Chapter 1383 - Waiting For A Big (Lunch?) Break

“So in summary, Sandy is full of shit, and the real answer is that no one is sure how to enter through the Gate of Abundance?” Jake asked as he sat within the worm’s stomach in front of the small group that had gathered there.

Jake had predicted that maybe Jasper would be there, or perhaps someone else he knew, but what he hadn’t expected was to see three familiar faces. The Sword Saint, the King, and his little brother, Caleb, had all been waiting inside, which also answered some important questions he had in one swoop.

Somehow, Sandy had known he had entered the room they were hiding in, yet Jake hadn’t detected that the worm was aware of his presence. This gave rise to many thoughts and questions about how that was possible, as the implications of Sandy avoiding his Bloodline-related detection abilities weren’t minor at all.

However, it turned out he had the Unique Lifeform to blame. The Golden Forest King remained linked to Jake’s mask, and when he got close enough, the Unique Lifeform had felt the presence of his mask and informed the worm he was there. So, in summary, no one had seen through his stealth; the King had just detected what was effectively a part of his own body nearby.

As for the current conversation they were having...

“That is the gist of it, yes,” the Sword Saint nodded. “I’m not saying the Gatekeepers aren’t all going to go on lunch break together, leaving the gate unguarded, but I personally wouldn’t gamble on it happening.”

“Hey, I don’t hear you coming up with any better ideas!” Sandy complained. “But I guess it’s fine, now Jake is here, and I’m sure he already has a brilliant plan for how to enter the Palace of Abundance that we can all take inspiration from.”

“Oh, totally, sure,” Jake joked back, shaking his head. “Have you seen anyone just trying to storm through the gate?”

“Happened twice,” Caleb answered. “The Gatekeepers aren’t super strong, but they are good at creating barriers, and they have some kind of formation they can activate, instantly blocking off the entrance.”

“So, they both died,” Jake nodded.

“No, only one of them,” the Sword Saint shook his head. “The other one escaped back into the sewers, and through that, we confirmed that the Gatekeepers won’t move too far away from the gate.”

“Baiting them to go elsewhere doesn’t seem like a probable solution then,” Jake muttered.

“I still think it should be possible to find a way through the wall. As long as I can phase through the first part, I didn’t detect anything that would stop me beneath it,” Sandy proposed.

“Yeah, not gonna happen,” Jake shook his head. “It’s a solid wall of system-fuckery.”

“I’m not saying it’s a good proposal,” the King said, giving them a look. “But the Gatekeepers are weak enough that it should be possible to break through using force. Perhaps it would be difficult for the four of us, but if we use the other Administrators surrounding us, they should create an opening for us to exploit. I take it there are many others waiting nearby?”

The last part was naturally directed at Jake, who nodded in confirmation.

“Yeah, and more are gathering. However, I don’t think using force is the intended method. I’m not saying it can’t work, but so far, the theme of the Inner City has clearly revolved around avoiding combat, so I have a hard time seeing the solution to the final puzzle be combat,” Jake said, kind of wishing that Sandy had been right all along, and the Gatekeepers were all going to go on lunch break soon, leaving the gate entirely undefended.

“I’ll reiterate and say that I find myself in agreement with Jake,” the Sword Saint added. “So far, fighting has been actively punished, so I fear that if one tries to storm the gate, one may provoke a swift and deadly response from the cyclops elites. Therefore, I do believe it is wise to remain still and see what happens. Who knows, perhaps there will be some change, or some other group finds a solution. Either way, I don’t believe we should be the ones volunteering as test subjects for other factions or groups.”

As with their Nevermore party back then, the Sword Saint was always the voice of reason, with the only thing that tended to trump his arguments being Jake’s gut feelings. Seeing as Jake’s gut also told him that storming the gates didn’t seem right, they were in complete agreement that trying to start something seemed dumb.

“So in the end, we go back to my plan of waiting for their lunch break. How curious,” Sandy said, sounding way too smug.

No one paid the worm any mind as Caleb turned to Jake instead. “Seeing as we have some time, I gotta ask, how have you fared in this grand simulated world thus far? You had a good time?”

Totally fine with the change of subject, Jake nodded. “Yeah, things have been good. It was a bit boring in the beginning, but fortunately, two of the Territories relatively close to mine ended up having a Behemoth and an Archfiend, respectively, and...”

