novelraw Chapter 222 - Trustworthy
Chapter 222 - Trustworthy
Chapter 222
TrustworthyAlexander lay on the bio-engineered lichen and moss and looked up at the sky.
He stared up at the deformed potato that was Deimos. Or Phobos. He didn’t know which. What he did know was that the blue-white star glowing in the distance was Earth.
The world from which he’d orchestrated the theft of an entire city.
By accident.
He sighed. There was no way he was going to live that one down.
Alexander turned his head and glanced at Maximilian, who stood staring out across the red desert of Mars, doing a great take on the whole brooding noble Dragon Lord thing.
They’d been idling for the past five minutes.
He’d quickly confirmed with the others on the active channel that everyone was alive, and there was nothing ‘urgent-urgent’ that needed their input. Of course, reading between the lines meant there was something urgent, just not time-sensitive.
They’d muted the channel anyway. Both of them needed time to recover, and there was something more important to address right here.
Alexander sighed again. Then pulled up the notifications that confirmed their fears and reviewed his status.
—
Awakened Divinity: Machine God
Claimed Divinity: Prophet of the Lost
Converted Divinity: Prophet of the Lost → Fragment of Divinity: Sovereign Blood
Cultivator’s Core has adapted to Sovereign Blood
—
Divinity: Machine God
Description: You are the God of all that is Machine. Blessed are your favored by all machines.
—
Fragment: Sovereign Blood
Description: You have slain the Prophet of the Lost and claimed a Fragment of Divinity. Your blood is inviolable.
—
[ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED]
Divine Slayer
You have defended your Dream against another Divine.
Reward: Continue the Dream II → Continue the Dream III
—
[STATUS]
Alexander Rooke
| Alias: Machine God
| Guild: Grimnir (Leader)
| Alliances: The Royals (Defensive, Formal) | Throne of Scales (Defensive [Partial], Formal)
| Designation: ???
| Bounty: 2,415,000 → 5,150,000 credits
| Rankings: Universe_1: 58 → 23, Unified: 684 → 312
| Evaluation: Tier 2 (38% → 45%) — Class A
ASCENSION POTENTIAL INDEX (API)
Physical Attributes
| Strength — 81% → 83%
| Endurance ✧ 142 → 160
| Constitution ✧ 129 → 144
| Dexterity — 95% → 96%
| Agility — 86% → 88%
Cognitive Attributes
| Intelligence ✧ 171 → 185
| Processing Speed ✧ 154 → 161
| Perception ✧ 162 → 167
| Focus ✧ 161 → 170
| Willpower (Ambition) ✧ 199 → 200 (+14)
Divine Fragments
| Sovereign Blood
Power Manifestation
Machine God (Technopathy) | Class S, Tier 1
| Efficiency — 100%
| Control — 100%
| Output — 81% → 86%
| Adaptation — 98%
Electrokinesis | Class B, Tier 1
| Efficiency — 91% → 98%
| Control — 92% → 95%
| Output — 98% → 100%
| Adaptation — 80% → 84%
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Metallokinesis | Class B+, Tier 1
| Efficiency — 85% → 94%
| Control — 88% → 94%
| Output — 78% → 85%
| Adaptation — 64% → 76%
Animachina | Class S, Tier 2
| Mastery ✧ 88% → 90%
Cultivator’s Core | Class B → Class B+, Tier 1
| Refinement ✧ 68% → 85%
Techniques
| Blackout
| Ensoulment
| Soul Circuit
Skills
| Hyperawareness
| Multithreading
Achievements
| Origin 0 Soul
| Continue the Dream III
| Divine Slayer
—
Alexander closed his status sheet and sighed. Again.
Then he glanced at Maximilian.
“Hey.”
Maximilian looked over his shoulder at him. “What?”
Alexander sniffed. “Just checking if we’re going to murder each other out in the middle of the Martian desert where nobody would ever know what really happened after only one of us returns?”
Maximilian blinked. Then he turned back. “No.”
“Good.” Alexander returned to studying the stars. “I’d hate to have to kill a friend. Even if he’s a stuck-up, silver-spoon-fed, nepo-baby.”
“That assumes you’d be the one walking away. You left most of your arsenal with the others.”
“I’ve got spares in the ring. And some other toys.”
“I have a dragon.”
Alexander shrugged against the ground. “So it’s sixty-forty. In my favor.”
“Delusional.” A pause. “Fifty-five to forty-five. In my favor.”
He could hear the amusement in the Dragon Lord’s voice. It was a good thing, as far as he was concerned. Because they’d both considered the implications. And while neither of them was the sort of person to be swayed by minor things like extra godhood, only an idiot wouldn’t have considered it from both perspectives.
But they’d both come to the same conclusion. The other man was trustworthy.
“What did you get?” Alexander asked after the silence had gone on long enough.
“Dragon Blood. Enhanced healing, if my interpretation is correct.” Maximilian glanced at him again. “You?”
“Sovereign Blood. Made my blood inviolable, whatever the hell that means.”
“Typical System.”
Alexander agreed with the sentiment. “My Divinity… makes people blessed with machines or something.”
