The Gamer Chapter 1673 – Base Established (Patreon)

The negotiations concluded within 30 minutes.

Most of the talks consisted of John answering questions or avoiding doing so. The final outcome of the negotiations was simple: the group before him would enter a vassalage contract with Collide for the time being, allowing him to use their property as his own. They would lay low during that time, assuring no undue attention came their way.

In return, they would receive payment in high grade equipment above even what captains in the Fusion military were granted. Their wishes had been taken into account and John would make sure they were going to get what they needed, including what Raid Loot they could handle. Within reason, of course.

Their pay would go up if John needed to stay longer than a month. He wasn’t sure if this entire affair could be wrapped up in that time. However, he was quite certain that he wouldn’t keep his teleporter back in this area all this time. The peninsula was large and, realistically, if the teleporter was more than four hours away, using the airplane was the strictly faster way to return home.

The issue lay primarily in how the Owned Territory mechanic worked. John couldn’t just lay claim to a piece of soil and it was his. He was certain he could do that if that piece of soil was absolutely uncontested. If he was the first Abyssal to land on the moon, for example, that was his land to claim.

The peninsula of Yucatan was a different matter. There were small guilds all around and some medium sized guilds that at least had aspirations to rule it all. In other words, ownership was contested. John could have staked his claim and likely won on that alone but that required going public. However, that required him to publicly announce an interest and presence and that would cause issues at home and abroad.

At best, he would get Conquered Territory. Thanks to Inkaryl, he could make that work as his Owned Territory as well, but only while he was in the area with that weapon. In other words, he would have to stay on that side personally or it would revert to Conquered, thus blocking the trip back.

That possibly could work in a pinch – if he managed to make whatever territory they were in Conquered. That was contingent on who all was taking an interest and between the Azure Tribe and whatever force was still in the area, he did not like his chances for that alone.

The easiest way to get his outposts, for the time being, was to strike secretive deals like this one and keep the outposts in the basement. Once he didn’t need them any longer, he would just delete them and end the vassalage relationship. With the one to be standing in the basement of the mansion, he was at 9 out of his 10 maximum active infinite range teleporters. He had to be thrifty with those things, they were incredibly valuable.

“One last question,” Cadmael said, the fountain pen hovering over the bottom of the paper. “Are you sure we can stay secretive? You aren’t exactly… low profile.”

“We weren’t followed,” Ehtra stated plainly.

The word of Lady Vengeance was enough for them. Merida was a category 1 Abyssal city. In other words, the only permanent barriers around were the homes of small guilds. Population density of Abyssals was low enough that getting spotted in the urban jungle was simply rare. John could spot and counteract magical means, all of them would spot anyone who stalked them physically, and Scarlett was making sure no one got a view of them via security cameras or the like.

They were thoroughly covered, unless someone of their level specialized in stealth was following them. If that was the case, no amount of precautions would have hidden their tracks.

“…Alright then.” Cadmael signed the document.

No time was lost after that. John was guided to a part of the mansion underground that was only used for storage. He put the Transportation Station outpost down there, ensured it worked, then shook Cadmael’s hand. “How about a game of table tennis?” he suggested.

The small fry guild leader was expectantly hesitant. “Sure?” he answered in the end.

The two men headed upstairs. A pad and a ball were quickly found. John did the serving, which sounded way more dramatic than it actually was considering the small scale of table tennis. “Physical activity was never my strong suit,” the Gamer said, before hitting the ball across the table.

Cadmael caught it effortlessly, batting it back across with supernatural strength. John had to stretch to catch it, then teleport to get the next. The guild master was playing swift and serious and the Gamer visibly struggled to keep up with the increasing speed. Back and forth, the ball flew, John getting manoeuvred out of posture.

With one final, reverberating bounce, the ball flew past John. “Oh wow…” he wheezed and put the pad on the table. “I know when… I’m beat.” He wiped the sweat off his brow. “Great game… I don’t have time for more though.”

Cadmael, similarly out of breath, waved his hand. That was John’s cue to leave. The other women followed him. The second they were out of the Illusion Barrier, his breathing became even and any sign of exhaustion vanished.

