Chapter 133 - 129 : Interception

Earth became a better place after the Great Reparation. Governments United and formed the Alliance; the ultimate government that governs the Earth. The other surviving countries became states, subservient to the Alliance. This includes both the ISJ, the French Republic and a few other nations. Unlike the previous formats of united governments like the UN of the Old Era, the Alliance was more strict and overwhelming. Like an Emperor with an iron fist, it gave out laws as orders and they were quickly implemented, with any repudiation and flouting unacceptable. Secessions were literally non-existent and impossible as despite bearing the name 'Alliance', it wasn't an alliance type of government but a solid system.

With the unification of world powers, development progressed and advancements were made. However, human reasoning and behaviour didn't change much. Human beings were still greedy and selfish, even though they knew that those qualities were what lead to the war. Despite murder being prohibited, there were multiple other ways of destroying a person's life. Terrible ways of making one feel dispirited and demoralized.

Eiji had applied these various ways and methods, to get his younger siblings off the race for the wealth, with the only exception being Seiichi. But even Seiichi didn't dare to challenge him because he knew how scary Eiji was, and also, because Eiji was just one person; there was still another and that was Kosuke.

"Do you have a solid plan? I hope you didn't decide this on a whim like Takehasi did back then, otherwise this would just be pointless." Seiichi said to Sato.

Sato replied him, "You don't need to worry about the planning. Unlike back then in Conquest, I don't plan on forming a guild; not yet anyway. Just a simple club. So unlike with a guild, our planning and growth would easily be controlled and well organised."

"I see." Seiichi replied before contemplating on decision.

"Since we don't have anything to do now and we have almost graduated, I might as well have fun with you guys." Seiichi smiled.

"Alright." Sato nodded. " I guess unlike Yato, you already have a VR set right?"

"Yeah, but even if we are to start out as a club, we would still need to supply each of our members with cabins. That means funding." Seiichi said.

VR cabins were a lot better than headsets as the connection capabilities were not only further enhanced and improved on but also had better modifications. Simply put, it was a lot more faster than VR headset in improving connectivity speed and flow. In other words, if two players of the exact same strength and stats were to face each other in battle, the one using a VR cabins stands a better chance of winning against one using a VR headset. This better chance is just 0.01% but in a battle of experts, that much even matters. The reason for this is that due to the massive size of cabins, they can be fitted with better equipment that improves the connection of the conscious to the server, thereby improving reaction speeds of players in the game. VR headsets could also do this but compared to the ability of a VR cabin, it isn't worth speaking of.

"Don't tell me that you expect me to fund everything?" Seiichi nudged his glasses as a glint flashed on it.

*Slap*

"Ouch." Seiichi yelled as he grabbed his head with both hands while staring at Yato who just slapped him on the head.

"I told you we didn't need this guy. He's always thinking too much." Yato complained to Sato.

Sato sighed at the duo before saying to Seiichi, "Don't worry about it, really. As for the funding issue, I didn't invite you cause I needed your money or anything. Infinite Realm has a lot of potential and potential means opportunity. That's what we will capitalize on to fund ourselves. All you need to keep your mind on is the fact that you are just joining us to offer your expertise and not your cash."

"Alright. Sorry for doubting you guys." Seiichi smiled and bowed in apology.

"If that's all then we can leave right?" Yato asked as he stood up from the bench.

"We come online by 6:30pm." Sato said as he also stood up.

"That soon?" Yato asked. The time was just 5:51 pm. Sato wanted them to be ready within 39 minutes.

Sato replied, "You need to meet up with the others plus level up since you're just starting newly. The timing is great even as we got a mission on our hands. The mission is important and the rewards should he impressive too. Oh yeah! That reminds me. Seiichi, where did you spawn?"

"Me? I used the random feature so I got dropped at Black Mountain Town." Seiichi answered him while standing.

"Black Mountain huh? This must be fate." Sato chuckled.

"You also got sent there?" Seiichi inquired with surprise.

"Yeah. Meet me at Black Grill's Cave by 7pm. Ok?"

"Alright." Seiichi nodded before walking back to the dorms. "Then we will see later."

Seiichi had only taken 5 steps forward before he saw a couple of guys walking his way.

