Chapter 320: Day 729 (3) – A Status Update, Missing Divine Empress?

Chapter 320: Day 729 (3) – A Status Update, Missing Divine Empress?

We reached the East gate to the city, when several people, clearly having come through the swamp entered through the hole in the wall. Their clothing was clearly meant to blend in with the swamp terrain, dark greens and browns.

I also noted they had a cart full of crystals. “Champion Michael,” one of the women in the group stepped forward and inclined her head.

“You are?” I asked.Ñ00v€l--ß1n hosted the premiere release of this chapter.

“Captain Olivia of the Fifteenth Independent Combat Unit,” she replied and saluted me. I returned the salute.

“And what are you doing here?” I asked her.

“Securing the arrivals tomorrow for processing and transport. Champion Michael.” I gestured with my head, and we walked away from both groups. I ignored the nervous look Bao Wang had given me.

“Let’s start with the current situation. How do things stand with the Divine Empress and her empire?” I asked.

“Currently we are engaged in multi-zone combat around Purgatory. The Empress’s army has pushed into the city but has not secured it. They are using Esperanza as a staging ground to try and push East. We lost a pitched battle against the Envoy. The Airship he brought unleashed several beam attacks shattering our positions.”

“At the moment, our forces have broken up into independent combat units of ten people each, consisting of two teams of five. The objective is to kill any Imperial soldiers, gather crystals, and push enemy forces back while avoiding any pitched battles.”

“And the arrivals? What are they for?” I asked.

“They are to be turned into hybrids and their meat processed for transport back to our staging city. Which is currently Heaven.”

“Clarissa ordered this?” I asked.

“Yes, Chief Administrator Clarissa is actively passing along instructions, but her location is considered top secret need to know information. Only her couriers know her movements.” All of that was interesting but nowhere close to what I really wanted to know.

“The Divine Empress? Has she been spotted?” I asked. Hope and fear battled inside of me in equal measure, waiting for the answer.

“There has been no sign of her. There are rumors she died in Purgatory among the Imperial soldiers but no one really believes that. She has taken long absences in the past and then suddenly shows up.”

I let out a breath I had been holding. That was not good and not bad. It was limbo. I hated being in limbo. But getting information out here was next to impossible. The fact that Clarissa’s soldiers were more than happy to answer my questions was a miracle by itself.

Perhaps the enemy movements would shed some light on the situation. Give it some more perspective. Who was running the show now if she wasn’t around?

“The Envoy, where is he?” I asked.

I explained to Bao Wang what I had learned. “Are you thinking about heading to the Forbidden City sooner?” he asked me. I considered the idea briefly, but no. Rushing ahead like that against a superior foe was how you lose. Better to take my time and prepare as much as I could. Once I entered the tower, there was no going back.

“No. Unless something changes. There is no need to rush. I would rather take my time to prepare and build up a larger advantage before rushing into that fight.” I could understand why he was asking. I had been up front with him in my planning.

If Bao Wang thought something didn’t work, we would have to find another way. The problem was there was still too much in the air or unknown. The missing presence of the Divine Empress kept nagging on me. Either die or come back. Don’t be missing, that is the most annoying outcome.

“If she returns then the crystals will be...” Bao Wang trailed off as we both looked up at the sky. An airship was flying very far overhead. It was quite small, but the white cloth balloon above the wooden structure with a large black dragon on it, made it clear who the airship belonged to.

It was small, very small. At most there could be three or four people if I had to guess. Less a ship and more a boat. Like a motorboat for the skies. My new Sense stat picked up on the trail of energy blasting out from the rear of the airboat.

Like a rocket strapped to a blimp. There were no propellors, just the single engine at the back. I stared up at the airboat in the early dawn. It was coming from the Southwest. It had to be really high up there and the speed was insane.

“Bao Wang, head South to the edge of the level 1, l will deal with them if they stop.”

“Running won’t help, but I will back off. If they have a diviner and you lose, I would rather kill myself before being captured.” I gave him a look in surprise. “I hear stories. An airship outpaces even the Divine Empress if the rumors are true and it is fast.”

I wasn’t sure about outpacing the Divine Empress with her insane Body stat, but it certainly was possible. The airship swerved around and began to descend on a trajectory with both of us. Bao Wang gave me some distance.

There was a familiar face. Well, I wouldn’t complain and was happy to start round two with the Envoy. I might be as strong as I would like, but I would not lose to him. Also, if I could capture that airboat, it would be a huge advantage for my plans and getting around.

I counted three other people with him. Two soldiers in white armor and black dragons. The Black Talons wore stylized black armor according to Bao Wang, but these could be elites. I would be able to get a taste of their combat potential.

The fourth person on the airboat was more concerning. He looked more skeleton than human. Old as well, with the wrinkles on his face. I hadn’t seen someone that old. In fact the Divine Empress was the oldest person I had seen.

Which made no sense unless there was a bigger pool or different criteria pulling in from the other cities. Something to think about later. The fourth person was wearing a traditional Chinese outfit in white with black dragons all over it.

It was much more ornate than what the Envoy wore which was surprising who had black shirt and pants with white trim and small oriental dragon on the collar. Not the large dragons on this other person’s clothing. As the airboat got closer I saw that the dragons were clutching eyes.

A diviner if I had to guess. They certainly got the best of the tailor budget in the evil empire. But it also made sense since the Envoy wanted practical clothing for combat. I readied up an Air Burst as I watched them with my new stat.

The Envoy and this other person had similar stats if the energy inside of them was any indication. The other two soldiers were like Bao Wang. So, elites, but not named combatants or close to my level. Still they could interfere and I would guess they had beam attacks of some kind since I knew the Envoy’s skills for the most part and the other person was probably a Diviner.

They had found us outside a city, but they had been high up and moving fast. The fact they were even in this area to being with pointed to a Diviner being the other special person on the airboat.

If and when the soldiers acted, it would be to target me at the moment of weakness. Right as I dodged or mid-air. I would have to be mindful of their firing direction. The danger sense from Perception was good, but it wasn’t honed to point in specific directions.

Time for round two.