“Why’d’ya do that?” Hailey asked. “Pretend he could beat ya, I mean?”

“Because it’s an easy way to make a positive impact,” John answered. “He doesn’t strike me as stupid. He’ll realize or at least suspect that I let him win, so this will make me look humble in his eyes and he’ll also get to have a funny story of that one time he beat the Gamer in a game.” After a long yawn, John added, “There’s the negative outcomes of him either actually thinking he won, which would inflate his ego immensely, or him thinking I was doing this to humiliate him in a roundabout way. I don’t think he took it like that, though, so that paid off. I endeared myself.”

Hailey retched dramatically. “Politician logic.”

“I concur.” Ehtra’s voice was dry with contempt. “Telling them lies is wrong.”

“Ya takin’ it a lil’ further than I would, E.”

“E – really?” Rave asked. “That’s the nickname we gonna go with?”

“Ya got a bett’r one?” drawled the country gal. “Could do Tra?”

“”No,”” John and Rave spoke in unison. Tra was (one of) the nickname(s) that his first fiancée had used for Travolta. While the man had been dead and gone for over two years, he was a little too instrumental in John’s early Abyssal development to ever fully forget. Giving one of his haremettes a similar nickname felt dirty.

“You can address me as Ehtra, because that is my name,” the dark-skinned angel hissed at them.

“They could but they won’t,” Metra weighed in. “Everyone gets a nickname, except for Aclysia.”

“I can call her ‘Clysia,” Hailey chimed in.

“That is because your accent is pleasing to me and Master.”

Rave tilted her head. “Ya like it too?”

“I fundamentally like everything that pleases our John.” Aclysia kept slightly ahead of the group, making sure no one hindered the step of her beloved Master. “Were I not his dedicated servant, I would still like to be surrounded by women with Hailey’s accent. It does please me. Might be a remnant of my origin.”

“The shocking part of all of that is you entertaining a hypothetical in which you aren’t John’s servant.”

“I do wonder at times what I would do or be should I find myself in a world without him, be that one where he is terminated or one where I came into existence in independent circumstances,” Aclysia said. “Why are you sniffing, Jane?”

Rave wiped an imaginary tear away under her eye. “I just remembered when you used to eat ballpens and now you’re thinking about such big stuff.”

“With all due respect, and much is due, my Mental Stats far exceed your projected Intellect.”

“Ya calling me stupid?”

“By numerical measurement, my mental capacity exceeds yours by an unknown factor. Pure numbers suggest a multiplicative of 3 to 5, but we all know that Mental Stats have diminishing returns in terms of pure reasonability and mental swiftness.”

“Ya can stop using all the big words now.”

“Do they make your head swim, mistress?”

“Ya know I hate it when ya call me that.” Rave swiftly stepped forwards to get ahead of Aclysia and boop her on the nose. “Anyway, we gotta give Ehtra a better nickname than ‘E’.”

“There is nothing in the laws of the material or spiritual universe that demands you humiliate me with such,” the grey angel growled.

“It’s in the harem accords,” Rave said.

“I was informed of no such thing.”

“They’re in her head,” Metra told her sister. “And I don’t mean that she’s imagining them, I mean they’re basically whatever she wants at any given time.”

Ehtra had one way to summarize that. “Tyranny.”

“You better be careful what ya accuse me of. I got the track record to show that I may not be the smartest gal, but I sure know how to keep a harem together.”

“I am Lady Vengeance, I know tyranny when I-“

“Lady!” Rave shouted.

“Wha- No.” Ehtra stopped her question when she realized what the first of the harem had just thought of. “Absolutely not. I refuse to be called such on a regular basis.”

Metra giggled. “You’re only encouraging her.”

“I don’t want your nickname!” Ehtra shouted.

“Then why’re ya smiling?” The question caught the grey angel off guard and she swiftly hid her mouth behind a raised hand. “Too late, already saw it!”

