Chapter 680 I Have Too Many Choices

"Let's go," Virala said as he grabbed Orakha and jumped out of the house, leaving behind a shockwave as he increased his speed, uncaring if he caused chaos. After all, the resulting chaos would be Inala's headache, not his.

He would be lying if he said he wasn't angered by the fact that after all that setup, the one that greeted them was a puppet. 'And he purposefully behaved like he was after our data to make us assume he's the real deal. As always, he doesn't stop even when a disguise is perfect but has to go beyond.'

He retracted his Tratham armour except for the shoes, generating psychokinesis as a force upon the water as he landed on its surface. This force spread wider across the water surface, allowing him to stand on the water. With a kick of his leg, he sped across the ocean.

Upon running for a few kilometres, his expression widened in shock, "So, that's how you detected that he was fake, Orakha."

"Your senses towards minerals are superior to even mine." He exclaimed in praise. Only after coming close enough that his Mystic Ewworm was able to sense Sumatra Gold deep in the ocean water. Orakha's Mystic Eaters were able to sense them from a range more than thrice his.

'If only this guy doesn't flee and stays behind, there's plenty we could achieve through him.' Virala thought as he stared at the figure of Orakha in his hold, 'His potential is inferior only to Resha. His build can grow endlessly if only he was desperate enough.'

To date, Orakha had never been desperate. He sought strength and intended to improve himself by learning through his failures, but that was it. He wasn't as desperate as Inala or Virala who attempted every possibility along their path to forge ahead.

'The fact that he hesitates to take a life speaks volumes about his approach. If only that changes and he changes from a merchant to an unscrupulous merchant, things will be different.' His thought arrived at a halt as Virala stopped at a spot on the ocean surface, "He's deep inside, right?"

"Probably on the ocean floor." Orakha nodded. "The water pressure will kill me."

"Don't worry about that." Virala grinned and condensed the Tratham submarine. Once the duo took seats within, the submarine sped into the water, gradually slowing down the deeper it went due to the force of buoyancy acting against them.

"Goodness, what the fuck is that?" Virala exclaimed as he stared at the Biome Lattice, startled by whatever the heck Inala was doing here, "This bastard doesn't sit still, huh?"

He soon observed a line, created by Biome Bombs connected to each other to form a thread-like channel. As he followed it, he observed the figure of the Royal Zinger, in all its glory, seated at the end of the line, absorbing Prana from it.

Stretching from his spot as the focus were eight such lines, each pumping Prana into him. Glowing orbs floated on his back, using a string of Prana to latch onto him. Virala stared at the glowing orbs as his gaze became incredulous, "Is that...for real?"

He slapped Orakha on the head, "I'm not dreaming, right?"

"Fucker, you're supposed to pinch yourself in such situations and not hit me," Orakha growled, but couldn't say much beyond that, with the entirety of his focus on a Biome Bomb dangling at the side of the Royal Zinger's hips.

From it, he could sense Sumatra Gold, two pieces in fact. 'I know he has three pieces. But now, I can only see two. Did he use one of them?'

If only his skill level in using the Mystic Eaters had been as good as currently during his time at the Brimgan Empire, he would have easily detected the three pieces of Sumatra Gold getting fused into the body of Amita Brimgan.

However, his attention was always on Yarsha Zahara, for she had dozens of pieces with her. So, he hadn't even thought about looking anywhere else. Of course, as the three pieces were being fused into Amita Brimgan's skeleton by Maroppa using her power, it was harder to detect them.

Conversely, Yarsha Zahara retained the pieces as is in her Minor Treasure of Storage Lantern, which made it extremely simple for him to detect them back then.

'What did he end up using the piece of Sumatra Gold on?' Orakha frowned as he expanded his senses through his Mystic Eaters but failed to find a third Sumatra Gold.

"He purposefully did that?" Orakha was stunned by the information, analysing subconsciously, "Indeed, many water bodies are connected to the Brimgan Sea. The water from the Dralh Sea flows to the Brimgan Sea, and it alone has eight channels. One of these channels connects it to the Red-Draft River, which Sumatra Chronicles claims to course through a third of Sumatra."

"That won't be necessary. I have a million methods to overcome this issue." Inala sighed, "And that's the issue."

'This guy is straight-up flexing now.' Virala clicked his tongue and said, "Anyway, did you receive all the information from our conversation with that puppet of yours?"

"Yeah," Inala nodded, "Sorry about that. I couldn't leave this place on short notice, so I sent a puppet first."

'He's apologising?' Virala felt creeped out by this initiative from Inala, "Man, come out and live like a normal person from time to time. You've become damn weird."

"Is that so?" Inala laughed awkwardly, "I can't help it. Sorry about that."

"So?" Orakha stared at Inala as his voice turned serious, "What's your opinion?"

"Like my puppet said, don't leave Sumatra." Inala said, "Without a Transcendent's active support, leaving Sumatra is impossible, even if you forge a ship solely using Sumatra Gold."

"What makes you say that?" Orakha was startled by the statement, getting up in reflex.

"The so-called Sumatra Gold is merely the Transcendent Prana of Sumatra, a Mystic Transcendent that lost the will to live and turned into a Continent." Inala said, observing the expressions of shock on the faces of the duo as he continued, "When Iron Transcendents lose their will to live, they become Enclaves. Silver Transcendents become Satellites revolving the Transcendent Worlds and Gold Transcendents become the Transcendent World. Finally, a Mystic Transcendent becomes a Continent."

"That's unreal," Orakha slumped on his seat.

"So, you see." Inala nodded, "Sumatra Gold is a priceless treasure for us, but it's merely Transcendent Prana for the Transcendents. They're able to bypass Sumatra Gold's defences and harm us casually. Sumatra Chronicles states that a 10-Life Stage Empyrean Boar King can face weak Silver Transcendents, but that's only in terms of pure power."

"The influence we generate through our Natures will transform into something like a concept upon becoming a Transcendent. So, though Brangara might be able to kill a weak Silver Transcendent, the latter's influence will mutate him beyond recognition. He'd lose his individuality, sense of being, etc. in a matter of hours." Inala concluded as he stared at Orakha, "So if Mahira Tusk doesn't reply, think of an alternative."

"Head to an Enclave and close yourselves. You'll be able to live in hiding for the rest of your lives." Inala said, "That's a better fate than venturing out into the Sandy-Grey Void and having to bear the influence of Transcendents from multiple Continents, not to mention the terrifying Cosmic Beings too."

"Then, take action as soon as possible. Help us!" Orakha shouted as he got up once again, agitated, "Let's target Yamahara and kill him as soon as possible. The longer he lives, the worse our situation becomes."

"I would love to, but unfortunately, I cannot." Inala smiled helplessly as he stared at Virala, "Sense my presence and tell me the truth. Am I strong?"

"You..." Virala's eyes shone as he expanded his Prana detection methods to the extreme, sensing a vortex of presence before him, one inferior only to the Celestial Boar, "You're strong, very much so. But,"

He expressed his confusion, "Why is your strength the same as what you possessed at the Second Major Disaster?"

"That's why I cannot take action." Inala sighed, "My preparations are merely halfway...no, not even that far. I apologise if I dashed your hope, but I'm not leaving this place until I'm prepared enough to face Brangara."

He then stared at Orakha, "If you want to kidnap Yamahara and lock him up in some place until the end of the Fourth Major Disaster, find Resha."

"By now, he must have broken out of his shell."