Chapter 139

R-a Chapter 139 (In editing-v1)

“2 Supreme A Rankers, 7 regular A Rankers, 22 B Rankers, and 38 C Rankers. Those were the total casualties.”

Micheal watched on silently as a stiff-looking old man read aloud from a sheet of paper.

He was currently standing in a grand meeting room, tucked away in the headquarters of the Godfather Organization. The room was large, with a long, rectangular table dominating the center of it. Around that table, roughly 30 figures sat, listening to the man speak.

He currently sat next to Shin and Sophia, listening patiently. Nearby, various Executives, Sub-Executives, and various high-level Branch Leaders or Guard Captains sat as well. Head Cameron sat at the back of the table, facing across it towards the speaker.

One and all, everyone focused upon the speaker quietly as he continued his report.

“The Permanent Nest Core is no longer present, nor could our Communication Teams find anything else. The Research Department teams may have found further results.” The old man finished, his voice going slightly hoarse from all the talking.

According to Shin, this old man was the head of the Communications Department of the Godfather Organization, and the leader of the various Communication Officers.

A few hours had passed since they returned back to the Godfather Organization’s territory. In that time, Micheal had recovered from most of his exhaustion. He still wasn’t at 100%, but he was close enough.

The Seer had gone back to the residence provided to her, protected temporarily here. It was possible that a battle could break out at any moment, and while she was by no means weak, she also wasn’t a creature of war.

“Ah, yes. Thank you, Hank.” A familiar voice caught Micheal’s attention as he glanced back up.

Doctor Isaiah, the Head Researcher of the Hidden Truths Department, had taken front and center as he replaced Officer Hank at the head of the table. The doctor looked exhausted, with baggy line on his cheeks and bloodshot eyes.

When he spoke, however, his voice contained a hint of excitement.

“As requested, our men have looked over the scene of the attack.“ For the first time, Micheal fully realized that Doctor Isaiah had a lot more influence than he had originally thought. It appeared that his ‘Head Researcher’ job wasn’t just for the Hidden Truths Department.

Isaiah continued,

“And in the past few hours, after running multiple extensive tests, we have found out several things.” The man pulled out a large, printed out chart. On it, several images were displayed, as well as several charts full of data.

“The Permanent Nest Core was severely damaged and then taken away.” He pointed to one of the pictures, one that showed a smudge on a concrete floor.

“When the Permanent Nest Core was damaged, it gave off a large amount of energy. This energy possessed mystical properties that are not easily measurable, even using all the tools we have at our disposal.”

Admiral Cardell, one of the sitting Executives present, cut Isaiah off.

“We get that it was damaged. But why was it damaged? What was the purpose?” The man’s voice was gruff, going well with his rather odd image, a muscular man wearing a loose sailor's vest and a huge anchor on his back.

Isaiah nodded and continued, unperturbed, as if he had never been interrupted,

“We believe the reason why the Nest Core was damaged is precisely due to the energy it gave off.” Isaiah pointed to a few more charts of data.

“We managed to gather a substantial amount of abandoned, residue dust from the scene of the battle. From this residue, we were able to trace and computationally track the type of energy released. While we can’t recreate it, we have managed to determine at least some of its properties.”

When Micheal heard this, he could help but exhale slightly.

‘Impressive. Truly impressive.’ It really was. To do so much work in just a few hours, Isaiah and his team of researchers were really something.

“And?” Admiral Cardell waved at him impatiently to continue.

Isaiah simply nodded,

“When it comes to personal effects, the first thing of note is that the energy released by the Permanent Nest Core contains an extremely strong enhancing effect. It’s almost as if some of the power of the First Layer, itself, was imbued into the person that destroyed the Permanent Nest Core. That is the only way I can explain it.”

Grumbles of surprise spread out in the room at that. The surprise faded quickly to worry as people tried to understand Isaiah’s words.

“What else, Doctor?” Head Cameron’s voice boomed out loud, filling the air with his powerful force of presence. Everyone in the room instantly fell silent, not daring to utter a peep.

“The second thing of note has to do with the first thing.” Isaiah brought his hand over to a different part of the large paper, pointing at a graph,

“From what we can tell, the channeled power of the First Layer should dissipate once the person exits the First Layer. But certain residual changes will be permanent, changes that affect the mind and soul. It seems that shattering these Permanent Nest Cores can cause permanent changes to a person’s stats, though we aren’t quite sure how.”

At that line, several more conversations broke out. Something like this was big news, a change in the established norm.

‘Truly a genius at analyzation. I really wonder what his Type Ability is?’ Micheal gazed at the man with a studied glance.

The Permanent Nest Cores likely gave a similar boost to one’s Soul Quality as the Temporary Nest Cores. However, it seemed they also gave something special, some type of Layer-specific boost.