Jake proceeded to show and tell about his adventures in the World of the Exalted Prima so far. The others also did the same, sharing how they’d done so far before coming to the Central Domain, and it quickly became clear that Jake’s Territory had really done poorly in the area of diplomacy. Then again, he hadn’t stumbled upon any Territory ruled by an allied faction like the Pantheon of Life or another Administrator from the Order, so perhaps he’d been a little unlucky.

At least it seemed like the others had all encountered factions they’d formed alliances with, and the King’s Territory even bordered two belonging to the Order of the Malefic Viper. Jake was also a little surprised to hear that the King was working with the Pantheon of Life in this event, though. Then again, he understood the Unique Lifeform’s reasoning.

While Yggdrasil restoring the King’s body and allowing him to turn into the Golden Forest King was a favor to Jake, that didn’t mean the Unique Lifeform didn’t feel like he owed the World Tree himself for his new life. His helping out in an event like this didn’t really hurt him either, as it wasn’t as if the King had other prior agreements.

Caleb, being a part of the Court of Shadows, had also formed many alliances with other Territories, which the Court tended to do. Many factions were even happy to have a Court Territory as part of their alliance, as the shadow assassins were great sources of information. They had intelligence on the majority of the powerful beings in this system event, and according to Caleb, the information network had already started getting reestablished within the World of the Exalted Prima using special skills of the Court, allowing them to communicate over incredible distances by using the Shadow Realm as a conduit.

Sandy, leading a Territory from the Order of the Malefic Viper, barely knew anything, as apparently, the worm had just been chilling and flying around a bit before the Central Domain opened up. They’d served as transport for their Territory, never really bothering to ask about anything, but had just followed the orders of the strategist assigned by the Lord Protector.

Finally, the Sword Saint had created two alliances and a few vassals. Aeon didn’t have a faction per se, but he did have followers, whom the old man now worked alongside. The alliances were with smaller factions, including a group that followed the Starseizing Titan, and another simply backed by a powerful solitary god. The Vassals were also all smaller factions that hadn’t been powerful enough to prove themselves worthy of being allies... and a Territory ruled by the Primordial Church, who had insisted that being allies would be an act of blasphemy, while practically begging to be made into a Vassal.

“To be clear, this was the most powerful Territory we’d encountered thus far, and it included an entire party with Divine Blessings from the Eternal Servant. If I’d wanted to forcibly destroy their Beacon, it would not have been an easy endeavor at all,” the Sword Saint shook his head. “Yet they refused anything more than becoming a Vassal and even offered for me to destroy their Beacon if I so desired.”

“Meanwhile, when the Court encounters the Primordial Church, we’re prepared to be in for a hell of a fight,” Caleb chuckled. “I still don’t understand that faction at all, or how they are even so big. Like, why join the Primordial Church and not just the faction of whatever Primordial you align the most with? And why are they all batshit insane?”

“Crazy people? In the multiverse!? Now I’d never!” Sandy chimed in an exaggerated voice. “Why are we even acting surprised here? In my opinion, you four are all crazy people for going around fighting stuff all the time when you could, you know, just not fight stuff. What’s even worse is this damn Unique Lifeform, who apparently has never eaten anything in his life! Now that’s insanity of the highest order.”

“I am more than capable of consuming treasures when doing so benefits me; I simply do not have the inferior biological need to consume nutrients to sustain myself. Something all lifeforms outgrow, which should communicate that it’s an inferior trait one is meant to grow out of,” the Forest King answered.

“See? Point proven, because all of that was crazy talk for sure,” Sandy said, sounding almost as if they felt pity for the poor Unique Lifeform.

“The real answer to your question is probably that many have a difficult time dedicating themselves or seeing their Paths reflected in a single Primordial or faction, as all twelve of them have very distinct traits and personalities. The Primordial Church also embraces everyone, with the only requirement being absolute faith in the twelve Primordials.” The Sword Saint finally gave Caleb some sort of answer.

“I guess that would also be an explanation... should ask Jake, though, he’s great friends with at least one of their members who even made him an awesome statue!” Sandy said, giving Jake trauma-inducing flashbacks to an event he would very much like to forget, making him instantly switch the topic.

“Anyway, where were we? Oh yeah, recapping our journeys!” Jake shut down the conversation and went back to sharing what he’d been doing after splitting up with Sandy, while also hearing what the other four had been up to.

It quickly became clear that while they all had some interesting encounters, Jake had definitely been the one with the most notable ones. They were especially put off when they heard about the Virtual Mind Devourer, a creature they had spent a good half hour discussing, with no one having heard of a similar being in the real world.

