Defiance of the Fall

Chapter 113: New Washington

After a minute of darkness a flash of light appeared in Zac’s eyes as he appeared in a large room. Zac’s brows immediately scrunched up when he saw roughly ten serious-looking soldiers aiming automatic rifles at him. He immediately got ready for a fight as he looked around while he activated [Mental Fortress] and the Dao of Trees. A fractal briefly appeared on his forehead, but it soon disappeared into his head.

His new skill was quite convenient as it kept running automatically after activating, barely using any cosmic energy. It would take something like a day before he ran out of cosmic energy from its consumption, unless someone actually attacked him. Then the consumption would drastically increase, much like with an array.

It was a bit unfortunate that it only had a decent fit with his fractal pathways. His other skills were mostly class skills who could completely merge with his pathway system, allowing him to bring out their power to the fullest. With [Mental Fortress] he guessed he could only bring out roughly 50% of the skill’s potential due to the average match. Still, it was far better than nothing, and together with his high stats and mental fortitude, it made for extremely sturdy protection.

There was only one exit to the teleportation room, and it was guarded by the army men. The rest of the interiors gave no clues as to where the house was located since there were no windows. Still, he wasn’t overly worried since there were humans in front of him. That meant there was a path to leave, and no door would impede him since he learned the Dao of Sharpness. He could simply cut metal like butter and walk straight through any restrictions.

“What is going on? Do you welcome all guest through the barrels of your guns?” Zac asked with a glare.

The people in front of him looked like proper soldiers, but Zac had no real way to tell. If they were just pretending in order to lure him into a trap he would simply destroy them, but if they were actual government personnel he would tolerate their behavior even though he didn’t like the feeling of having guns pointed at him. Besides, with his erected defenses and his E-Grade garments he wasn’t in any real danger, so there was no real need to act hastily.

“Please stay put for a bit until we receive orders,” one of the guards simply answered.

Zac contemplated pushing through the group but stopped himself. Who knew what else lurked behind the door. They might launch an actual rocket at him if he started attacking the guards, and he wasn’t sure he’d survive that. The seconds dragged on and the tense silence became heavier and heavier.

The guards looked hesitantly at each other but didn’t lower their weapons. As almost a minute passed even Zac was starting to get antsy as he considered whether he should bring out his axe just in case. But just as he was about to reach for his Cosmos Sack the door opened, and another group of people entered, showing a brief glimpse of a nondescript hallway behind.

“Please excuse our safety measures. There was an… incident recently. My name is Julia Lombard, cultivator liaison of the New Government Initiative,” a female in her thirties said as she entered the room accompanied by two men.

She had a forgettable appearance, looking a bit like an office drone at a large corporation. She even wore a pantsuit, which felt quite out of place in this new world of theirs. The two men looked more like warriors, each having a sword strapped to their legs.

Since the group had already shown some discourtesy by aiming their weapons at him for a full minute, he decided he’d make things a bit even. He scanned the group with [Eye of Discernment] and found that the army-guys were only level 15. The two warriors were actually level 29 and 30 though, just falling a few levels short of entering the ladder. The office lady was almost as strong, reaching level 28, which Zac guessed would be a respectable number anywhere.

The stronger group clearly sensed the scan and frowned as they reached toward their weapons. They stopped however after a glance from Julia. Zac hadn’t been sure, but it seemed that these people considered a scan pretty rude, same as with the rest of the multi-verse. Ogras had told him long ago that scanning people in a bar or the like was a sure-fire way to get into a fight unless you were a true powerhouse.

“I understand your reaction, but please understand that anyone who steps through a teleportation array at this stage is likely a dangerous individual, and we have to take some precautions. The incident I mentioned earlier was when a few Zhix-warriors entered and immediately went berserk when they saw us humans. Fourteen people died before we were able to annihilate them,” she said.

“Zhix?” Zac asked.

“It’s what the government call the insectoid beings, while the Ishiate are the beastmen. We’re not sure if that is their actual name, but a scout with identifying skills got that name using the skill on them, so that’s what we call them,” Julia answered.

“May I ask who you are and what force you belong to?” she continued.

“Port Atwood,” Zac simply said, not deigning to hide the name of his town. They had no method to get there in any case, and he didnʼt have any plans of hiding its existence from the government in any case. He actually was interested in some cooperation with them, as long as they didn’t get too greedy for control. He already scheming demons to worry about, and didn’t want to add any more headaches to the mix until his position was completely solidified.

“And you can call me Monk,” he concluded with a sigh.

He needed an alias that wasn’t his real name nor Super-Brother Man. He didn’t want to give out his real name since he might be forced to show his might, making it pretty clear that he was a ranker. That might put his family in danger if they managed to match him with his hometown or some old internet profile that they might have access to. Who knew what things the government had stored, even after the apocalypse.

Besides, his name was a clear indicator that he was the sole ruler of the town, something he was not ready to disclose yet. Since Emily sometimes called him Mr. Monk due to his appearance, he thought he might as well go with it for now.

When he mentioned the name of the town a few of the soldiers visibly relaxed. Zac guessed that all things were not harmonious even amongst the humans. He’d hoped that they would band together against the new tribulations, but he guessed that was too much to hope. Humanity had always been splintered and their own worst enemy, why would a simple apocalypse change that?

“Monk is it? Pleased to meet you. Port Atwood is not a city we’re familiar with, may I ask who is running it?” the liaison asked skeptically.

“Itʼs run by a council, we’re an isolated town by the ocean. Since we couldn’t find any humans by foot we built a teleportation array to reconnect with humanity,” Zac answered.

