No one needed drones in Zone 1 military or civilian It seemed that upon reaching the new world they were connected to fewer Raid Bosses spawned in their Zone Therefore no one could muster any enthusiasm for any of the surveillance or basic defense drones that Ghost had prototyped Especially with the knowledge that Ghost would hold a backdoor key to their control
Ghost opened the eyes of his projection and walked to the wall A console lit up immediately scrolling information across it His gaze was focused on it for a while before he sighed
Based on population scans of the areas that the Unity Church was set up Ghost had a pretty good idea what was going on The Unity Church was deploying its information network to find and eliminate Raid Bosses near its establishments and was using that as an increased incentive to fall under their purview However heat scans revealed that there were quite a few people who had gone cold among those relocated to the Unity Church refugee camps Numbers in the tens of thousands
Throwing untrained and un Leveled people against Raid Bosses would result in significant casualties but Ghost didnÆt doubt some of their bishopsÆ were discovered in this manner after they survived Ghost hadnÆt tested it but he suspected the System would reward a victory from such an under Leveled individual
Shaking his head Ghost turned off the console His thoughts were unusually flighty tonight touching on too many topics But he understood why
Without moving he engaged the audio file It began to play exactly where Ghost had wanted it to The first noise was the shuffling of pages as a few people took notes on the previous response the man had given Up until now Ghost had been more exasperated than anything else by the interview But this question
Mr Ghosthound the senator asked You yourself are a fighter are you not Would you perhaps be able to demonstrate a bit of your skill for us To give us a way to gauge the strength of Zone 1
There was silence from watching the interview Ghost knew that Randidly was pondering the question Finally he said No thatÆs not a good idea After all IÆm just a low key guy
A few members of Congress laughed Randidly had a childish innocence that Ghost couldnÆt determine the veracity of If it was contrived it was very good But it was RandidlyÆs followup that worried Ghost
But I wouldnÆt help you get a baseline Randidly said IÆm more powerful than the rest of the people Oh but they are pretty strong too DonÆt antagonize them lightly
Every scanner and bit of computing power went over this phrase again and again And GhostÆs processors had one result what Randidly said was true Or at least he believed it
Ghost had confirmed the power of others It was almost a disaster but a rogue force had attacked the strange group in the hut in the borderlands Luckily or unluckily they failed but the details were unclear The whole reason Ghost couldnÆt stop them was due to the illusion interference But the event had served to underline their strength which was a degree higher than Zone 1Æs
And Randidly thought he was much stronger than them
How strong did that make Randidly
Below him the heartbeats continued their steady beat Ghost settled in for some late night computations He needed this answer before any of his other plans proceeded
Chapter 534
Randidly wished he was a puddle so light and heat would evaporate into nothing and he could escape this place
“Well he may be an ass but at least the foreigner sticks to his guns ” Tatiana said dryly looking at the large projector screen that was set up right next to the steelworkersÆ town Most everyone who lived and worked there had awoken that morning surprised to find a screen had been erected Apparently it had been done by the Unity Church
And after a sufficient number of people had gathered a brown robed priest of the Unity Church announced that it was about to broadcast a recording of the first interview with an individual from Zone 32 from Rawlands
Imagine Randidly’s surprise when he discovered that his own face was calmly sitting there being interviewed by Congress
“Mr Ghosthound ” One the senators said with a frown “Are you saying you are the most powerful person from your Zone
Randidly or Neveah wearing Randidly’s face leaned back in the shiny wooden chair she had been given “Well first and foremost I am a low key and friendly guy But yes I am definitely the strongest “
“Ah the pride of youth ” A rather round man in a red suit said stepping forward “Let’s not dwell on strength shouldn’t we learn something more My friend Randidly please tell Congress what you told me about forging in Rawlands “
“Oh yes All of the forging is done by hands Everyone has forging related Skills Well not everyone I don’t have those Skills I don’t forge ” Then Neveah paused and finished with “But I don’t really understand why not it seems fun “
‘Because you aren’t you ‘ Randidly wanted to scream What didn’t she understand about remaining low key with his face He supposed it wouldn’t have mattered in the long run as the government of Zone 1 would learn of his accomplishments from Zone 32 eventually and then try to find him Perhaps it was better this way so they didn’t wonder why someone who was supposedly so powerful had been just hanging around in Zone 1 for so long
But why did she have to act like such a weirdo while doing it
“What do you think Viking ” Tatiana said not looking away from the screen There was a strange intensity to her gaze that made Randidly nervous And how could he blame Neveah when he transformed himself into a weirdo all on his own
” uh well he seems ” Randidly tried to search around for an accurate and inoffensive way of describing himself ” unusually intense “
Tatianna nodded chuckling Then she flashed Randidly a smile “I agree but probably not just in the way you are thinking There certainly is something compelling about his gaze I don’t think I’ve seen eyes that green before But I recognize the sort of man that he is “
“Huh “
Tatiana cracked her neck She was wearing gold earrings which swayed from side to side at the casual gesture “You just learn to have a knack for these things All powerful men are the same And that guy He’s got a real niche sexual desire I bet he likes getting peed on or something Definitely wants to be the submissive in some sort of roleplay “
Randidly opened his mouth then he closed it He tried to imagine someone peeing on him and how he would react to it and suddenly that person was Tatiana Hurriedly he coughed into his hand to hide his acute embarrassment
Tatiana slipped her arm through his and pulled Randidly away from the screen as Neveah excitedly explained the different things that Randidly did in a ‘normal’ day “So you’ll get enough money today right Everyone’s talking about it They expect the price to go up as soon as you purchase the first probationary citizenship Oh no one’s mad though They are happy that SOMEONE finally got out of the steel factory “
“Yea how did you know ” Randidly asked letting himself be led away towards the steel factory Tatiana’s hand was very warm
“Well for one thing Foreman Davey has been hyping you up as a success story to most of the new arrivals It’s all about making people think itÆs possible to move up in the world even though it’s only the peculiar people like you that ever manage it “
Randidly smiled ruefully “Other people could given time I’m just doing it a bit faster “
When Tatiana shook her head her curls bounded back and forth wafting a perfume in the surrounding air “Perhaps in theory But you have kept your expenses low have you not I don’t mean to be rude but you must spend basically nothing on your living situation And I hear you hunt your own meat which has become something of a trend among the steelworkersÆ spouses Hunting and growing your own food means that much less to pay for But most people don’t do that Most people stay at a nice apartment eat out take the time to attend the expensive lectures offered to become better at steel working Have you ever thought about offering a lecture or two I bet Foreman Davey would let you especially after you become a probationary citizen It would be great publicity for this whole operation “