Of course, Sandy had to offer up the possibility that such a being did exist in the real world, but had simply made everyone and everything that ever met it forget its existence. That maybe there were actually a lot of them nearly everywhere; it was just that no one could remember. Very nice of Sandy to plant these ideas in everyone’s mind.

Besides that, Jake was surprised to hear about the Sword Saint, Caleb, and Sandy’s fight with the Dao Sect. He knew the faction was powerful, but he was taken aback when he heard about how three people Jake had never even heard of had managed to push the Sword Saint so hard. He could feel how much stronger the old man had become, so for those three to also be that powerful... it seemed like he still underestimated just how powerful that faction was.

When they finally got to what had happened after entering the Inner City, it was funny hearing how the King had more or less just been hiding out in the sewer or running away before meeting Sandy, Caleb, and the Sword Saint. Granted, the Sword Saint wouldn’t have managed to accomplish much without meeting Caleb and Sandy either, with the two of them being very suited for this environment.

As a squad of four, they had mainly stolen a few treasures from stores, but had also gotten into a few fights against other factions, including some who’d foolishly tried to attack Sandy, only to discover the worm had the ability to throw up some nasty resistance.

Jake, who had mainly just been sneaking around, avoiding combat while stealing treasures, thought his time in the Inner City was a lot less interesting. Well, besides the most recent happening where Jake had his greatest heist yet, a story that definitely caught the attention of everyone as Caleb stared at him in disbelief.

“You stole the staff from the Abundant Cyclops Magi?”

“Yep,” Jake nodded.

“The same one that nearly turned Sandy into a charred piece of jerky with a single spell?”

“That would be the one,” Jake smiled. “Turns out that the key is to not get hit by any spells.”

“And to throw others under the bus, misdirecting any aggression,” the Sword Saint kindly added. “I will admit, I hadn’t even considered the possibility that these elites actually lived inside the city. The prospect is a little frightening, as it suggests one could have gotten unlucky and stumbled upon one of their homes.”

“True, but the house of the Magi was rather inconspicuous, and I couldn’t detect the staff before I was inside already, so I find the chance of that happening unlikely,” Jake said, shaking his head.

He also hadn’t spoken about the special function of the staff to increase stats, as it felt like the kind of thing he had no need to share. Sure, it would be nice of him to warn them in case others had found a similar item and could use it as a trump card, but the chances were good that Jake was the only one with one, and he would prefer for no one to know it existed.

Plus, while they were all allies for now, they were also ultimately competitors. The Sword Saint, especially, was someone Jake felt he was bound to eventually get into a conflict with. If they reached a point where only one person could get the final reward and the two of them were in the room together, having to make that choice, it was inevitable that they’d end up fighting, and quite frankly, Jake wouldn’t have it any other way. Seeing as this was a simulated world where they wouldn’t actually kill each other, it would also be a lot safer than the Treasure Hunt, where they had actually nearly ended one another.

For now, though, they were working on getting through the Gate of Abundance together, and despite having talked for a few hours about their recent exploits, nothing had happened besides more Administrators gathering in the immediate area around the gate.

Just then, something finally happened. Through his sphere, Jake noticed an Administrator exiting through the window of a nearby building before heading towards the streets. It was an elven woman who looked supremely nervous as she held something familiar in her hands:

A golden statue.

She landed on the ground, still carrying the statue in front of her. From the building she’d exited, several other elves who looked to be from the Altmar Empire watched on, also looking pretty nervous themselves, as she started approaching the Gate of Abundance.

Other Administrators had also noticed something was happening and watched on with interest, with others sneering at what looked like supreme stupidity.

When the elf got close to the gate, she seemed to trigger some kind of detection formation, dispelling her stealth skill, and at once, all the Gatekeepers noticed her presence and turned to look at her. She froze as she was stared down by the many giant cyclopes... but nothing happened.

They only checked her over before returning to looking ahead of them. She remained still for a few more seconds before continuing to run forward, all the Gatekeepers ignoring her as she successfully made it through, much to the surprise of everyone present.

“I’m sure they were just distracted thinking about their upcoming lunch break,” Sandy muttered before spitting them all out and summoning a golden statue on top of their head. “See you guys inside!”

With those words, the worm flew off, leaving the four behind as Jake looked to the King, Caleb, and Sword Saint, who all summoned a statue of their own, making Jake smile and shake his head.

He knew there was something up with those statues all along... though he still had no idea what the significance of the eight arms was. He had a feeling it would become clear pretty soon, though, as everyone rushed to enter the Gate of Abundance after someone had finally – rather anticlimactically - found the solution.