New Game+

The appearance of the seven individuals in the underground region of Egypt was an impossible sight. Yet to Arthur and the group, this was expected.

"You guys really know how to make it inconvenient for your allies." Hermes laughed.

"It\'s good that you got our message." Harker smiled.

"How did you bypass Egypt\'s locust technology and move so fast?" Gardo wondered. He stood at the back and didn\'t join Harker, Arthur, and Lowengren\'s welcoming positions.

"It\'s easy to mask out appearance. My wind, plus her commanding all those blood to fly around, made us look like a swarm of locusts. And with my wind, I made sure no locust got near us."

"Gardo Dalisay. I can\'t believe that we\'re allies now." Gallium laughed.

"Chester Gallium. It\'s a good thing we didn\'t meet in the Provinces. Otherwise..."

"Like your little bullets can penetrate through me." Gallium laughed.

"Play nice for now, Gardo. Still, we really appreciate that you could meet with us. Especially since that little event in the Pacific Ocean happened."

"Little event? The world moved because of that. If they say you guys are smarter than me, you should know what it means."

"We are well aware of what it means. But the chaos is not enough. To guarantee the plan in South America, here in Egypt, and even your success in the battle down south of this place, we need to accomplish something first."

"Oh? Omricon. It seems your blade will be quite busy." Hermes laughed.

Omricon gave a stoic nod at his right.

"Still... It was shocking that a military base of Egypt would contact the cruise hotline. We\'ve made it a protocol to make Austin answer the phone. Sorry, you had to phone three times for us to get the message."

"Seriously though, if Madam Akasha didn\'t hear the third call, then we would have never known it was you." Gallium frowned.

"Yeah. Alvin. That was really embarrassing. You really didn\'t think why someone calling from Egypt would just be ordering pizza?" Austin frowned.

"I said I was sorry.! Besides, the man calling was also really irritating, so I hung up!"

"Yeah. It had to be Vender. And he can really be like that." Harker sighed.

"You are sure no Presider suspects that? He called several times using a powerful, network breaching comm device." Hermes confirmed.

"This base detected his outgoing call. Vender\'s idiotic portrayal and his constant attempts to do the call make it very genuine that an idiot was using that comm device. Also, the message for you to deliver pizza and secret message using our unique frequency in which Vender said that you should just deliver the pizza wouldn\'t draw attention. If they do hear the unique frequency, they wouldn\'t understand what Vender meant by delivering the extra hot sauce by hand. This was all that we can use to alert you without using our special line of communication." Arthur explained.

"I can\'t believe that you\'ve pulled this off in a matter of few days. Or is it just mere hours?" Hermes smiled as he looked around to observe how there were functioning cameras, yet it did not draw out any reaction from the base.

"Getting inside this base was the hardest. The protocols of Egypt are rather harsh. Most of the civilization here in Egypt is being developed underground. Just like in Russia. So our hardest challenge was to gain legitimate status to enter the cities underground to get accepted in this military base. And the truth is we are still on the process of taking over this base." Harker explained.

"I wonder what is impossible for you guys. So what reason do you have to summon us to make physical visits? We have to hightail back and return to the Suez Canal to prepare for war." Hermes answered.

"Um... Boss. This base... It\'s headed for the Suez Canal." Austin noticed.

"Hrm? You\'re right. Interesting. Do you guys want us to attack Egypt as well?" Hermes asked.

"We can\'t handle that!" Akasha frowned.

"The battle in the Mediterranean will already be chaotic. With what Seeker did, we already know that that route will become a war zone!"

"Indeed. I even stopped playing around when I learned of the WGP\'s attack on that underwater city." Gallium added as he reached his hand out. A strange liquid emerged and became a small metal ball that remained in the palm of his hand.

"Thank you, mister Gallium, for this assistance. We know that this cost you a lot." Lowengren reached out to take the small metal ball.

"I am indeed that man. Although, compared to you terminators, I\'m not that impressive." Gallium chuckled.

"Your techs will prove useful for our lie. But for now, we play our part. The reason we called you is because of the recent events that have transpired. Arthur had seen the future of what the future of the world will be, and the battle in the Mediterranean to block the Suez Canal will be rather critical. We are expecting several Presiders to join. And it\'s possible that Pridgeon\'s team will surface once more. That Presider will send his army to take as much as he can from this battle to bolster his research material."

"I see. He is a weak Presider in the eyes of many. He has to make it look like he has some techs to back it up." Hermes noted.

"Boss, he could even claim to find some techs from the Lost Primordial or the Progenitor in this attack," Austin explained.

"Then you want us to stop him?" Akasha frowned.

"No... I don\'t think that\'s what they want. There\'s another one, right? Another Presider is expected to make a move?" Gallium asked.

"Yes. The movements of Pridgeon were very subtle at first. But all of a sudden, he began to move. His movements were rather turbulent that the Realm King was able to find that base with the help of Rai. This action should have alerted all Top Tier Presiders. So why did he move? As I predicted, he was indeed found out by another Presider. Since he already got caught, he decided to make big moves without caring. Since the Top Tier already knows he killed Crostfree, he might have decided to show it. This action also proves that there is a significant gap between Mid Tier Presiders and the stronger ones. "

"So is this mission going to be us attack two groups of Presiders? Or are we focusing on one?"

