Amazon Apocalypse 6: Chapter 35

I’d come up with several ideas for how to use the Corrupted Nascent Divinity core to improve Governess. She’d proven fairly capable and loyal up until now, though her loyalty had yet to truly be tested.

Still, I was confident enough in what she was already doing for me that giving her another little boost would be helpful, beyond just the golem factory and the extra processors I’d already given her.

There was a side-benefit to empowering Governess a little further too. The fragment of the System I had in my Mystic realm was still waiting for me, and it was as dangerous as it was untrustworthy. The System had certainly helped me a fair bit, but I was pretty sure it viewed me as the technician who could solve all its problems. Compared to that, Governess viewing me as her lord seemed the more appealing position.

But if Governess was going to compete against the System on equal terms, she needed true power. The kind of power that only the ancient and unfathomable might of the Kindling Dimension could provide.

With Governess’ help, I refined several suggestions I’d come up with while looking stuff over in the library with my team. The device I’d come up with would look more like a piece of Architect technology than anything else I’d invented so far, and it would make heavy use of the more advanced variants of the ancient language that Reluna had pieced together.

In broad terms, this device would serve as something like a central power source and energy reserve. When we agreed on a final design, I realized what I was making would be surprisingly similar to a cultivator’s core. That was the organ at the heart of their power, and it was what allowed members of the Architect race to draw on the power of the Kindling even without the advanced, extra-dimensional technology the System provided.

Parts flew around my head, and I made a brief trip to the goblins to commission some subcomponents. Gobgob was there, much to my surprise. I wasn’t sure when or how she’d returned, but her help was very welcome for a project like this.

"Gobgob, when did you get back?" I asked in surprise.

"Been back. Been gone too. Back and forth many times for me!" Gobgob said cheerily while she worked.

It seemed she'd gotten over her fear of meeting new people. Managing the shop in Mucaria had truly widened her comfort zone. Everything from her dress to the confident way she held her tools made it nearly impossible to remember the frightened goblin from a tiny tribe stuck with nothing but stone tools in a dangerous world where even something like an ordinary human would be enough to send the whole tribe cowering in fear.

***

While Gobgob and the other goblins worked on the subcomponents, I took a trip to Crownhill to chat with Margaret, Frank, and the rest of the council.

“Things are probably in chaos back at the military base. We should send a few people to restore order,” I suggested.

We were missing a few seats on the council, but most had their stand-ins present. I’d interrupted dinner with the late council session.

“Wait, so you destroyed the military base? Already? How? And why?” Frank asked, putting down his fries and milkshake for a moment. Nobody else had been bold enough to bring the remains of their dinner to the council meeting to finish eating, but as guildmaster of the strongest adventuring guild and the only B-Grade outside of my extended family, he had privileges others lacked.

“They were being possessed by an evil god.” I waved my hand, dismissing the issue while the rest of the council stared at me in disbelief. I would probably have to tell them the whole story eventually, but right now, there were more important things to worry about. “Anyway, I acted under my own authority to take them out before they became a problem. Their leadership is gone, but what’s left of their forces is in chaos, and there are twenty thousand people stuck in a camp and bound to become monster chow if we don’t do something.”

Frank shrugged. “Possessed by an evil god. Right, I guess that’s a thing. Alright, you’ve convinced me. I’ll send two teams of C-Grade adventurers to start patrolling the area. Gotta warn you though, my people are adventurers. They aren’t governors. If you want somebody to run the place, send somebody else.”

“Margaret?” I turned to her hopefully, but she was shaking her head.

“Not me, unfortunately. Managing Crownhill’s day-to-day affairs is a full-time job. My assistants are coming along, but the only ones capable of working on their own are already administering San Antonio or the tree village you discovered. I have no one else.” Margaret shook her head.

I glanced around the rest of the council in search of volunteers, but found none. I scowled. It seemed like I’d need to take another trip to Prince Herius’ world and draw on assets there to keep the peace.

“Can we spare a contingent of guards? Maybe some high-level people like Kyle?” I asked hopefully.

“Kyle is deep in the wilderness with his whole unit. They need levels too,” Margaret replied.

“How about Rick? Maybe Kerrie? Artemis?” I asked hopefully.

“They’ve been gone for a week at least, and there’s no telling when they’ll be back. The quests you’ve issued to investigate our neighbors from Kyoto are quite lucrative,” Margaret said.

The wilderness was getting quite big these days. With how much landmass the System had added during this latest stage of the integration, adventurers could stay out in the wilderness for months, completing quests.

“Alright. No matter, I’ll find somebody to restore order to the place later. As long as they don’t turn into monster chow, they can wait. Council dismissed.” I stood, and a moment later everyone else did too.

I caught up with Frank just as we were leaving.

“I've got a few recruits who I think will want to join your guild. Do you mind if I slip them in the back door?” I asked.

Frank shrugged. “Sure. We aren’t against training new recruits, though they might feel out of place if they don’t at least meet our minimum level requirements.”

