Chapter 393: Day 818 (3) – Digging Up Trouble

Chapter 393: Day 818 (3) – Digging Up Trouble

The small bunker we were in shook as impact after impact rumbled through the ground. I was absolutely quiet as dust and debris rained down from the ceiling. I absolutely did not want to fight the Divine Empress right now.

The ground shook and I heard more smashing above us. The carved out bunker was incredibly cramped and I noted in the darkness, that the sides and roof were made of wood with the initial hole in the ceiling going through a hole in the cart.

A minute passed by, and the attacks seemed to grow more distant. I was mentally preparing for the Divine Empress to rip the ceiling off the hiding hole I was cowering in. I didn’t like this feeling, being forced to hide, but fighting was a last resort.

Then the silence came, everyone was barely breathing and no one said anything. The risk of going outside was incredible. What if the Divine Empress was waiting for rats to surface? I really didn’t want to get caught up in a fight with her right now and use my new trump card. I wanted to save that for when the super weapon was finished, the bomb inside me was taken care of, and I had skill upgrades.

Beating the Divine Empress would require multiple trump cards to be deployed one after another in order to defeat her. Trying to use one, and then hoping to retreat was foolish. The real risk was that even if a trump card worked she would run away and I wouldn’t be able to catch her.

I couldn’t afford to let that happen. It would be a never-ending nightmare that would just drag out. When I made a move to fight and or kill her, I wanted to attack with everything at once, and leave as little to chance, fate, or luck as possible.

That was something I could do as well. Just disappear into the wilderness after taking care of the bomb. I had thought about it in the past, but long term that was a losing strategy. Only with the power and resources of an empire, could one soar to new heights.

Just going into the wilderness and fighting was no longer enough. If she reformed her evil empire, then there would be no chance of defeating her ever again. Her stats would pull further and further away while I stagnated.

There was nothing else to do but think and wait, even though the rumbling and sounds of destruction had stopped. I could easily imagine her waiting for a day to catch anyone poking their heads out of the ground.

Oh no. I just realized a fatal flaw with this hiding strategy. Once the city reset, it would be obvious where carts were hiding. Since there was a very minor area of effect around a cart that kept the terrain the same. I had tested this with garbage in the past. The range was about six feet or two meters.

It had never been a huge concern before, since I didn’t hide in holes. But then I calmed down when I remembered that the hole we were hiding in was in the center of the building. So, while the interior may still be damaged, we should be hidden. It wasn’t like the entire building would be missing.

But then I realized these were purchased buildings. They would stay destroyed until the repair fee was paid. The Commanders who ran these cities had several buildings they purchased under their control spread out in the city, so it wasn’t obvious which one they were hiding in. I could also imagine they were constantly setting up more buildings to make hiding even easier.

I didn’t go by roof tops in case the Divine Empress was watching. I ran through the streets. Some buildings were still destroyed, but most were in their default repaired state. What a disaster. I didn’t even want to know the repair bill.

Just the thought of spending points on repairs made my heart clench. It was needed, but it felt like a waste. The Divine Empress was probably super pissed after what happened to her Forbidden City, if my gut feeling was anything to go by and her actions.

She was wrecking things, but it wasn’t surprising. If I was in her position, that was a viable option. Just move through the area and purge everyone. Move onto the next city. Eventually you can grind away at resources, people, and the nation would collapse.

It wouldn’t be easy, and would take time, but it was doable and a viable strategy. The main issue was that it would take time to complete since it was a battle of attrition. Once people were grinding in level 3 zones it would be much harder to track everyone down. Just from the terrain and the more limitations on the Sense stat.

Also with high enough stats it would be easy enough to camp out or hide near the void zones. Between two cracks would be a spot that no one would check unless they were specifically checking there or there was a dungeon.

I left the city of Neo Brasilia and there was no Divine Empress. Well time to make tracks to the East Bastion. There were four level 3 zones I could stop at along the way. I would definitely pick up the skill upgrades there. That would leave me with seven left, which I could get from the zones around East Bastion and poke the level 4 zones over there.

The key thing was to be where the Divine Empress was not. I had gotten lucky this time, but I might not get so lucky the next time. Then a fight would really happen, and I didn’t feel fully ready. I might not ever feel that way, but it was too soon for round two.

The more important question now was the best way to go about the surgery. It was pointless to speculate too much ahead of time. I needed to speak to the good doctor and get his input on something like this. At least the bomb wasn’t in my brain.

I wasn’t entirely sure, but it might be possible to pull oneself together on a pillar from just a head with a restoration. If I had any faith in something like that, then I would attempt that. A full body restoration. That would be the best.

Just leave all the garbage behind in my previous body and get a new one. Maybe, cut off everything below my heart and stomach? That might work. Then get a new body, no problem. The more I thought about that idea, the more I liked it. Just get rid of everything so there is no chance that the bomb remains behind.

The real trick would be getting a restoration as quickly as possible after the lower half of my body was removed before I passed out or died from lack of organs or blood loss. I would keep a grip onto the pillar the entire time while the good doctor cut me apart.

It would hurt, but breaking my spine should paralyze my body. Honestly, I should be a doctor with how well I was thinking this through ahead of time. That could be my new title, Doctor Michael. A professional on removing organic bombs implanted into a person’s body. Come one come all, and I will cut you in half, problem solved.

I smiled at having worked out the issue. That smile quickly turned into a frown, when I felt a twinge in my gut again. Well, it was a long journey, but with the four dungeons, it shouldn’t be that bad.The roots of this story extend from novell bìn origin.