“How interesting. As we keep mapping the world we keep getting surprised how large our new planet is. Even with our tireless work we still only have a decent understanding of some parts of the world, but even that area is far larger compared to the old Earth,” she sighed.

“How come your array is private?” one of the warriors gruffly interjected.

“We have a limited understanding of the world and do not dare to open up the teleportation array to the public before we’re confident we won’t put the villagers at risk. My job is to scout out the situation and gather intelligence,” Zac answered.

“I see, let me take you to a meeting room where we can discuss things further. I am sure there are many things you are curious about. Sharing information and creating a support system to restore order is the goal of the government after all,” Julia said as she motioned Zac to follow her.

Zac felt that a government wasn’t that benign to just do all this work from the goodness of their hearts. People of the multi-verse were first and foremost cared about their own empowerment and in some cases their Clans or Factions. Ogras often said that a freely outstretched hand usually hid some barbs, but Zac still followed the liaison, curious what she wanted to talk about.

As they exited the door and went through the corridor they exited the building housing the portal. Zac looked around and found they were in a large compound. It looked it was some old government or military facility that had been repurposed into a headquarter. The teleportation array was placed alone in a smaller fortified building, and there were even manned turrets close to it.

Soon they entered the main building that looked like a large office building made of stone and glass. It looked like a real security risk unless they placed some arrays on it, since a casual chop from him could destroy a large part of the structure. In general, he thought that any skyscrapers or anything similar were deathtraps by now unless they got some magical reinforcement.

As they entered the building they found themselves in a large high-ceiled lobby. However, only after taking a few steps Zac felt a prickling sensation from his newly acquired skill. Someone was using a mental skill on him. Without hesitation he took a small rock and chucked it like a bullet toward where he sensed the intrusion came from.

He still wasn’t sure about the power of his newly acquired skill, or what kind of skills cultivators from the tutorial possessed, and his reaction came from a fear of his identity being exposed. If someone got both his name and his level they would not only know his full name but also that he was the Super Brother-Man. It would be quite obvious from his extremely high level, and that turn could potentially put his family in danger.

The stone hurtled in almost supersonic speed toward a young woman who inconspicuously stood next to a pillar. She tried to hide behind the pillar, but her speed was nowhere enough to dodge a strike from Zac. The stone punched a hole in her gut and she was thrown a few meters back, a pool of blood quickly pooling beneath her.

The sudden caused quite a few people in the lobby to become highly alert, some even brandishing their weapons as they surrounded Zac and Julia’s.

“That girl just used a mental attack on me so I reacted on instinct,” Zac commented as he looked at Julia who couldn’t hide her angered face before she managed to smooth out her features. Zac saw that the girl was still alive and felt slightly relieved. Between skilled army doctors and the new world’s high regeneration speeds and miraculous pills, she’d be fine. Things might have gotten more complicated if she died, judging by the irate crowd.

He thought he was being nice for not killing the girl. If she’d done something similar to someone like Ogras or most of the other demons she’d be full of holes by now. But obviously, the government workers didn’t consider his actions benign, as they looked ready to retaliate.

The sight made Zac feel tired and rather than afraid. Months and months of ceaseless slaughter had definitely changed his personality, making him more ruthless, and he was ready to fight everyone in this building if it came to it. It was just a shame that he’d create an antagonistic relationship with the government from the start.

Zac’s attack caused widespread anger, but obviously more with some. A young man in army gear brandished an average-looking sword and charged at Zac with a roar. The sword looked about the same as the ones that were carried by the two men next to Julia, and Zac guessed that the army was in the process of switching over to cold weaponry in order to gain Cosmic Energy from fighting.

“Wait!” Julia shouted, seeing that the situation was turning south, but it was too late.

The angered man charged at Zac and did a wide swing that aimed to decapitate him. However, the clumsy and slow attack seemed like a joke to Zac who had gone through innumerable battles by now. The swing was all show and no substance, and with a quick jab he punched the blade at its flat side, making the strike miss its mark by quite a bit.

The strike left the soldier completely exposed, and Zac once again struck out with a punch, this one hitting his ribs. A sickening crunch could be heard as the man flew a roughly ten meters away, creating a heap on the floor. He was still alive though, as Zac didn’t really put any real strength in the strike.

“Your ‘New Government’ has an interesting way of greeting travelers,” Zac said with a frown.

He was quite relieved he didn’t give in to Emily’s clamoring to bring her along. Even though hadn’t been too optimistic about the government he thought that they’d at least maintain some order and discipline, and hadn’t expected to be in a battle with them within minutes of arriving. Of course, it was his fault as well to a certain degree, but the mostly hostile greeting apart from Julia had made his survival instincts kick in.

“Your teleportation array is starting to feel more and more like a trap rather than an invitation,” he sourly added.

“Everyone calm down! Sergeant Miller and Private Smith will both be fine, but I need people to escort them to the infirmary. The Cultivator Special Branch Will handle this incident. Everyone back to your posts!” Julia shouted as she and the two bodyguards pushed an opening in the irate mob. She didn’t wait to see if her order was followed, as she ushered Zac into a corridor and from there a secluded meeting room.

The room looked much like any of the conference rooms he’d sat in before the apocalypse, with an oval table seating at most twelve people, with a TV and whiteboard at the side. The walls to the corridor were frosted glass, so he didn’t worry about it being a cell.

As they sat down she actually turned on a laptop that sat on the table and next turned on the TV. Zac was a bit surprised that the two actually worked since there didn’t seem to be much technology at work down in the lobby.

“How are you getting electricity?” he asked curiously, already having forgotten the incident earlier.

For the humans at this it might have been a large incident, but for Zac who’d been bathed in blood for months, it barely registered.