Chapter 186: The Last Four Hours

Harker and Colestar presented the technology. But it was an odd one. Harker was basically typing the message on the screen whereas the WGP used some sort of technology that would also display the thoughts in their head into text.

"That's one impressive technology…" Harker admired.

The three ignored it and discussed the details of the Armor and its technology.

"As we said, we are giving you this technology. And of course, once you perfect it, we want it for ourselves."

The Three glanced at each other and nodded their heads.

They turned around and moved towards the exit.

As they left, they headed back to the gaming room where Lynd was playing.

They looked stunned at the development as they entered the room and noticed that Lynd had already killed over one-hundred players.

The players now had access to sniper rifles. Others used their points to purchase more destructive weapons. The engineers of the group started to purchase items that they could use to build more weapons. As the game had such great and diverse possibilities, rockets of all sorts were now being developed in the underground level of the main building where Lynd spawned.

Suddenly, one of the Exoskeletons piloted by the WGP raised its arm.

"Barriers?"

The pilot of the Exoskeleton that activated the barriers said nothing but suddenly released a loud white noise sound that drowned the noise around him.

"We can't be too careful." The person in the Exoskeleton immediately communicated directly to the suits. This person did not talk the entire time he was with Harker. But now, she finally spoke.

"If what that Harker said is true, then this secret enemy may have technology that is far more advanced than the techs that Australia used. Although this room is enclosed and the sound of the entire city's map is emulated in this room, we don't know if this is enough to stop their techs. Use white noise like me to drown out the sound of our conversation."

"Alright." The two followed.

"The implication of what they said is too dangerous to ignore. However, what they said did make sense." The one in the other Exoskeleton agreed.

"We have to take action. Contact the people you trust and make your respective countermeasures." The woman ordered.

"Should we use the direct line? We can't afford to use several links now. If we want to hide our schemes, we should only make one call."

"We shouldn't even call anyone in this scenario. If what Harker said that someone within the WGP is betraying us, any calls we make would seem suspicious." The other pilot argued.

"No. One call should be possible. Lynd will win this gamble. The ripple effect of his victory will shake the world. Calling someone now wouldn't be suspicious." The one called the Empress explained.

"Empress, who do you suggest we should contact?"

She thought for a while and ordered to contact the person that she trusts. And so, using an extremely complicated communication system, one of the pilots made a long-distance call.

Somewhere near the borders of Africa, in an underground military base that held vast weapons and soldiers, General Vender continued to make arrangements for the counter-attack on the Caliphates. Unknown to many, General Vender now had a superior he reported to, and it wasn't his own government.

Lowengren entered the office allotted for the World Governing Powers Atlantis Admiral.

"Fleet Admiral. The preparations are ready. I have brought with me a small team of covert spies who will infiltrate the Caliphates. I believe that they are the best of the best."

"None of them will join. We will be going with you personally." The Fleet Admiral ordered.

Lowengren was stunned and turned to the soldiers and motioned for them to leave.

"You-you will be going with us?"

"Yes. I have to ascertain if what you said is true. I have to go. Or are there any issues?"

"None at all, Fleet Admiral. It's an honor."

"How will you infiltrate the base?"

"The attack that Fleet Admiral made caused devastation that weakened the defense of the enemy. In that gap, we can send a small team of soldiers. Although the techs have to be those that cannot be easily scanned. We were planning on bringing several weapons, as you can see." Lowengren pointed to a small crate behind them.

"We can use our techs to hide you. Feel free to bring more weapons." The Commander next to Fleet Admiral Magantae explained.

"Thank you, Commander! But won't the Caliphates know that you are helping us? It will draw suspicion."

"That's why we need you to create a scene once you complete your mission. We have to make several attacks and make sure that they know, it's Africa."

Lowengren was silent.

"Is there a problem with this?"

"None." Lowengren sighed.

"Silence!" Fleet Admiral Magantae shivered as she noticed a highly protected call that utilized various techs of the WGP. This was the direct line that the World Governing Emperors had to the strongest generals and admirals of the WGP army.

Everyone immediately became quiet and Magantae immediately moved further from the rest.

"Fleet Admiral Magantae Reporting." She answered.

"Magantae. I want you to move closer to Pangea. We suspect an attack will soon occur. We suspect that the Kraken will be attacked.

Magantae shivered in fear.

"Emperor. Forgive me. I am currently not in the Kraken. In loyalty to the WGP, I dared leave the Atlantis and sought proof of my suspicions. Another Fleet Admiral may be planning to betray us! I am here in Africa." Magantae spoke solemnly. However, her heart was pounding. Her actions were the most suspicious of all.

"Africa? You mean that Fleet Admiral Roovite is the one whom you suspect to be the traitor?" The voice of the man called Emperor questioned harshly.

"I dare not accuse. I have no proof."