Maximilian was quiet for a while. “Mine gives them an aspect of the dragon.”
Alexander nodded. Then sighed. Yet again. “So many people are going to want to kill us once they learn about this.”
“Yep.”
“This sucks.”
“Yep.”
“Instead, we’re going to have to kill so many assholes.”
“Yep.”
Alexander frowned. “Do you know how to say anything else?”
A pause. Then. “Yep.”
“Son of a—” Alexander pulsed Metallokinesis and floated to his feet. “When did you develop a sense of humor?”
Maximilian shrugged. “Must have inherited it from the Lost Prophet.”
Alexander stared at him for a moment, then snorted. “I doubt it.”
“Me too.” The Dragon Lord turned and met his gaze. “How do you think we gain the threads? Besides killing each other. And what do they represent?”
That was the real question.
The Lost Prophet had given them insight into what he believed the red threads were. Fear and terror. Maybe even anger and hatred. And if what Gabriel had told him was true, there were two methods to achieving Divinity.
But from his count, there appeared to be a third.
Unless killing a Divine didn’t achieve it, and instead was more an act of theft.
Alexander shook his head. “Best guess? Worship maybe.” He made a face at that. It reminded him of the feeling the machines had toward him. “They felt like… trust. I think that’s the best word I have for it.”
Maximilian nodded. “Belief was what I settled on. Could also be admiration or aspiration.”
“Makes sense if what the Lost Prophet said was true, and the red threads represented things like fear and dread.”
“Helplessness.”
Alexander threw back his head and groaned. “I don’t want to be a priest or a messiah or whatever.”
Maximilian chuckled. “I don’t think we need to be.” Then he turned serious. “But we need to keep it a secret as long as we can.”
Alexander immediately disliked the idea. Keeping secrets from his friends wasn’t how he did things. He’d always shared the truth with them, even if he realized that would need to change now that the guild was growing. That he’d have to maintain a tighter circle of trust.
“I’m going to tell my guild. Some of them, at least.”
Maximilian studied him for a moment. “I will probably do the same. Once I’ve had time to wrap my head around it.”
“Plus, they can help us figure out how it works, too.” Alexander patted red dirt from his pants. “Ready to head back?”
Maximilian nodded, then turned toward his dragon, which had been quietly waiting.
Alexander stopped him, pulling a black card from his ring. He grinned. “Shortcut.”
“Good idea.”
“I have a lot of those.”
“Sure you do.”
Alexander made the call and watched the doorway manifest.
***
Marcus Thorne gripped the overhead handle and stared out the open side door of the shuttle.
Below, the desert stretched in every direction. Flat, featureless sand broken only by the occasional rocky formation. Moonlight painted everything in pale silver, and the stars were bright enough to read by.
He checked the coordinates on the display panel beside the door for the third time. Then a fourth.
“Are you sure the coordinates are correct?” he called to the pilot.
“Yes, sir.” The woman’s voice carried back from the cockpit, professional but strained. “I’ve verified them twice. Dubai should be right below us.”
Marcus leaned further out, one hand white-knuckled on the handle. Nothing but sand and rock in every direction. No skyline. No lights. No roads. No vehicles. No people. Not even foundations or rubble. Just desert, as if nothing had ever been built there at all.
“Then where the hell is it?”
Guang stood at the opposite edge of the open door, tablet in hand, feet planted at the very lip of the deck. He wasn’t holding onto anything. The wind whipping through the cabin at altitude didn’t seem to bother him.
“It looks like the city disappeared shortly after Executor Jacobs revealed himself at the press conference,” Guang said, scrolling. His tone carried the same flat calm he used for mission briefings.
Marcus waited. Guang kept reading.
“The current leading theory is that the Machine God...” Guang paused. Looked at the tablet again, as if double-checking. “...stole the city.”
Marcus gaped at him.
“How do you steal an entire city?!” he shouted.
Guang shrugged. He glanced up from the tablet. “It seems the Throne of Scales assisted them. The two guilds, along with the Royals, apparently used their combined superpowers to kidnap all of Dubai.” He looked back down and kept scrolling, as if the next paragraph might contain something that made more sense.
It didn’t.
Behind them, Hahn shifted in his seat. His wounded arm was wrapped in fresh bandages. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again.
Marcus sank into the nearest seat.
He’d redirected the shuttle to Dubai to help fight a vampire. Instead, he was hovering over a hole in the world.
“What about the Executor?” he said quietly.
“There’s some good news there,” Guang replied. “The infected are still running rampant, but the infection itself has stopped.”
Marcus sighed. “That is good news.”
Guang tossed the tablet onto a seat. “What now, sir?”
Marcus hit the control to close the door and called to the pilot. “Take me to Prime Orbital. And get the Fleet Admiral on the line.”
The pilot didn’t argue. The shuttle climbed.
“The Fleet Admiral, sir?” Guang asked, arms crossed.
“An entire city doesn’t just disappear. It’s here, somewhere.” Marcus leaned back. “We just need to find it. Besides, the superheroes of the fleet can’t act without orders. And I might be the only one left who can give them.”