‘Channeling the power of the First Layer, huh?’ It certainly didn’t sound like good news for them right now.

“This channeling power and these permanent residual changes… can they be achieved with Temporary Nest Cores?” The Admiral broke in.

“Yes, that does seem to be the case. Based on a few more rough calculations, from our own base data on Temporary Nest Cores, we were able to create a prediction chart on a few specific rations.” Isaiah replied swiftly,

“To get the same level of permanent changes as the Permanent Nest, you would need to break 14 Temporary Nest Cores. After that, the energy seems to reach some type of cap that cannot be surpassed on the First Layer. As for channeling the power of the First Layer…” Isaiah scratched his head,

“That seems to be related to the Permanent Nests only.”

More exchanges swarmed the air as the people sitting at the table briefly discussed the new information.

Michael committed this tidbit to memory, storing it away for later. If what Isaiah said was accurate, then he had found the exact number of Temporary Nests he would need to destroy, as would Sophia and Shin, before they left for the Second Layer.

Isaiah continued after the room settled down,

“However, there is a rather important caveat. To access these powers, you must first be able to destroy a Nest Core in the first place. And I believe we are all very aware of how difficult that truly is.”

It wasn’t as if people had never tried to destroy Temporary Nest Cores. Indeed, these creations were often viewed more as a nuisance than anything else. Their seemingly random appearance, short-lived life, and the havoc they wrought as a result were all well-known facts.

Micheal hesitated for a few seconds before opting to say nothing at all. He glanced at the Godfather before he made this decision, pursing his lips slightly.

There were too many odd things happening in the past few days. Right now, he didn’t want to stand out any more than he had to, not while he was still planning for the future.

He sent a glance over to both Shin and Sophia, indicating for them to say nothing as well.

While he did this, the people sitting at the table had started a loud discussion on how they might be able to shatter a Temporary Nest Core.

“We could use alternating extreme temperature changes. I know we have a Yin-Yang Elemental Type here…”

“What about crushing the Nest Core with overwhelming force? The Admiral’s specialty lies there…”

“We could create a heavy-duty cannon using some of the…”

“How about some Gnomish Explosives…”

The deluge of voices gradually picked up in intensity.

Before it could get too loud, however…

“SILENCE!” Head Cameron’s voice shook the air, instantly forcing everyone to stop talking. The air around him seemed to vibrate with energy as a dreadful aura was unleashed, re-reminding those present of his power. Micheal was the only one unaffected by it, largely because of his Aura Nullification Necklace. It was a rather handy Artifact.

The Head was wearing a full black suit with a sharp black tie. His silly attire of earlier was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a stern, unforgiving visage of authority.

“Isaiah. Continue. You have more to report, yes?” Cameron gazed at the researcher.

“Yes, Head.” Isaiah ducked his head slightly.

“We have detected certain… anomalies that have emerged recently. Anomalies that have started to affect the makeup of the First Layer.” Isaiah put out another large piece of paper. This one had was a map of the Main Cluster, with several large, circled areas.

“Recently, various groups of Morenkai have begun to turn rather erratic. They move at their maximum speed, no longer slowly shambling about. This, in turn, has made survival much more difficult for weaker and regular humans.” Isaiah pointed at several different places on the map,

“And from our research… We have determined that the main location where these ‘Erratic Morenkai’ exist centers on the territory of the Angels Arcadia.” Isaiah then began to explain.

The Erratic Morenkai were only erratic when in range of the Angels Arcadia, and a few other smaller powers. Any groups of Erratic Morenkai would revert to normal once they left this territory.

As Isaiah continued, he began to draw several connections between these changes and the various energy signals given off by the Permanent Nest Core. Isaiah publicly shared some of his research, with his own new insights into Permanent Nests.

The most shocking revelation he unveiled would have to be his belief that the Monster Class Nest, the Permanent Nests, and the Temporary Nests were all connected.

The Monster Class Nest transmitted a signal that was received by the Permanent Nests. The Permanent Nests then moderated that signal, and sent it off to the Temporary Nests. These signals controlled the Morenkai, causing them to shamble about and follow certain patterns.

However, according to Isaiah, when the Permanent Nest was destroyed, the signal sent by the Monster Class Nest was interrupted. It transformed into a confusing and haphazard mess that set the Morenkai off, transforming them into ‘Erratic Morenkai.’

“Currently, the remaining Permanent Nests are probably the only thing keeping the Main Cluster, and the rest of the First Layer, habitable. If all of them are destroyed, the entire First Layer as we know it will slip into chaos, as will the future of humanity itself.”

