Vella introduced the New Recruits who had been living in the house adjacent to the Casino. They were all quite lovely and so many. Mike counted 10, but right after he finished two more came out of the woodwork to introduce themselves. Mike was a little surprised, but very interested in how they did it. Their answer was that they could always do it. Mike was sure that it was some sort of ability her race had. Because he didn"t need to actually work the Casino Tables, Mike decided it was a good chance to get familiar with the books and magic. He still had a goal, it had changed a bit admittedly. Mike had wanted freedom to grow, medicate and be left alone by people who didn"t want to interact with him specifically. His family was terribly important, but he had been gone for so long that they likely believed him dead.
Mike thought about it a long time, what could he have even done back on Earth besides help his mother? If he had even a shred of the power he had at present, Mike would be hunted or have people constantly trying to a.s.sa.s.sinate him. He would be forced into becoming the next dictator by the public.
A t.i.tan, He was no longer human. Mike had to start thinking that way, but if he gave up his original self he would more or less have died entirely. Refusing to give up, Mike laughed and introduced himself to the staff when they opened. He had a lot of exploring to do in the City and the Girls has something to occupy their interests.
"I need to find Vella" Mike looked around and couldn"t find Vella after their morning. Reaching out his senses he found her, she was in the Castle Interrogating.
Mike wasn"t sure what she was doing, but he had told her not to harm others. He didn"t want to interrupt her, but he had to know if it was malicious so he paid close attention to the details he could observe while he mounted his Dragoon and flew toward the Castle.
Vella was in the Dungeon along with the other prisoners and several guards to block the door.
"Tell me who"s been paying you. This is your last chance." Vella started to close her hand, one finger at a time.
"Three"
"Two"
"One!" Vella crushed the man"s shoulder into powder.
His left arm dangled like a pinched sausage as the man screamed in agony. She wasn"t done. Vella began by pulling his arm off and beating him with it afterward. When the guard finally finished speaking, he had admitted to trying to take what wasn"t his. Vella tore the flesh from the mangled arm and forced into the mans mouth for a gag. tufts of hair made it particularly hard to swallow.
Mike watched for a little bit to make sure she wasn"t overstepping. He was surprised to find her using such a method, but he couldn"t impose a set of limitations on her. It was a necessary tactic that others would find extremely amusing to discuss, Torture that has a limit isn"t Torture at all.
"Vella, I wanted to see what else the city has to offer after your remodel." Mike changed the subject.
"We have a few new foods, and a lot of warehouses full of trade goods. After the Des"ule Amba.s.sadors made it a point to share the details of what had happened with their countries.
During the last month, More and more ships had been arriving and exchanging goods in the City. Vella had Harry collecting money, but he had to have someone do math so the Girls arranged one of the new recruits to do the collections alongside him. The arrangement was a good one, they didn"t have much problems after the first few days of renting out s.p.a.ce.
Harry was patrolling the Docks and talking to captains about their cargo, occasionally the Casino would just buy the contents. That was how they funded a lot of the civics they were promoting. Among Herbs, Captains had all sorts of things in their s.p.a.cial rings, bracelets and even ships. The transportation of goods and people were completely different than Earth, it was easy to move people with enough supplies. The terrifying part was when they were on the water, ships would come into contact with Pirates, Otera and Sea Monsters.
Winds were easy enough to supply on occasion with magic but a long and sustained sail would take multiple people regular rotations. Magicians were not few in number on ships, never few in number. Lone Pract.i.tioners would more times than not, end up as the snack of some Beast or sport for Thieves and Killers.
Vella had stationed an armed group of soldiers at the convergence point of the docks, but it didn"t have other much protection from magic. At that point, the city would know something was going on. Attack was from sea was unlikely, the gates were a far more likely target. The Casino had stationed some guards at the gate to measure the flow of traffic and trade, payments would be collected and business would run like normal.