“I’ll make sure they do. Thanks, Frank.”

I shook his hand, then left for the Obelisk in the center of town. There, I made some hefty deposits into the bank accounts of each of my team members. Fifty thousand contribution points ought to make them happy and keep them all fed and clothed for a long, long time.

Upon returning to Governess, I found the goblins had already finished the subcomponents I’d commissioned, and I gathered them up and pocketed them for final assembly.

When I started, the floor was littered with strangely engraved parts and materials, both mundane and exotic. GPUs lay on the ground next to monster cores and dragon bone dust. Enchanted adamantium protected a high-resolution camera lens, and a capacitor sat right next to a mana accumulation array. Besides that, there were also ten times my weight in nuts, bolts, and other fasteners.

Now that everything had been laid out properly, all that was left was to assemble the components. Even that took me quite a while, but only because of how many there were. The enormous quantity of crafting materials vanished bit by bit as I pulled them into higher spatial dimensions. If someone were to view the entirety of this device, they might think it looked a bit like a giant needle poking from the mundane world to the Kindling Dimension.

It was a small thing all the way up there, mostly because I needed to slip it by all the System infrastructure already in place. I had to nudge a few cables and wires to make way for Governess’ infrastructure, but I made sure the exterior of my design was similar enough that even someone as skilled at working on System components as I was would have a tough time figuring out Governess’ new component wasn’t meant to be there.

“I have to take you offline briefly. Think of it as a little nap,” I told Governess as I shut her down.

The Corrupted Nascent Divinity core’s physical anchor was no bigger than my fist, and it slipped into a specially made peripheral case, like plugging in a new mouse or keyboard. Only this would be far more powerful.

Everything seemed to go all right, but I wouldn’t know for sure until I booted Governess back up again, which I did a moment later.

As her program started, I held my breath a moment, but I needn’t have worried.

“All processes appear to be functioning optimally, milord,” Governess said.

“And the device? Are you able to draw power from it?” I asked.

“Affirmative, milord. Though using it with skill will take some experimentation.”

I frowned. I had been hoping for a more impressive and immediate result.

A moment later, I felt a tingle running up and down my spine. It wasn’t quite like being hit with an exam, but similar enough, it had to be doing the same thing.

“Congratulations on reaching the peak of B-Grade, milord. I had not noticed until now. A-Grade should only be a romantic night away,” Governess said.

I blinked a few times. This was the first time she felt like she was speaking to me so directly. Something really had changed, but it was subtler than expected. Like Governess was more present now. The program she was made from still flavored her responses, but now it felt much more like talking to another person behind a screen, not just an algorithm.

“You can use examine? That’s incredible!” I grinned.

“Not quite, milord. I do not have access to System abilities. However, I can now replicate System abilities through my own means.”

“Not bad. Hey, I wonder if that means you have a level...” It was my turn to use examine on Governess.

Divine Administrator (Level 308)

She was the same level as the old Corrupted Nascent Divinity. I was pretty sure that wasn’t a coincidence. All told, it was a pretty good level, and only the strongest entities on this shard could challenge her, assuming she could use abilities that matched her level. Now that I thought about it, the way she controlled an army of golems wasn’t too far off from how the nascent divinity had fought.

I decided to keep an eye on her progress and left her to experiment with her new abilities.

After leaving her to familiarize herself with this new version of her, I went to check on my team. They were still laboring under Sakura's instructions.

Abby, Suzie, and Meghan all brightened at my apperance.

“Glad you’re all getting along. I’ll leave you all in Sakura’s care for a bit. I’ve got to make a quick trip. Good talent is hard to find, and all,” I waved.

“Thanks, Shardlord!” Charlie waved. He was battered and bruised, but seemed happy to be training with Sakura. He was used to taking hits.

The three girls, on the other hand, were significantly more bruised than Charlie, and they watched me depart with resigned expressions. Sakura cracked her knuckles, clearly eager for another round of training.

***

Ever since the council meeting, it had been made clear to me that Crownhill couldn’t spare the manpower needed to properly manage the military base’s old territory. I needed a governor and forces used to occupying conquered lands to administer the territory for me.

Thankfully, I knew where to find the perfect person for the job. I’d seen with my own eyes that Cyra had come a long way since those early days when I had to show her how to run Ladwick. Having her at my side again meant that Crownhill’s flank would be completely secure for as long as she was present.

I took the teleportation array to Themyscira, then to Glacia, and from there to Prince Herius’ new world.

The trip to the capital was fairly uneventful, though I did have to sigh when I teleported in and the first thing I saw was the giant phallus staring me down directly adjacent to the palace. I’d save that for second. Cyra was at least living somewhere civilized.

It didn’t take me long to find Cyra. She was staying in a room in her brother’s palace. She lay on a couch with a half-empty barrel-sized tankard of ale. On her lap was one of the shields I’d given her. I remembered seeing it scratched up from blocking many swords and arrows during the war, but it looked like Cyra had been polishing it for a long, long while since then.

