Amazon Apocalypse 6: Chapter 9

I followed Sakura and the other oni to a castle on a hill. The fortified pagoda-like structure reminded me of those flying ships the cultivators loved. Sakura entered and was escorted to a lounge. The human policemen were dismissed, and Sakura was led deeper into the building by three oni.

I followed quietly from behind, though to do so I had to spend most of my time in the shadow realm. It was impossible to make out what the three were saying just from the monstrous shadows their powers cast in this border dimension, but I could track them easily enough. Their shadows were dumb, lumbering things, so I took that to mean all the oni were bruisers and fighters of some sort. I avoided them easily while I looked for a spot to sit and watch the meeting from in the real world.

Sakura was a prisoner only in technicality as the other three oni sat around her and chatted. Soon, alcohol was brought out, and traditional-looking glasses were placed for each of them.

Sakura proved skilled at covertly gathering information while a guest of the oni warriors. I only caught bits and pieces of their conversations because I had to stay hidden, but from what I did hear, she was doing an admirable job asking questions about how New Kyoto was run without answering much in return.

“And so all the important people are taking racial evolutions to transform themselves into oni?” Sakura asked curiously.

“Exactly. It was actually one of the local clans with barely any oni blood to their name that had the idea. The average human thinks level twenty five is their limit, so most of them don’t even bother trying to gain levels in the first place. It’s perfect. We get all the craftsmen we could ever need in this huge, oversized village. All we have to do is protect them. And if any human breaks the mold and levels up anyway, all we have to do is bring them into the fold and tell the others they discovered their ancient oni heritage and realized their true might. Then at the next opportunity, we make them take an oni racial evolution so their exterior matches the story we’ve sold the public,” the oni warrior explained.

He and Sakura were seated across from one another, drinking rice wine. It was supposed to be an informal interrogation, but Sakura asked a few probing questions and soon had the oni warrior boasting about his own prowess enough to spill all the secrets to how he and his people were scamming New Kyoto into obedience.

It wasn’t hard to keep an eye on them. The headquarters these oni used were made in a style that looked like it was from feudal Japan, rather than the modern buildings outside. The dividers between rooms were nothing but paper, and as luck would have it Sakura and the oni were chatting right next to the armory. I made myself at home while they spoke and started picking over our new rivals’ weapons stash. I didn’t plan to take anything, but studying their equipment would be useful if things came down to a fight.

There were lots of bludgeoning weapons, and the enchanted armor was focused on blocking projectiles like arrows. Coming at these guys with bullets would be bad news, and normal armor would do nothing against them. Thankfully, I knew a few shield spells that absorbed blows instead of blocking them and could convert those into enchantments. Bullets might be of minimal use, but I figured I could come up with a countermeasure and would arm my people correctly.

Eventually, the conversation in the other room died down. The other one got up with a persistent need to get rid of some of the three bottles of rice wine he’d just drunk, and as soon as he was out of the room, I stepped out of the armory to sit down in his place across from Sakura.

“Good job. Unfortunately, the situation here is more complicated than I believed, and peace isn’t going to be as easy as signing a treaty. You ready to go?” I asked her.

“Not yet,” Sakura replied.

“What, really? We learned everything we wanted to know.” I reached for Sakura’s hand, but she pulled back.

“I haven’t learned everything I want to know,” Sakura replied.

I looked at her, and she breathed out a sigh before continuing. “You saw how his expression changed when I mentioned the Miyamoto family. I wasn’t the only one in my family to transform during the integration. Oni blood runs strong through us. You know me, and my father ran a legitimate business, but my grandfather and the other branches of my family aren’t quite as clean. I suspect they have something to do with this mess here in New Kyoto. I intend to find out what.”

I stroked my chin thoughtfully. “And you can’t just come right out and ask without revealing you’re not in on the secret. I understand. But I can’t stay hidden forever. Are you sure you don’t want to leave now? It would be much safer.”