'Late night drinkers?' Seiichi wondered. He was about to walk past them when one of them suddenly kicked him. Seiichi wasn't expecting that and so got hit, flying back by 3 metres before landing on the ground.

*Thud*

The loud sound of his body crashing, had alerted Sato and Yato who were heading to their bikes. They turned their heads and were surprised at the sight before them.

"Seiichi!" Yato yelled as he rushed over to his friend to check on his condition. Seiichi was wrapping his abdomen with his hands while gritting his teeth in pain as he laid on the hard cold floor. He had received a surprise kick to the stomach and since he wasn't prepared, most of the force ended up injuring him a bit.

The assailant didn't make any moves after that but instead stared at the two and asked "Who among you is Yato?"

Looking at the speaker, he was dressed in a very roguish way, looking more like a thug than a student. The others beside him were also looking the same. With a jacket draped on his shoulders, with a green vest and black trousers, he glared at the two in front, like an adult staring at a few troublesome kids. From his stance in the group, it seemed like he was the leader.

"I am..." Yato replied, unsure of the reason why they were looking for him.

"Oh? It looks like you are." The gangster grinned. In truth, he already knew who Yato was as his employer had given him a picture of Yato. He only asked that to know whether Yato would have the guts to reply him or not.

"What do you want?" Yato asked carefully while trying to hold back his flaring temper.

"What do I want? Hahaha. Boys, he asked what do I want? Is he a moron or what?" The young man chuckled.

"Hahaha." The remaining gangsters followed his lead as they all laughed at Yato.

Lifting his left hand to signify his men to be quiet, the young man stared at Yato with a scary look on his face.

"What do I want? To beat the hell out of you, of course."

"You..." Yato got angry and was about to rush at him when he felt a hand hold him back.

"Who are you?" The young man asked Sato. He had noticed him before but he ignored Sato, after all his main target was Yato. He didn't want to offend anyone else lest he attracts danger. Even though his employer had told him that none of Yato's friends were a heavy-hitter, he still didn't want to take his chances anyhow.

"Me? I'm a friend of his." Sato pointed at Yato with his head.

"Oh? So you also want to play heh?" The young man stared at Sato as a smile slowly crept on his lips.

"Play? Well, the only game I know how to play is beating bad guys so sure." Sato said nonchalantly.

"Hahaha. You're one heck of a proud fella. Let's go talk somewhere else." The young man turned around and headed out of the dorms' area.

The dorms' area might look silent and empty but in actual fact, it was being surveyed by surveillance systems and security equipment. The reason for this was obvious, to improve security in the campus. If the two parties were to suddenly start fighting here, the security bots and guards in charge of this area would be deployed, breaking them off. This didn't sound so bad but it would impede the young man's mission and also, Sato, Yato and Seiichi, who were still students, could be punished for fighting in school grounds. So the idea of taking the battle elsewhere was understandable as even if they still fought, as long as it was in a quiet place and the two parties had agrd to do so, the security AI could actually ignore their actions. The school had taken it into consideration that some students might want to settle their differences with fists rather than words. In other to prevent their grudges from being held in till it broke out of control, they unofficially allowed fights as long as it occurred outside of public eyes and didn't go too far. You might think that they were crazy for doing this but it was tacitly agreed to by even the government in an effort to reduce the killing intent of people. They felt it was better to let people vent off their anger than to keep it within for long, to explode later.

Watching as the group left without actually dragging them or forcing them, Yato glanced at Sato and asked, "Are we really going to follow them?"

Sato asked back "Do you want to tell me that you don't want to know why they are looking for you? If you aren't interested then we can escape now."

Yato didn't know what to say in return.

"Doesn't matter whether you are going or not. I can't let that sh**head get away with what he did to me." Seiichi gritted his teeth as he stood up.

"You sure you're okay?" Sato asked him with a bit of concern.

"Tch. Because I haven't worked out in a while doesn't mean that I have gotten that weak." Seiichi replied.

Seeing Seiichi's enthusiasm, Yato said "Okay then. Heck, I wonder why I was wasting time. Let's go waste those sh**heads."

"Good. Let's go then.." Sato smiled.