Hospitality seemed to be spreading across the City, most shopkeepers had smiles on their faces with the increase of traffic. The merchandise in the City had made it shine as one of the biggest rising trade hubs of the seaboard. The city would have to expand its port to include more slots for shipping, the waterfront was becoming a high traffic area. Guards check loads, and Harry made collections from new arrivals.
A Ship bearing the crest of Poocha"s Neighbor, the Kreson Kingdom had decided to make a stop in the port. They hadn"t been to the city in about two years, its new found size had them wondering if they were lost. When they saw familiar ships in the what use to be Gogor, they were relieved and marveled at its appearance. The City was clean, very clean.
The Chapter of their Army that had made its deployment came onto the docks demanding service and pushing people into the water to make way for his soldiers.
Harry wasn"t interested in what they were planning, only what they were doing. Vella had laid down specific instructions on how to deal with people who don"t even seek a solution before they start attacking others. Harry stopped in front of the parade of soldiers and halted their advance. The Captain was particularly hateful of other beings, when Harry stopped he immediately unsheathed his weapon and went for the throat.
Harry had been kicked around by Vella a few times for not being fast enough and knew his own strength. He yanked a lamp post off the side of the dock and swung it to push the soldiers into the water. The sweeping motion was wide and full of openings and the Captain kept his momentum until he was a breath away from cutting Harry"s head from his humongous frame. A rush of fire swept inward from the sky, Mike landed the Dragoon on the Docks while the Captain was distracted and had Harry pull back.
"Star City isn"t your territory, You have disrupted trade. You will pay in gold or blood. Stow your weapon and I"ll allow you to choose. But I will have my pound of flesh for this grievance." Mike was itching for a fight, He had almost lost his big friend.
The Captain stared intently at Mike"s eyes as they flickered from color to color. "What and Whom are you. What has happened to Gogor, and where is the City Lord."
Mike watched the Captain eagerly. "Stow your weapon."
He pointed up.
The Captain saw the rest of the Dragoons hovering quietly at about 60 feet, in an instant they could cut the ship to shreds and strand the fighters on the Docks. It would easily turn into a kill-box at that point and the Captain knew it. He sighed heavily and sheathed his Sword momentarily.
"Explain." The Kreson Captain had but one word.
"The City Lord attempted to seize a.s.sets without representation because he was dismissed as a guest by some foreign diplomats. He was killed during his failed attempts at subjugation." Mike smiled and froze the water around the boat.
"Why you." The Captain was going to go all in but Mike quickly stopped him with a single word.
"Come" Mike turned and walked toward the Castle waiting for the Captain to follow.
During the walk he explained a few things about the changes to the City, including its name and why. After hearing it all, the Captain was a bit disappointed. He felt that as a force, one must use its power to crush those who would challenge authority. But Mike was merely holding a City, His empire was but a speck on the map.
"Make no mistake, If you intend harm to this City we can easily manage the situation. Harry is for appearances, You were lucky I came and not ... well, you see the point." Mike stopped in the street and faced the Captain. He hadn"t allowed his guards to come along, so it was just the two of them.
"No bulls.h.i.t, No lies. I don"t have the patience for them. This City will not kneel or accept subjugation from anyone, its people and its riches belong to it alone. If you want to trade blows, or trade goods we will attend you." Mike turned to continue and met up with Vella. She could see the frozen ship, it would be unable to move until Mike personally released it. The Ice had completely surrounded it and pinned it to the inlet"s floor.
The Kreson Captain made a sneering gesture when he looked back at his men trying to exit the water. He felt that as a Captain the Port Master would just roll over and accept his boot to lick, but what he found was different. Pride, while a key component to what he saw in the people of Star City was not the full explanation of the situation. Mike showed the Captain what real power looked like when he opened the door to the Casino.