Isaiah finished his speech, leaving a room full of stunned and horrified silence. There were no more shocked mumbles, merely silence as people tried to comprehend the magnitude of the researcher’s words.

That silence was a brief one, however.

“Very well, Doctor. Thank you for your report.” Head Cameron’s voice boomed out once more as he gazed up and down the table.

“Everyone, I will be calling a closed meeting, now, for only the Executives and Militant Branch Leaders. All other members, please exit. Tomorrow morning will be the day my decision on how we will tackle this will be announced.” He raised his hand,

“Dismissed!”

“Yes, Head!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Yes, Godfather!”

A series of shouts echoed in the air as everyone but the Executives and a few others stood up. The meeting hadn’t been a long one, but the impact of Isaiah’s words had clearly been enough to close it for only the highest leadership: The Executives and the Militant Branch Leaders, the warriors that were in charge of most of the military force of the Godfather Organization.

Micheal, Shin, and Sophia left with the rest of the group. The Sub-Executives weren’t allowed to remain in on the highest level meeting, apparently. Micheal couldn’t fault that logic, especially considering how new they were.

After they left the grand meeting room, the immediate hallway fell into multiple bustling, but hushed, conversations. Everyone around them was discussing what the future would hold, and what they thought should be done.

Micheal and his group began to walk down the hallway, a normal-looking one with yellow lights.

“Micheal, what do you think of all of this?” Sophia whispered in Micheal’s ear as she walked up next to him,

“Is what Isaiah said right? Have we really lost half of the Main Cluster already?” Her voice had a hardened, sad tone in it, as if she had already accepted the loss.

Micheal sighed and shrugged slightly,

“Temporary Nests reappear all the time. It’s possible Permanent Nests could reappear too, right?” He replied,

“I didn’t see anything like this in my visions of the future, so I’m not sure. But no matter what happens, I’m sure we can get through this, and sure we can get humanity through this.” He smiled as he said this, crushing the huge worries that had sprouted in his heart as he patted her on the shoulder.

“Oh, right, Micheal.” Shin tapped Micheal on the shoulder.

“Yeah?” Micheal returned.

“The Seer told me she wanted to meet you, if you have time. She’s really strong for an old, blind lady, I gotta say.” Shin mimed punching Morenkai in the face and then flexed his muscles in a ridiculous pose.

“Hmm…” Micheal rubbed his forehead.

‘First the attack by the Nightrunners, then these ‘Erratic Morenkai,’ and now the Seer… ugh.’ It really seemed like his days of peacefully slaughtering Morenkai truly were gone for good.

“Alright, I’ll make the time to see her. But tomorrow, not today.” He was tired enough as it was.

Shin nodded back. The trio talked about a few other things as they walked down the hallway and reached the stairwell. Their group was the first of the higher-ups to leave, giving them an empty hall as they began to clamber up.

Before they got far, however, a voice called out to them. Specifically, to Micheal…

“Heron? Would you mind if I talked to you, briefly?” The familiar voice caused Micheal to pause.

He turned around on the staircase, studying a certain man calmly.

“Doctor Isaiah?” Micheal looked at the doctor, slightly taken aback. He glanced back at Shin and Sophia, motioning for them to continue walking upward and to give him some space.

He walked down a level until he reached where the elderly researcher was standing. The man’s pale skin seemed even more pallid today, though that might just have been from the stress of everything that was happening right now.

“How can I help you?” Micheal held out his hand.

“Ah.” Isaiah took the hand, shaking it firmly. Well, he probably thought it was firmly. To Micheal, who’s Strength stat was over 80, it was like a child’s handshake.

“I went to the Seer a little while ago, after I found out she was here. You see, there’s something that has been bothering me for the past few days.” Isaiah’s blue eyes flashed slightly as he let go of Micheal’s hand and continued to talk,

“And the advice I got from the Seer was very specific.” The Head Researcher studied Micheal for a few seconds. Micheal shrugged back.

“It was to come to you.”

Micheal was only mildly surprised. People with Abilities that could see into or manipulate ‘Fate’ had a slew of freaky powers. The fact that the Seer was interested in him was also unsurprising. Even his Aura Nullification Necklace could only do so much.

“What is this all about?” Micheal inquired simply.

“It’s about… it’s about the Head…” Doctor Isaiah rubbed his eyes. As he did so, Micheal noticed that his hands shook slightly,

“Over the past few days, and even the past week or two, certain things about him have… changed. I know this might seem minor to most people, Heron, but I have always been very particular about certain things.” Isaiah continued, the shaking fading slightly,

“I notice details. I can pick apart data like its nothing, sift through a mire of confusion to seek out a singular path. And recently… Head Cameron’s behavior has begun to worry me.” His trembling returned as he got to the heart of the matter,

“I think something is wrong with him.”

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