“I’ll be let go soon. I already asked about a hotel, and there’s an inn down the street. We’ll use that as our base of operations. Besides, this way, we can leave without blowing my identity, and I can come back without issue. This is a risk I'm prepared to take.”

“Fine. But I may have to make a trip back to Crownhill. I want to lock down where this place is on our new map and make sure things aren’t getting out of hand back home. You may be on your own most of tomorrow.”

“I can handle myself. Don’t worry about me.” Sakura kissed me on the cheek, and I vanished to watch her from the shadows a little while longer before departing.

***

The other oni never returned, so Sakura got up to look and found him passed out in the bathroom. Apparently, she’d drunk him under the table without even realizing it. His other comrades had given up long ago and were sleeping things off. Nobody else seemed to care about Sakura or what she planned to do now.

There were a few other oni to speak to, and after chatting with a few of them Sakura let herself out of the estate grounds and found the hotel room she was looking for.

I reconvened with her there briefly, and passed her some monster cores, which she used to rent the room for the next two weeks. I hadn’t realized she planned to stay this long, but news of her family had gotten her more interested than I realized.

Sakura was someone I trusted to delegate this mission to, so I left things in her capable hands. I’d hold off on rescuing her until she gave me the signal, which looked like it would be weeks from now. I left her with enough monster cores to get by, and some enchanted weapons she could sell if she needed more local currency. Then, I took to the sky.

I flew high over the city until most would mistake me for a bird. Beyond the city walls there was a large bamboo forest that looked nothing like the temperate hardwoods around Crownhill. Higher still, and I saw an unfamiliar mountain towering in the distance. I climbed higher and higher until, at last, I spotted the volcano where we’d fought the torchdragon and where Ben was currently growing up from baby drake to big, strong torchdragon.

I was far, far to the east of the lands I knew, beyond the horizon. Noting that fact on its own was important. Considering how much larger this world was than the one that came before, I had feared the System would make the new world no longer a sphere, but seeing a curve along the horizon relieved me of that fear. Still, the sheer scale of this newly integrated landmass brought interesting questions to mind.

Already, this continent we were on was approaching the size of the world of Ladwick. Glacia was several times bigger, but I knew there was at least one more stage of the integration, and this area would expand fivefold. How many more stages of the integration were left? And how much larger was this world going to get?

Themyscira and Glacia were large planets, but not as large as I suspect ours was going to be. Perhaps most worlds didn’t get the expansion treatment Earth had gotten. The only thing special about us I could think of was the number of people that had been on Earth before the integration. Maybe that would have warranted special treatment if the System was designed to give people enough room to sustain themselves as a feudal, agricultural society.

I fixed the route to and from here in my mind, then slipped into the shadow realm and took flight. My long trip with Reluna and Mimiko through space had given me practice at long flights, though the vast emptiness of space compressed a lot easier than the wilderness around me now, so my shadow realm trick didn’t work as well. All told, the trip took about an hour, and likely would have taken a plane most of the day.

We had successfully scouted out the enemy before they could do the same to us, giving us a decisive, albeit temporary, advantage. This window to make use of what I’d learned wouldn’t last forever, and I needed to take decisive action to make use of it.

Once more, the burden of leadership was on my shoulders, and I was thankful for the long flight, since it gave me time to think things over. How did the old saying go? If you wish for peace, prepare for war.

It was time to prepare.

Before reaching halfway home, I swept wide across the wilderness between me and our enemies. I deposited teleportation arrays hidden in the wilderness in small grottos shielded from sight and the weather. Each of these would be a base of operations for Crownhill’s adventurers.

I would have to lean on the major guilds in Crownhill again for what I planned to do. Thankfully, Frank and the other major guilds had proven very helpful in establishing first contact with the Oni settlement. Now, though, I was looking for the minor factions nearby. New Kyoto might be the beating hard of our rival civilization, but if their integration had gone anything like ours, there were other survivors, human or otherwise. The oni might have the humans in their capital city well in hand, but I doubted the same was true throughout the countryside, and I had spotted far too few outsiders for them to have been absorbed into New Kyoto’s workforce.

