Publishedat 16th of September 2019 10:15:51 PMChapter 45
Sophia scrunched her face up as she looked at the online post, tapping on a flat smartphone she held in her hand . She held back a yawn as she focused, reading from it .
"Best method for killing slow Abnormals… No…" She muttered a thread t.i.tle out loud, tapping it aside,
"Hidden tips for taking care of your hair, the best beauty products to buy from the Shop… Hmm, maybe I should save that one…" She paused momentarily before moving past it,
"Do Morenkai p.o.o.p? An investigative journey into the bowels of this mystery . " She giggled out loud at the t.i.tle and then covered her mouth, blus.h.i.+ng slightly .
She glanced to the left and right, making sure no one had heard before she remembered she was on this journey alone . She sighed at the thought .
Micheal was putting a lot of trust in her, trust she felt like was unwarranted . The man was a few years younger than her, yet somehow always cool, confident, and collected . He seemed to have an answer to every problem and nothing ever seemed to leave him fl.u.s.tered .
He had faith she would be able to achieve this, and she was committed to not letting him down, but she couldn"t shake the slight feeling that she would mess up and ruin all of Micheal"s plans .
She sighed again and shook her head . There was no point in worrying over things she couldn"t control .
She was currently standing in a deserted bedroom, leaning against a wall . She was on the 30th floor of a 40-floor tall skysc.r.a.per at the very outskirts of the territory of the G.o.dfather Organization .
The Main Cl.u.s.ter was ma.s.sive . As a result, no matter how big the G.o.dfather Organization was, it wasn"t feasible to lock down anything approaching a sizable sector by blocking off skysc.r.a.pers .
Thus, it was quite easy to enter the territory of the G.o.dfather Organization . The only issues cropped up if one hunted in any public or obvious place . One was liable to be stopped by patrolling G.o.dfather Organization teams and questioned .
It wasn"t illegal to hunt in their territory, but member teams that took refuge in the area were required to pay certain fees, in the form of Healing Pills or other useful Artifacts, and register with the patrols that would wander . The other members of the Big 3 worked in a similar manner .
In return, the G.o.dfather Organization hunted down criminals, provided free food if needed, provided training opportunities, as well as this large-scale online network . They also moderated hundreds of Open Markets, keeping the peace .
It was very much like citizens paying tax to a government that provided public services .
Sophia had traveled here at top speed, moving without pause after she and Micheal split up . Her movement speed was greatly enhanced by the new Ability she picked up, letting her cross a huge distance in a short period of time .
Its name in the Shop was "Wind Sweeper" . It was rather expensive in the First Layer, at 86,000 Points . However, this Ability resolved Sophia"s biggest worry and was one she felt drawn to .
The Wind Sweeper Ability vastly enhanced her mobility, allowing her to manipulate the wind to some degree, creating and gliding upon air currents .
Advertis.e.m.e.ntAccording to Micheal, it was one of the best mobility Abilities one could get on the First Layer and could be removed later . She could achieve actual flight by using it, though the drain on her stamina was significant if she flew without gliding for long distances .
With this Ability, if an enemy was threatening her, she could simply fly away .
She had already tested it and found it was possible to fly more than 500 meters in the air before her soul became stressed . She could then shoot off in any direction, gliding for thousands and thousands of meters .
The view from such a height was incredible . She could see thousands upon thousands of skysc.r.a.pers spreading out around her, a gargantuan metropolis filled with both people and horrifying monsters .
The speed at which she flew was not slow . She soared through the air like a speeding car, moving at roughly 80 miles per hour (130 KPH) . She"d ended up purchasing a pair of goggles to deal with the rus.h.i.+ng wind, though she felt if she got enough practice using the Wind Sweeper Ability, she would be able to push the wind out from hitting her eyes .
Her Mandorian Deflector Bracelet deflected most long-range attacks like regular bullets . Very few people would have anything that could break through that protection, so with her newfound ability to soar through the skies, she was effectively able to escape from anyone that attacked her now, while also greatly boosting her agility .
"I"ve been searching for 20 minutes already… how many forum posts are there…" She rubbed her eyes, staring down at the webpage in exasperation . The section she was looking at was for English posts, though it was possible to translate any post into any language with near perfect accuracy thanks to the Shop"s miraculous functions . This section was actually a subset of the main English section, with an even smaller audience, yet there were still tens of thousands of posts on it .
…25 minutes later…
"Super Ultra Warrior Respect Thread! Yes! Finally!" Sophia"s eyes were bloodshot as she stared at a post she"d finally managed to find, almost jumping up and down in joy . She had been looking under a specific section of a giant online forum, thereby blocking out most responses, and even then, it still took her roughly 45 minutes to find his post .
There was no search function that she could find on the public version, forcing her to look manually . The sheer number of people that existed in the Main Cl.u.s.ter, using forums like this, was daunting . Thankfully, s.h.i.+n was a newcomer, and his post was part of the newer ones, making it much easier to find .
She quickly tapped on it, looking it over .
"h.e.l.lo, my loyal fans~
"This is Master s.h.i.+n-obi dropping in~
"As a G.o.d-Tier warrior, I will humbly share with you all my great advice!"
Sophia stopped reading the post out loud, staring at it in consternation .
"Huh?" When she had first heard that Micheal had an ally already, she had imagined someone as cool and stoic as him . The silly t.i.tle of his post must"ve been a disguise, in her opinion, to help wade off anyone with bad intentions .
She continued to read, her forehead crinkling,
"If you are cracking an egg, use a knife and just chop it~
"If you are chopping meat, have you tried using chopsticks? They don"t chop well, but chopped meat is gross anyway~
"If you are planning on going to the beach, bring sunscreen~ Tanning causes skin cancer~ Don"t be a Dumbo~"
Sophia stopped again, staring down at her tanned arms .