"You're probably right. It makes sense." Another voice sounded.

"Empress!" Magantae knew that this voice was someone of higher authority.

"What do you mean, Empress?" The man Magantae addressed as Emperor asked the woman.

"I know what you two are thinking. But Magantae can't be the traitor."

"How can that prove that she's not the traitor? She went to Africa! It was probably her who gave the EMP bomb to the ones that attacked New Great Britain and she used the remaining EMP bomb to attack Africa. She's using that as a diversion. How can you still trust her?"

"Because she's my daughter." The woman sternly replied.

The two Emperors were stunned at the revelation.

"Tell me the truth. What happened? Why are you there?" The Empress asked once more.

"I… I have seen a certain video that may prove that Lowengren is alive."

"A video? How come we haven't seen it? Lowengren is a top priority person to find! Any details of his survival should have been reported!" Another Emperor asked.

"I'm… sending it to you now…" Magantae voiced out weakly.

And there it was…. The Might was shown once more.

Alean and Lowengren started to talk casually. Of course, their conversation was something no one could hear.

"Great. More people will be stunned by your Might."

"Yeah. This should be interesting. Let's continue to listen." Unbeknownst to Magantae, the two had the ability to listen at the private phone call Magantae was doing inside her Exoskeleton armor.

"It's good that we finally managed to learn about Realm Somatotopy." Alean sighed.

"We're very slow compared to Cliff though. I'm curious what Cliff's future brings."

Back in Pangea, the mouths that were wide open and the expressions they wore so ridiculous that it did not befit their identities.

"Most who saw that video must have decided not to… report it. My troops did because they know I am, or perhaps was, a fan of Lowengren." Magantae voiced out so weakly that her voice was that of a seven-year-old girl who was being chastised for stealing cookies.

"Africa? So you went there for him? How then, did you find out of Roovite's betrayal?" The Empress quickly changed the topic.

"It was a misunderstanding. The General we talked to, General Vender Hirock, claims to have been blackmailed by that Fleet Admiral. He thought that the information I was looking for was related to that and not Lowengren. So he immediately revealed everything when we pressed him to hand over whatever secret files they have…"

"Vender? Who is that? What made you go for this General?"

"He is one of the Generals of Africa. But he is nobody noteworthy. I was supposed to interrogate another General. We were aiming for the Generals that have been marked to be dangerous, but I saw this Vender on the roof. And I guess, I just was prompted to inquire since he was easily accessible. I thought it would be a quick conversation… but things happened. Anyway, our investigation led us to deduce that Roovite might have been using Africa and the Caliphates to amass himself of certain weapons."

Listening on this call, was Lowengren and Alean who were using their Unlocking to catch every word.

"So that's why you wanted to stay up the roof…" Lowengren held his laughter.

"I didn't know my Path was working then. But see? Trust me. Taking these fools to Caliphates will really bring us goods results." Alean answered.

"Wait." The Empress continued on the call.

"Then meeting Vender, was purely coincidental?"

"Yes."

"Then it's best that you continue working with Vender." The Empress concluded.

"Are you sure, Everhiss?" One of the Emperor asked.

"They did not expect Magantae to go to Vender."

"They?" One of the Emperors asked.

"Yes. It was them! Whoever is trying to betray us made Magantae leave the Atlantis!"

"I see… Without her, and several commanders, then they have more chance of succeeding in this mission."

Magantae was stunned.

"Correct. But we're lucky."

"Lucky? How so."

"These secret enemies of ours made a spectacular scene. They knew Magantae was a fan! And only fellow Generals and Admirals know of Magantae's fascination with that boy. They make a scene that will practically be ignored by the world except for our dear Magantae. They wanted you out. It confirms it. The attack should be on the Kraken near Australia. But what they didn't expect was for you to randomly choose General Vender. The least choice of Generals."

Magantae was startled at her mother's explanation.

"And this accident gives us a chance to get information about our enemy. Stop their plans in the Caliphates and in Africa. Return once the mission is complete. As for us, we will be the ones who will deal with the chaos in the Kraken."

"It looks like we will be forced to protect the Kraken." One of the Emperors voiced out.

"We will either protect it… or destroy it. Let's observe the chaos first." The Empress agreed.

"Magantae. Order your Atlantis to prepare for battle. They have to be battle-ready within two hours."

"As you command, Emperor." Magantae sent a message to the Atlantis while her call with the Emperors and the Empress continued.

"Tell us more of the issues there in Africa."

"We suspect the Caliphates and Africa were being blackmailed by Roovite I have allied with the General here and was about to infiltrate the Caliphates."

"Then proceed with that mission." The Empress sighed.

"Empress Everhiss!" One of the Emperor was stunned.

"They have to. We need haste to find out what's going on. We need to investigate which of our bases will be attacked. If what that Harker said is true, then the Kraken near Australia will be the one definitely attacked."