***

When I was done and returned to Crownhill, the first thing I did was stop by the Obelisk. There were plenty of swords, spears, and sets of armor for sale, thanks to Reginald and his apprentices, though the bottom rung of non-magical weaponry was somewhat lacking. It seemed everything was either high-quality gear or it simply wasn’t sold. I’d have to take a trip to Glacia or Themyscira for the cheap stuff.

While I was checking in on prices, I dumped all the cheap stuff I had on hand onto the market, then traded it in for all the electronics I could buy. I wanted every computer, corporate server system, or graphics card I could buy. Thankfully, there was lots to choose from, so I could take only the best for Governess.

When that was done, I gathered another crowd and announced my intent regarding my plan to deal with New Kyoto.

“The trusted guilds will once more be given a series of special quests to scout the distant territories to the east. I have established teleportation arrays in these locations, and each guild will be given several for the purpose of completing my quests. Each array will be yours to maintain, and the area surrounding it to be patrolled by you. There are certain things I want each trusted guild to look for, which will be disclosed privately through your quest menus.”

“Sure thing, Carter,” Frank nodded from a crowd of hundreds.

I had to blink my surprise at the sight. Since when had so many people been interested in what I had to say? And since when had there been so many people in Crownhill, anyway?

“And the rest of us?” A woman crossed her hands grumpily. I was pretty sure it was the same one who’d criticized me before, but I didn’t see the nondescript man anywhere.

“The special quests for small guilds and freelancers under level 25 will continue, yes. Thank you, adventurers all. Your hard work makes this city and its territories a safer place.” I ended the meeting, and though dozens of hands went up, I ignored them and hurried home to Bridget, who was probably worried Sakura and I had been gone so long.

***

Bridget greeted me at the door, and I could smell dinner waiting when I returned. I kissed her on the lips, very much enjoying the feeling of coming home.

“Where's Sakura?” Bridget glanced over my shoulder and saw that I was alone.

“She got a hotel room. It’s just you and me tonight,” I replied.

“Oh my. Too bad I’m already pregnant, otherwise this would be the night,” Bridget wrapped her arms around my shoulders and pulled me inside.

Bridget was insatiable, as always. For once, I let her delicious food go cold as I threw her over my shoulder. I was trying to run for the living room but didn’t make it there before she undid my pants and nearly tripped me.

I gave her ass a squeeze as I tried to manhandle her into position, but her having my cock in her hands was both distracting and an unfair advantage.

I barely made it to my recliner, which I flopped into with her in my arms. One hand wrapped around my manhood, while the other held me by the back of the head.

She leaned in close and brushed her lips against mine again.

“I love you, Carter. And you’re going to make a wonderful father,” she whispered softly. After a brief kiss, she slipped off the seat and down onto her knees before the recliner, giving me the best blowjob I’d gotten in some time.

After, I played with her for a while, and the two of us curled up on the sofa by the fire as we read more from her book on how to be good parents.

I let Bridget fall asleep again before leaving her side to finally eat dinner, which was mostly cold by now. After putting that away and bundling up the leftovers for Sakura the next time I saw her, I went out to Governess, who had finished both the nursery I wanted and the small playground outside it.

“How are you doing, Governess?” I asked my computer.

“Work continues, milord,” Governess replied.

“That’s good to hear. But I think it could continue faster. Is that golem factory I set you up with working?”

“Affirmative, milord.”

I nodded along, already pulling out tools and electronic components and laying them on the ground. It had been a long time since I’d last built another gaming computer. Thankfully, I’d raided quite a few electronics stores, as had many others in Crownhill. There were plenty of parts to choose from.

“Good. This may tickle a bit. I figure its time to give you some hardware upgrades. Because I think I’m going to need your help in the coming days.”

<Note>

Super quicky with Bridget so people don't forget this is an explicit harem series. Then, the much-anticipated upgrades for Governess.