The Mp3 player had become a center of attention and there was always someone dancing or singing along. 32 Card tables made up the bottom floor and it tiered into a triangle shape at the top to help blend into the natural embossed pattern from Star City"s layout. There was even a bath house on the northwestern side next to the Tea Stand. Innovation in the new World had taken off, but trading in materials was the primary source of revenue outside of the Casino.
The Kreson Captain had a dry look on his face when Mike handed him a stack of Gold Coins without prior discussion and pointed toward the gaming tables.
"Go try your luck, If you feel this place is somewhere your soldiers won"t make problems I will release your vessel and allow them into port. I will return in 30 minute to check on you." Mike placed a sand hourgla.s.s on the table and left.
The hourgla.s.s was just shock and awe, Mike ultimately didn"t give a s.h.i.t about some a.s.shole who wanted to ruff up the port master for doing his job. "Lets see what you"re up to" Mike jumped onto his Dragoon and flew back to port. When he arrived he touched the side of the boat from atop the Ice and sank his spiritual sense into it. He couldn"t manipulate its s.p.a.cial objects, but he could feel its cargo and occupants.
"73 inside, 25 outside plus the Captain" Mike noticed cannon mounts on the structure. The Cannons were probably in storage to save s.p.a.ce and weight, but Mike wasn"t blind.
They flew back to the Castle to inform Vella about the Ship, but she seemed disinterested and really wanted to do something else besides managing the City. To her, it was quite boring.
The Kreson Captain looked around and noticed that Mike wasn"t coming back right away. Wondering why he decided to leave him alone for some time, he only felt that someone was watching him closely. Other than that, he found his visit pretty calming. A great change to the confines of the ship as the crossed the southern end of the continent.
After asking how to play the game, he started to like it. The Casino had won all the money back before his thirty minutes were up. He wouldn"t accept that he had lost and pulled out his own money and began to bet, when that ran dry he used his sword. After losing his sword, he knew he had f.u.c.ked up really bad.
"When is Mike returning, this device has stopped moving." Watching the final grains like a boiling pot of water, The Kreson Captain asked the Dealer.
"The Boss is in a meeting, He"ll be back when he said he would." The Dealer cleared the cards and asked if he wanted to play again. The Captain could only refuse and get up for another player. He watched as the next hand won big for the man who had taken his place and grimaced at his decision. He could have won big if he had only bet more, however he had lost it all.
Returning full clothed seemed like a Victory the more he thought about his predicament. He did have more items for battle, more weapons and gold but those were his Kingdoms.. he had just lost most of his financial wealth in a single evening.
Waiting for Mike to return he saw some people drinking tea in a foggy room. Entering he saw a stick burning that gave off a sweet smell that calmed the nerves. Mike had made use of his extract in a strange way.
The medicinal efficacy was just too great. Cannabis already had the effect of pulling whatever was in its grasp into the plant itself, If it was grown on polluted land the land would even regain some viability over time. The Seeds that had come with Mike had been absorbing the natural magic in the soil and air, in fact raising its potency to fantastic and unbelievable heights.
"What is this.." The Kreson Captain took a deep breath and felt himself slow down a bit.
It was alarming and he shouted to the man in the room, demanding to know what was going on. It didn"t work, his voice trailed off and he sat down dazed.
The Incense stick was only holding a pinhead of the resin, Its effects were as light as it was going to get. That is also why it was on an incense stick, to extend how long it took to release. The girls were happy to see someone hit his snooze b.u.t.ton. The man was starting to become a menace, they even considered ejecting him but Mike had brought him personally.
"Mike should already be here... I wonder where he"s at." Gillian asked Reeba were new hires that were living in the house with the Poocha Troop, They were dealing some new customers before they both looked into the distance and saw the Dragoons dive bomb toward a few more incoming ships.
"ALARM!, Alert the Castle!" Reeba shouted toward the guards outside and they looked at what she was seeing and rushed while yelling.
Vella wasn"t deaf. She immediately heard the booming from outside the Marina walls. A Swooshing sound nearly deafened everyone and a large explosion came from one of the vessels.