She then glared at the phone,
"Anyway, that is all the advice I, the Supreme, Masterful, Elite, Draconic, G.o.dly Warrior have to share today~
"If you"re curious for more, check out the central skysc.r.a.per 321, the alpha code starting with the first and third letter of my best friend~
"Byyyyeeeeee . "
Sophia glared at the phone again for good measure before she glanced at a few of the replies,
"What kind of advice is this?! Have you ever cracked an egg in your life?!"
"No~cough, I"m lactose and tolerant . My wench made my food for me till we parted, alas . "
"It"s lactose INtolerant, not AND . Wait, Eggs don"t even have dairy in them… And you can"t cough on an online forum . . . "
"I only take replies asking for my autograph, next comment please~"
"Oi hold on! What was that about women!?"
"Mm? I didn"t say anything . Next comment please~"
Sophia felt an urge to murder her mysterious ally then and there, her opinion of s.h.i.+n dropping to rock bottom . She tapped on the reply b.u.t.ton, prepared to leave a scathing reply of her own before she noticed that the thread had over 6,000 comments already, most of them annoyed .
Almost all of s.h.i.+n"s replies were wisecracks and jokes, ones that infuriated most of the people replying .
She kneaded her forehead, feeling a headache coming on .
"Micheal… who on Earth have you sent me after…"
After a few moments, she went back over his comment, reading it again . In particular, she noticed the past portion of his comment .
"Check out central skysc.r.a.per 321, alpha code starting with the first and third letter of my best friend…" Her eyes flashed,
"So that"s MC321, I a.s.sume . " She tapped away from this part of the forum, clicking out of it . She then pulled up one of the pictures of the many maps Micheal had provided her with, something they"d obtained from that re-supply station .
She looked over one map in particular, one that listed the territory of the G.o.dfather Organization, labeling each skysc.r.a.per with a different value . It was a huge project that must"ve taken quite a bit of effort to map out, though, considering all the weird or strange Abilities that existed, it might"ve been easier than it looked .
It only took her a few minutes until she found the section for "MC" skysc.r.a.pers, and shortly after that, the skysc.r.a.per listed as "MC321 . "
"It"s at the center of their territory…" She muttered, frowning . She was only at the outskirts . The deeper she went into their controlled area, the more likely she was to encounter powerful experts .
On the other hand, she might actually be able to ask about her little sister too . It couldn"t hurt to at least try, she didn"t think Micheal would mind . The sooner they started looking for her, the better .
"But first…" She yawned, turning off the smartphone as she checked the time . It was past midnight, her journey taking her well into the night .
"Let"s get some sleep . " She flopped onto the nearby bed, like a limp noodle,
"I"ll find him tomorrow . "
. . . . . . . . . . . .
…Some amount of time later…
Micheal glanced at the smartphone he had on him, tapping on it as he entered in one final clump of information . He"d written out a large series of notes on his phone, data he"d acc.u.mulated over the past hour .
Around him, the two men Sub-Commander Borial had a.s.signed to help him were still going through various files, scanning information and checking to see if there were any discrepancies . This undertaking would likely take several days to actually reach fruition, through a collaboration of several people .
"But that"s not my problem . " He smiled beneath his mask,
"I"ve got everything I need . " His information gathering session had been a success .
"Leila is stationed at the Steel Guard Branch, on a.s.signment to hunt down a band of murderers that killed several dozen members of Arcadia . If I recall correctly, that Branch is decently close to here . I can reach it tomorrow . " His smile turned grim .
"Kind of ironic . " The Black Witch would cause tens of thousands to die in the future, becoming a ma.s.s murderer in her own right . She was destined to become what she was hunting .
Not only did he manage to secure the info he needed, he also wrote down a large number of details on how the Angels Arcadia operated, where their powerful men and women were stationed, and general information about other groups that he"d gleaned from the Directive Storage Room .
This place was practically a goldmine of information . He could see why it had been so heavily guarded and why Sub-Commander Borial had rushed here in just seconds after the guards were downed . While none of the information was extremely sensitive and a lot of it known to the public, it all being in one place made it extremely convenient for him .
A few more minutes pa.s.sed as Michael continued to go over a few last records . He had largely found everything of note, but it was possible he might find some extra information that was useful squirreled away in some random folder .
Sub-Commander Borial was still outside in the hallway, talking with some of his men . The rest of the guards were currently doing a full sweep of the Tower, going floor by floor as they looked for any possible leads or trails the intruder may have left .
With Micheal and the other two currently checking the records, no one thought twice about searching this room again, leaving Micheal"s tampered window away from the spotlight .
Just as he was picking up another file, deciding he"d read through five or six more before leaving, the pounding of feet caught his attention .
He turned to look out of the room, where a young woman dressed in white leather armor appeared, holding a walkie talkie in her hand . The woman"s face was pale, her entire body trembling as she ran up to the Sub-Commander .
"Sub-Comm" She wheezed as she caught her breath, apparently having rushed here so quickly even her strong, C or B Ranked body couldn"t handle it,
"Sub-Commander!"
"What is it, Ca.s.sie?" Borial"s voice was full of confusion but also excitement, apparently thinking her actions had to do with finding a trail for the intruder .
"We just got an alert sent from one of the Long Range Emblem watchers!" When she said that, however, Borial"s expression fell .
What she said next caused his face to darken entirely,
"Commander Hunter… is dead!"
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(I"m on vacation now, fyi . Hope y"all are enjoying the story)
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