"I don't understand why you trust his claims."

"It makes sense. They force Pangea to create this gamble and earn a lot of money. Then the traitor will allow an attack to happen on one of the Krakens near Pangea. Most likely, it's the Kraken that he has great control over."

"You mean they want to throw off the blame?"

"Exactly. We most likely have several traitors deep in the high ranks of the WGP. If the Kraken near Australia will be attacked, just as Harker predicted, then we truly have a traitor in our midst. And we must figure out who they are now! She has to find out what she can in the Caliphates. And we… we will thwart this attack." The Empress answered.

"Oh? We will take action personally?"

"It's time we show the world, why we are its Emperors and Empresses." The Empress declared arrogantly

"Daughter. You will no longer act in the shadows. I will be releasing your identity. We can soon be together. But for now, you have your mission."

"I will not fail you, Empress."

"You no longer have to address her as such. At least… in front of us…" An Emperor chuckled.

The Empress chuckled but did not reprimand the Emperor.

"As you will, Mother. I will complete the mission. I will also request to have General Vender to receive certain medical technologies to heal his daughter. He was being used by… Roovite and the clause of his blackmail were to heal General Vender's daughter. If not for him, I would not have found out of this traitor."

Before the Empress could say anything, Magantae immediately added.

"I checked which sickness it was… It's that Plague." Magantae explained.

"I see…" The Empress felt sad.

"While his actions were indeed against us at first… it was only to save his daughter."

"We'll see what we can do. It's almost impossible to cure that Plague. Even for us. But let's discuss it later. Once you prove what's going on in the Caliphates, I'll agree to it. For now, we have to be wary of who we ally with." The Empress advised.

"As you advise, Empress."

The call ended and Magantae gave a deep sigh of relief. She walked back and addressed the Commanders.

"Let's begin with this mission." The smile on Magantae's face was brighter than before.

The fifth hour marked Lynd's victory over the two hundred soldiers. It was almost impossible to believe that Lynd succeeded in raiding the building which was transformed into a military fort. The world was so caught up in the news that conspiracy theories littered the news as various countries were accusing Pangea of it.

Worse was the relationship with the WGP. Twice did the WGP host a server, and twice did Pangea win over them.

But as the world ravaged on this news, the Atlantis in the Pacific, was already near the Kraken.

The sixth and seventh hour passed without any other incidents that were shown on the news. But if it were broadcasted, the world would have panicked. The Families were moving. Small troops of elite soldiers were now gathering around Pangea.

The Dalisay family clan had also received word of their champion and were quickly making arrangements to draw closer the Kraken. Yet they were not in fact, the first to complete their preparations.

Various organizations have been arriving in Pangea through their secret means, while some organizations, simply waited. The Kraken would be able to detect them. But all of them waited.

"Madam? Are we just going to wait here?" A man wearing a strange round and smooth Exoskeleton asked.

"Don't worry. We can afford to not attack the WGP. But the person called the Wind Progenitor will undoubtedly act." The woman laughed.

Nearing the eight hours, a certain individual had arrived in Australia. His entry was strange. By imitating meteor showers that would be burned in the atmosphere, this man managed to deceive the world and freefell from the great sky. In fact, he was falling from space itself.

He landed in one of the lush forests of Australia which became a haven for animals. This was one of the largest forests with the most animals theming in it. His landing was rather smooth as if he was an angelic being descending on Earth.

"Presider Crostfree. I hope your trip was not too tedious." One of the Pioneers bowed down.

The man brushed off various dust on his clothes.

"Not that boring. Earth really has some interesting books. Find me a collector's copy of a novel titled Harry Potter." The Presider ordered as he opened a small book that magically appeared on his hands.

Meanwhile, up on the Sky Satellite of Pangea, Cliff and his troops waited as the eight hours neared.

"So let me get this straight… We just jump… and using our own breath, we blow on this small hole on our thumb like that Post-modern character, Luffy?" Gardo asked with a dazzled expression.

"I don't know who Luffy is but yeah, you get the idea." Cliff agreed. His expressions were more solemn.

"Can I shout, Gomu-Gomu no Fūsen?" Gardo asked.

"Whatever makes you feel happy." Cliff nodded again.

"Cool." Gardo then resumed his practice of blowing through the small hole on his thumb to inflate himself.

The others also did likewise. A few minutes before the scheduled hour, everyone stopped and looked at the door that was about to open.

"General, the eight-hour approaches," Tyler reported as he set the pressure of the ship to match the one outside.

"Ready for deployment," Scribs reported as the pressures were now matched.

"And here I was hoping Seeker to call again… No call happened. So let's go."

The door opened, and everyone took a step outside.

It was a small step for man, but a giant leap for the odd group of soldiers, gamers, drug dealers, and a man from the province with an above-average fanaticism for the classic anime, One Piece.