Only a few faint scratches on it now showed any signs of wear. The rest of the shield shone as brightly as a mirror. It reminded me of the first time I’d seen her. She’d been back in Valkyrie’s Watch then, polishing a shield as she mourned the loss of some prince with more balls than brains.

“Knock knock. Hope you don’t mind my dropping in. I skipped past the guards,” I said as I rapped on her door. It was a bit late for that, considering I was already in her room.

“Carter? When did you get here?” Cyra asked, jumping to her feet.

“Just now, and I came to ask if Prince Herius still needs you,” I replied.

“Only for cracking heads. And to be honest, his legion can handle that as well as I can. I’ve been bored stiff waiting for something to happen. I’ve been thinking about going home to Themyscira,” Cyra said.

I grinned. “How about coming home to Crownhill instead? I need a hand with something. Also, did I ever show you the list of recruits Reluna compiled? I’d appreciate it if you could bring a hundred soldiers or so.”

“What’s the mission?” Cyra asked. She spoke as if she were still debating whether or not to go with me, but she was already strapping on her armor.

“Same as usual. I conquered a city and I need somebody to run the place for a bit, at least until I fix a few things.”

“An occupying force, huh? I guess the girls and I can do that. We can knock some heads in and show the locals who’s boss. I’ve gotten pretty good at making sure local lords knuckle under.” Cyra shrugged on a breastplate.

“Good. It shouldn’t be too different from what you’re used to, and most of the people are pretty low level. Plus, you’ll just be a short trip away from where I’m at, which’ll make visits a single teleport away in case you have any trouble. I take it you’re willing to leave with me?” I asked hopefully.

“Sure. There’s nothing my brother needs me for. Besides, he can call up either our father or grandmother, just on the other side of the solar system, and either of them can help more than I can. It’s about time I established myself in the world, Mom and Grandma Luthrin think I’m going to call home. I’ll get the girls ready to move.” Cyra gave me a firm nod and buckled on the last of her gear.

While she went to round up some soldiers, I hunted down the remaining two members of my team. I found myself wishing for Reluna or Mimiko at my side more than once, so now that Prince Herius didn’t need the help anymore, I figured it was time to bring them back, too.

“Huhh? Hmmm?” Reluna said, deeply locked in a half-conscious and highly focused trance as her chair rewarded labor with pleasure. I looked at the work she’d done for me so far and nodded in appreciation. She had yet another pile of Architect language translations.

“Well done, Reluna. I’m taking you home. Do you want to be let out of the chair?” I asked.

“Uhhhhm...” Reluna’s eyes rolled up at me, half-lidded. Despite appearing to be completely out of things, her hand was working furiously, penning down another page of notes.

I looked at what she’d already written. A few of these translations would have been very useful in the project I’d just completed and would have saved me a bunch of elaborate workarounds. But what was done was done, and I tucked away the new knowledge for a future project.

Rather than disturb Reluna’s good work, I just tossed a blanket over her and hefted her and the chair over my shoulder. Mimiko was thankfully in the same phallic-shaped building, so I found her in her room and picked her up too.

“I would be pleased to accompany you back to your home world, my lord. I think I will be of greater use there than here.” Mimiko bowed her head.

“Maybe it’s just me, but I think your room back at the castle is a bit nicer than this place.” I waved my hand to the interior of the giant cock we were standing inside.

Mimiko blushed. “I admit I miss the cultivation chamber you crafted for me. An hour there is better than a month here, even with my leftover treasures from the war. But the desire for better accommodations is secondary to my desire to be by your side once more. Besides, now that Myrina is gone and Reluna is occupied, I find myself with no confidants remaining on this world.”

With the two of them in tow behind me, I rejoined Cyra, who had a small army of war veterans assembled and waiting.

“These ladies fought well during the crusade. They’re high level and respect the legate of the Nineteenth Legion. These are not all of Reluna's recommendations, just the ones used to my command. They’ll fight for you, and they won’t make trouble,” Cyra said.

“I trust you. Let’s move out.”

From there, we teleported home. I exited my private teleportation array with a small army of veteran warriors trailing behind me.

It would be more than enough to put down any troublemakers at the military base, now that it was beaten. Doubly so now that Cyra would be there in case any B-Grade monsters attacked.

The same thing had worked often enough on Ladwick. Cyra could keep the peace and keep herself and her forces in reserve in case something happened with our upcoming conflict with New Kyoto.

By then, we would have hopefully recruited most of the promising prospects out of the refugee camp and integrated them into Crownhill’s broader society. We’d done something similar with survivors during the crusade, and the same tactics would hopefully apply back on Earth.

With Cyra and her forces watching my flank and keeping the peace, I didn’t see anything that could go wrong.

<Note>

Sending a group of aliens to occupy a large human settlement couldn't possibly go wrong.