“S-shut up!” the First of Hatred hissed and turned her shoulder in a peculiar way. The gesture only made sense if one imagined there was a wing attached to her back that she could extend to give the annoying (not feline) Lightbearer a feather dusting across the face. Similarly, Ehtra likely had intended to cover her smile with her wing, but had forgotten she did not currently have them grown out.

“Such a tsundere,” Rave purred and suddenly stepped up to Ehtra. “Come ‘ere.”

Before the angel could launch any further protest, Rave had pushed her hand aside. Their lips met and whatever the rigid woman may have felt about that was soon replaced with the care that she felt for everyone. Abrasive tone or not, Ehtra evidently liked making out with her fellow haremettes. She reciprocated with increased intensity, even bowing down so Rave did not have to stand on her toes while their tongues wrestled.

John watched the scene with the appropriate amount of fascination. Cute girls kissing never got out of style. A pair of young women that was passing seemed to agree, one of them so focused on the scene she stumbled and almost fell. The Gamer laughed and the two disentangled.

“You’re a good kisser, Lady,” Rave complimented.

“You need to be stopped, bothersome creature,” Ehtra grumbled, but only hesitantly let go of Rave. They had to end their hug before the sheer heat of the environment glued them together via sweat.

“Speakin’ of stoppin’,” Hailey drawled, “where’re we goin’?”

“Nowhere, honestly,” John answered. “We’re done for now. We’ll continue our expedition once they get the plane out of the city, which I suspect will take a few more hours. Once they’re out of city bounds and we can move a little faster, we’ll start scouring the area Momo points us at.”

“So we got the rest of the day off?” Rave asked.

“Basically.”

“Ya gonna throw a paranoia fit if we separate?” Rave asked. “I wanna explore some of the touristy spots. Can’t imagine you’re very interested in that.”

She was right on the money there. The last thing John wanted was to be stuck in a crowd, midday, in this heat. Constant exposure to his first fiancée’s thermostat wishes was warping his idea of hot and cold, but he wasn’t this damaged yet.

The question was a difficult one to consider. They knew there was some sort of competition in the field. While John was around, they could always get emergency reinforcements in the form of the remaining maids and the elementals. Rave on her own did not have that luxury.

At the same time, Rave was only two levels behind him. As long as she had one or two other haremettes with her, attacking her without a direct plan was deeply unwise for anyone that wasn’t named Romulus. It was also their first day. Them having been spotted was unlikely. If they had been, offering a weakspot could work out.

“One second,” John answered and stepped into an alleyway. No one else could see the Harem Comms, so he was safe from Gaia, but he did not want to be that tourist that stood in the middle of the street, tapping away at air.

John: Hey, where are you?

The answer came pleasingly swift.

Nia: Between two cats and a dog. You?

John: Just walking around. Rave wants to potentially split up. You got an eye on things?

Nia: I’ll be where I am needed.

John: I know you will be.

John dismissed the window with a smile. Nia had not left with them, but he would have been a fool to expect the pariah to be on the plane. He had no idea when she had left, his third body in the plane had seen her not that long ago. This was simply what Nia always did. The blank was impossible to pin down.

Since she was already roaming the streets, John did not see the harm in allowing other haremettes to do the same. The more groups of his girls were around, the safer it would be for them. Merida was a big city, but they were all very fast. Any engagement they found themselves in only had to be played for the delay factor to tip in their favour.

“Alright, go on ahead,” John told Rave.

“Coolio, anyone wanna tag along?” she asked the present girls.

“Not interested,” Ehtra stated.

“Won’t lie, I’m not either. This city seems rather dull,” Metra gave her opinion.

“I’ll come along,” Hailey said.

“Aclysia?”

The weaponized maid was weighing her options. Obviously she did not want to leave John’s side, but she also did not need to stay with him urgently when Metra and Ehtra were with him. “I will tag along,” she decided in the end. “I have a passing interest in the local architecture and history.”

“Anything interesting we’re going to do?” Metra asked, while that trio departed in direction of the nearest tourist attraction.

“Just walk around, have a date.” John kept looking at his first haremette, first maid, and favourite country gal walk away. He hated to watch them go, but he absolutely loved to watch them leave.

Fortunately, he would see them later.