"No. They both have to lose, and Egypt must win. Our purpose is to create more suspicion of whoever resides in Egypt. So the biggest winner must be Egypt. And the second and unseen victor must be Pridgeon\'s team. He needs to create a City of Refuge in Israel."

"That... is a rather complicated request." Hermes frowned.

"And it\'s a necessary one. We have to establish this as early as we can. With the reports of Lanterk being a Principal, I am certain that whoever or whatever his real form is, he or they is headed towards Earth. The moment he did, I could no longer see the future beyond the next two months."

"Beyond the next two months? Isn\'t your Path that of calculation? You mean you can\'t calculate things?"

"My calculation isn\'t just based on facts and statistics or pure calculation. It uses a small bit of Zone. I have to know which of my scientific and statistical conjectures will come true. And that is only discerned through Zone. I don\'t gamble but actively use my Path to determine which future happens. My limit was discerning Pridgeon\'s success in assassinating Crostfree. And from our interactions with Lanterk and Zeraphine, we\'ve confirmed this to be true. But with this Principal, I can\'t make any predictions at all. The math is present, but I can\'t make a choice." Arthur explained.

"How do you know that it\'s related to a Principal. You\'ve had this feeling a while back now. Didn\'t you say after the death of Crostfree that you feel that you couldn\'t accurately predict the future?"

"I couldn\'t accurately, but I still could. But when I found out that Lanterk realized there was a Principal here, the feeling changed. Alean must have felt something similar. And so, I need to push my limits to another level. I need a war with so much chaos that my only choice would be to overcome."

"So, what do you have in mind? We attack the forces of the Top Tier Presiders?" Hermes frowned. He knew this plan would be wrong.

"That is too reckless. If we begin to attack them at the start, the Top Tier Presider might be forced to show more dangerous hands."

"That\'s why I suggested showing a magic trick. Make everyone see a great battle between Egypt and your forces, but the ones who are defeated will be the Top Tier Presider."

"Wait. We will fight each other, and then the Top Tier Presider will lose?" Austin was confused.

"How is that possible?" Akasha asked.

"An ambush?" Gallium asked.

"Like the one in the Kraken?" Alvin also asked.

"No. The trick we showed when trying to attack Pridgeon won\'t work. They will be guarded once we appear and start fighting. So the battle will be much more complicated than that. In truth, I still don\'t know how to accomplish that. I have to find the right way as we fight."

"But I don\'t understand. You want to fight us and let Egypt win." Akasha asked again.

"Yes. We have to have a little war between us to accomplish that." Arthur nodded.

"So in this war, our team has to feign defeat fighting Egypt?" Akasha confirmed.

Arthur, Harker, and Lowengren smirked and began to laugh.

"Did I say something funny?" Akasha frowned.

"What makes you think you will win?" Lowengren laughed.

"Are you that strong? Are you Seeker Carlean? What can a bat do against us?" Harker added.

"You lot seems to be so full of yourself." Akasha chuckled. But a rising anger could be heard in her tone.

"How can you even fight? You have a pitiful army, no strong Paths that can challenge us, and no techs to use. How can you go against us? You might have a shot at Gallium, but you really think you can defeat Hermes or me? You are dreaming."

"It was with my help and my sword that Seeker won against Richie. It was with my plans and Lowengren\'s lies that we defeated the Tyrant Empress. So I\'ve defeated someone who defeated you, and we\'ve already proven our might in defeating the most feared and powerful Overcomer." Arthur sneered.

"True. What\'s a ceiling fan and some bat girl compared to them?" Lowengren added.

"How cute. You kids are calling me Batgirl?"

"We\'re not being cute. I mean, we really believe that we can wipe the floor with you guys. And by the way, it is a known lore within that comic universe that the Joker made Batgirl a paraplegic. I fancy myself a Joker. If you can\'t move your legs, I suggest moving to the Phil-Pangea. You could live your life flying your upper body as our very own mythical creature, the Manananggal." Gardo laughed.

Hermes also laughed at the joke.

Akasha turned to Hermes in anger.

"Unlike my other companions, I don\'t underestimate my enemies. Arthur is the one directing our plans and was even honored to deliver the finishing blow to stop the Empress. I heard, Lowengren here has been trolling Meng and even Lennox. And then we have Harker. How you managed to convince Meng to join you in a photo op, I will never know. But don\'t worry. Me and my Winds won\'t underestimate you. Akasha, Gallium. Don\'t underestimate them. Collectively, that is their Path. They are strong because we will underestimate them."

"Hermes? You can\'t really be serious? They may have a few tricks in their hands, but against powers as devastating as our own, how can they win?"

"I don\'t know. I\'m curious, though. But these guys won\'t survive in the future if they are not this brave, daring, and confident. If they want to be Overcomers, they have to have this much guts. I guess that\'s that. We\'ll meet on the battlefield."

"See you. And remember, we will seriously be trying to kill you. If you die, then it means you would just lose against the Empress." Lowengren lied. But this lie made the departing team think hard for the coming trial.

The group left with incredible speed as they flew with a speed that surpassed most jets.

"This will be interesting." Gardo smiled.

"So, what\'s the plan?" Vender radioed over. Everyone ordered him to shut up during the meeting. If he weren\'t watching Star Wars he would have joined in the talk.

"I don\'t think Arthur made any plans for this..." Lowengren chuckled.

"What? There is no plan?" Harker was amazed.

"He\'s right. There isn\'t one yet. We\'ll be playing things by ear." Arthur smiled.