The Exoskeletons that accompanied Seeker numbered less than a dozen. It was a shocking squad that confused Zeraphine. They were supposed to take over an Underwater City. And raiding such a large vessel should have required an army. But instead of that, a small team was sent as if the Progenitor wanted to flex the technology they have.
The Exoskeleton suit that they wore barely had any technology or tools to shoot. Apart from a sword based on Pangean Eradication technology and the basic ranged guns, the group had no discernible tech.
"Stay here. I'll go ahead. Join the battle later."
"Where's the city? My scans don't sense anything." Lara asked.
"The Phallic is trembling. Oh, sorry. That sounded creepy and wrong. As Phalanx, we are in sync with a certain element that is used in this suit. And that's how we just know..."
"I see. Go ahead. I'll be watching."
"I need to impress you more." Seeker smiled as he charged forward.
Suddenly, explosions rang out without warning. Yet despite the invisible attacks, the Exoskeletons of Seeker's team easily evaded it.
Zeraphine watched from afar and continued to check through the techs in her Nefilius Body.
"Impossible. This is the very foundation of Universe Energy. How can a Pioneer have this?!" She was amazed.
Seeing how Seeker's team could easily evade it was no longer a surprise to her. She believed that Seeker is a son of a Principal.
Seeker and the team moved faster.
The team that accompanied Seeker wasn't just any ordinary people. They were direct descendants of the Emperors that couldn't claim a Throne in the Everhiss clan. But as the new age had dawned upon them, the first thing they did was purchased the highest and most potent Unlocked medicine that Charles had in his laboratory.
These were the first few Unlocked that had been trained. It was necessary that they would be sent with Seeker so that the fundamental capabilities of the Unlocked would be kept away from Zeraphine and her potential mind-controlling drugs.
Even the information that these people knew about the Unlocked was wrong to hide many facts about the Unlocked. If Zeraphine were to mind-control them, they would only reveal that a Progenitor had experimented on their bodies.
Without any Skill or Path, Seeker had a simple solution on how these people were to survive this battle. Failing to follow this simple instruction would kill them. They were to follow the movements of Seeker Carlean.
Only Seeker could see the changes in the water and evaded them all accordingly. The rest of the Exoskeletons were only moving according to Seeker's movements. Seeker's lead was also very small. No one could tell that Seeker was ahead of the rest only by a meter in the chaos of the flight.
The Unlocked only had the enhanced perception of time. And this was enough.
Zeraphine watched in amazement as Seeker dodged all attacks.
"What technology did this Lourca Oviili acquire?" She wondered. She had read the reports sent to her, which discussed the theories surrounding the Pioneer who became the Arbiter over Earth way back during World War Three.
The water that exploded by some bizarre science proved no hindrance. Smaller eruptions exploded out around Seeker and his team.
The number of explosions was growing in number, and soon, it was as if countless small bubbles were engulfing them.
"This is the equal of their machine guns and other infantry weapons. Follow me tight. Assume a tighter formation. If you want to survive, you have to follow what I have to say with delaying by a quarter of a second!" Seeker spoke through realm and sound.
"Yes, sir!" The group answered.
The barrage of explosions could not hit Seeker, who dove closer and closer.
Deep inside the Underwater City, an old woman watched in horror.
This was the best of her technology. When she noticed that a squad of Exoskeleton was moving towards her without moving to the right or left, she knew that 'they had finally arrived.
"The Presiders found us... A pity. Our mission to eliminate those space cities has failed..." The old woman sighed.
"We have failed the Progenitor." One of the younger soldiers sighed next to her.
"Mother. I just... cannot accept it. We are doomed, just like that?" A young woman cursed.
"My child... We were destined to die. Get ready to destroy all our techs." The Old woman watched as Seeker's platoon approached closer and closer.
Seeker, on the other hand, revealed a small ball and crushed it.
A powerful shock wave erupted out of Seeker as a loud shout was heard.
"Pioneers! The Seeds of the Progenitor are here to kill you! Give up or die!" Seeker chuckled.
The simple sentence that Seeker made froze almost all the top officials inside the vessel.
"Mo-Mother! The Progenitor's Seed?!"
"What does this mean?!" A soldier asked.
"Why is that Exoskeleton staying at a distance?" The old woman tossed aside most unusual statements and focused on why an Exoskeleton remained afar.
"Mother! That's the-"
"I know! But take a hint! He claims he wants to kill us! But then offers us the option to give up? Why is that one over there? This could be a usual case! It used a term that the Progenitor said only we, his children, would know! So why? Remember what the Progenitor told us! We have to be triply cautious in our dealings with the world to be discovered. That man claiming to be a seed might be doing the same!"
"What do we do?"
"Minimize the attack by fifty percent. Look at their route. It seems that they already knew where the entrance to this city is but is circling to give us time to prepare. Alright. Daughter, you will hold all our findings and research in another room. I will personally meet this man. Also, if that Exoskeleton waiting in the distance moves closer, shoot it but don't kill it." The old woman ordered and began to walk out of the room.
Seeker continued to evade and finally and circled. When he exploded the sound of Richie, he was already able to scan the entire city and see the group's movements. Through the combination of Realm, Seeker was even able to hear some of the conversations inside the city.
