?”

“Not going to wear one,” I replied. 

Shrugging, he extended his hands to us and we wordlessly took them.

And with a zap, we weren’t in Brockton Bay anymore. The cool and salty breeze of the New England city was replaced by an oppressing haze of thick and hot winds and an even hotter and sizzling sunlight. 

And the sight before us was even worse. 

I could see in the distance a crater where a city used to be, and a distorting haze radiating out from the still lit and fiery crater. That wasn’t the radiation; that was just the heat. 

I didn’t even want to think about how high the radiation would be over there.

“I guess this isn’t an oil field since the entire region isn’t on fire?” I asked Strider.

“No. This is … I forgot but something Abbas. Supposedly, the place was a hub for local agriculture, fishing, and manufacturing.”

I clicked my tongue in distaste. I could already guess what losing a good port and agricultural hub would do to the people around here.

“Alright, point me toward the medical tents.”

Strider did, and we were off to save people.

Well, Amy would save people. I would just keep her safe.