And while the many voices would have confused a normal human, Unlocked being easily filtered out the many conversations and finally found the voice of a particular person.
"Good! They understood my intentions! This should be interesting!" Seeker smiled.
He led the group to encircle and attack some areas of the city. The attacks that Seeker made were on places that had no weapons.
Zeraphine frowned.
"What is Seeker doing? Why is he attacking there?"
But then, the attacks that Seeker and his group were receiving immediately decreased by fifty percent.
"What the...?!" Zeraphine was stunned. How could those attacks dwindle the source of the explosions?
Seeker, who was listening to the conversation made by the top officials, acted immediately to fool Zeraphine.
When Seeker could sense that the Old woman who was in charge was now in position, Seeker led the group to charge towards the city's main entrance.
Using a Horn that had the power of Desolation, Seeker tore through the entrance and dashed towards the city proper.
The holes that Seeker created were suddenly closed as another layer of steel covered it.
Zeraphine observed from a distance and couldn't believe how easy it was for Seeker to move inside.
Inside the underwater city, Seeker executed the next part of his plan.
"Alright, guys. I'll shoot you in the shoulder to make it look like we were caught in some battle." Seeker smiled.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The soldiers that accompanied Seeker were shot. One of them had wounds that would have been critical if he was a normal human.
"Alright. Now someone shoots me."
The scene of Seeker shooting and asking to be shot made the soldiers of the city confused.
"As I thought, you are indeed our allies." The Old woman stood at the front.
"Right. You guys have to make a commotion to make it look like there's a terrifying battle happening inside here. I am Seeker Carlean, Seed of the Lost Primordial, who we call the Progenitor." Seeker introduced.
"Alright. Men. Do as he says. He is our ally." The old woman ordered.
The soldiers nodded, and soon, small explosions and the sound of constant gunfire were made. The city even underwent an alarm that caused several parts of the Underwater city to surface.
"Send some of your important men and technology to escape. I heard you guys talking earlier. You are right. That woman piloting an Exoskeleton should be a Presider." Seeker explained.
"A Presider?!"
"We managed to trick her. It's a long story. But send some desperate evacuation protocols that contain important techs. The techs that you asked your daughter to keep would do."
"You-You really heard it?"
"Yeah. It's all part of the plan. One of my allies theorized that one way the Aragarians who were here on Earth could have been massacred if there was a traitor. So... was he right?" Seeker asked.
The old woman was amazed at Seeker's statement.
"Amazing... That is accurate! That is very accurate. I was a Pioneer serving under a Presider who was sent here to Earth. The Lost Primordial, who called himself the Progenitor, found me. He gave me the techs to help me prolong my life. With his help, he allowed me to gather a few exceptional earthlings, and I amassed many contributions to the Presiders that allowed me to become an Arbiter. Together with those humans, we slew the Pioneers of Earth and slain five Arbiters who were just like me."
"Oh? So you were a Pioneer? Arthur was right, huh? Man, he really can see the future."
"It seems the many powers of the Lost Primordial is not lost. If you have an ally that can see the future, then it means his Seeds has truly sprouted."
"I was right then. The Lost Primordial can see the future. He must have been responsible for my coming here." Seeker smiled. He thought about the time travel and how his new life has allowed him to amass further and find the lost things in that past life.
"I see. The Paths of Amir Mann that is foundational to body cultivation, the Zone of Alean, the Path of Arthur, Nogard, and many others... These lost things were terrifying powers that the Aragairans shouldn't acquire. The Lost Primordial used his ability to see the future and caused two timelines to arrange everything for this to happen." Seeker was amazed. He realized that even his attack on this base would have been riddled with various requirements.
"No wonder Arthur didn't argue about using the words Lost Primordial and Progenitor. He wanted our efforts to resound across the world and make it known to you. You were ready to destroy every evidence and information that you have about the Lost Primordial. But because I said those words, you believed me."
"Indeed. We have heard the news of the wars up there. We've heard about how a mysterious organization led by Progenitor was fighting against the so-called enigmatic Lost Primordial. When we heard it, we rejoiced. This means that the Lost Primordial was alive."
"And those terms stopped you from destroying this city." Seeker smiled. H
"Correct. The Progenitor instructed us to destroy this entire city and even kill ourselves if Presiders attacked us. We were alarmed that you knew where this hidden city was. We even avoided communicating with other Underwater Cities. If you have arrived here and used the name Lost Primordial, we would have still burned all those techs we have. But since you made it look like that the Progenitor and the Lost Primordial are two separate entities, it convinced us that you were the real Progenitor."
"But that wasn't enough, was it?" Seeker finally confirmed his theory. This city would have burned if a single element was missing.
"Of course. You know how pessimistic and cautious the Progenitor is. I made that arrangement with my daughter so that she would destroy it if I determined you to be fake. But your actions proved it. And not only did you mention being a Seed of the Progenitor, you even stated that you have someone who has a similar power to the Progenitor!"
"Hmm... So the Progenitor not only has the final form of Arthur's Path, but he also has Alean's Path? Are all Primes like this? We're a long way from victory, then. So tell me, who are you?"
"I am Lourca Oviili. A Pioneer of World War Three"