Chapter 228: The Enlightened Ones Of Planet Zubo!

Chapter 228: The Enlightened Ones of Planet Zubo

Tessa spun the white energy beam in her fingers effortlessly and then moved them around her hand, its light casting a faint glow on her face as she stood still, waiting. She had gotten more confidence drawing power from the baby in her womb.

Across from her, the leader of the Zubo aboriginal-assailants—Nzak Deri—watched, his grip tightening around his weapon. His hesitation was obvious.

Without warning, Tessa flicked her wrist, and the beam shot forward like a whip of pure energy, slamming into the slightly injured aboriginal nearby who she had initially struck. The crackle of the strike was followed by a blood-curdling scream as the target collapsed to the ground, writhing once more in pain.

The leader's composure shattered. His weapon clattered to the rocky surface, and he raised his trembling hands in surrender. "I will tell you all you need to know," he choked out, his voice ragged, "just—please, don't hurt my son…"

Tessa's lips curved into a knowing smirk. "Ah, so he is your son? No wonder you stepped in the moment I attacked him." She tilted her head slightly, her gaze sharpening like a blade. "Then let's start with the obvious. Why do you lot have advanced technology, and how is it that you speak my language while the rest of your kind can only grunt out the Zubo tongue?"

Nzak Deri's face darkened, anger simmering just beneath the surface of his strained expression. For a brief moment, Tessa could see the urge—no, the promise—to smash her into the nearest rock. But his restraint only entertained her further. Her smirk deepened.

Finally, he spoke, his voice low and steady. "My name is Nzak Deri. I belong to a faction of our race called the Deri-legu. In the Zubo tongue, it means 'the exposed' or 'the enlightened.'"

Tessa raised an eyebrow, her curiosity piqued.

"We refused to be shackled by the ignorance that held back the rest of our kind," Nzak continued, his words carrying the weight of generations. "Long ago, our ancestor, Deri-Utok—whose name we bear—grew restless. He could not bear our backwater existence, knowing full well that across the stars, other worlds flourished with knowledge and power beyond imagination."

Nzak's voice lowered, as though recounting a sacred tale. "His eyes were opened the day an alien god descended onto our planet, bearing tools that defied comprehension—god-tools. They could heal wounds with a touch, move mountains with ease, and destroy entire villages with a single gesture."

The reverence in his tone lingered in the air, thick and heavy, as though the memory itself was holy. The faint wind that rustled the dry leaves around them felt like an audience to the ancient tale, a whisper of history itself.

Tessa tilted her head slightly, her smile faint but sharp—a predator's patience. God-tools, she mused. Such primitive awe. If only they knew.

Her gaze drifted for a moment, the faint hum of her energy beam pulsing in her palm. "If only…" she thought, her mind drifting to the truth they could scarcely comprehend. If only these so-called enlightened ones knew that real power—the kind that shattered the heavens and tore through dimensions—did not come from tools crafted by technology, but from the very core of existence itself.

Tessa's fingers tightened imperceptibly, her smile deepening. If a single Imogi is unleashed she mused silently, just one… this entire Zubo planet would cease to exist, swallowed into oblivion without so much as a scream. The strain on the god? Barely worth a breath.

To her, the idea of relying on stolen technology was laughable—like children mistaking a sparkler for a wildfire. It was the difference between wielding power and becoming it. But she said nothing, masking her thoughts behind an air of amused interest. Let Nzak have his moment; let him boast of tools and stolen scraps as if they were the keys to the universe.

She gestured subtly with her hand. "Go on," she said, her voice smooth, betraying nothing of her thoughts. "Tell me more about these alien gods of yours."

Nzak's gaze sharpened, misinterpreting her words as genuine curiosity. Emboldened, he continued, his tone growing fervent. "The alien god was more than a being—it was a force, a presence beyond comprehension. When Deri-Utok first laid eyes on it, he fell to his knees in awe. And yet, his mind burned with questions. What were those tools? How could they do such things?"

Tessa watched him intently as he spoke, the fire in his voice revealing generations of reverence and rebellion. She didn't interrupt, though her mind wandered deeper into the absurdity of it all. To worship technology was to kneel to something finite, limited by the boundaries of its creators. True power, she knew, was boundless—a storm that needed no vessel to exist.

Nzak's voice dropped to a hushed intensity, his words flowing like a sermon. "When the alien god left its ship unattended, our ancestor knew he had been given an opportunity—a gift from the heavens, or so he believed. He raided the vessel, taking whatever his hands could carry. To him, those tools were divine artifacts, and through them, he believed we could ascend beyond our primitive lives."

Tessa's gaze sharpened slightly. "And now you've continued that 'ascension' by becoming pirates, raiding ships and stealing from others?"

Nzak's jaw clenched, but he didn't flinch. "Call it what you will. Survival. Progress. Enlightenment. We have no shame in it. While the rest of our kind live in ignorance, we Deri-legu have forged a path to knowledge. Is it so wrong to seek power?"

Tessa tilted her head again, her smirk returning like a shadow. "Power is not wrong," she said softly, her voice carrying the faintest edge. "But believing it lies in stolen trinkets? That's where you've already lost."

Nzak's eyes narrowed, but before he could respond, Tessa gestured dismissively. "Continue your story, Deri. I'm listening."

He hesitated, clearly unsettled by her quiet confidence, but his pride drove him to continue. "With what Deri-Utok took, he taught his descendants to become more than hunters and gatherers. He taught us to think, to build, to steal and adapt the knowledge of others. Over generations, we became warriors of the stars, miners of secrets, thinkers and strategists. And now, we are here—seeking the power we know lies in your possession."

Tessa said nothing for a moment, the hum of the energy beam resonating between them. Finally, she chuckled softly, her voice low and mocking. "You came seeking power, but all you've found is your place on your knees."

Nzak bristled, his pride flaring visibly, but Tessa's gaze was no longer on him. Her thoughts drifted once again to the power that slept within her veins, vast and untamed. If they knew even a fraction of the storms she could summon with just the little bit she possessed, not to talk of an Imogi level god, the worlds they could annihilate with a mere flick of their fingers, they would abandon their quest for god-tools and flee like the children they were.

But for now, she let him have his story. Let him cling to his ancestor's stolen dreams.

"Very well, Nzak Deri," Tessa said finally, her voice a silky whisper that sent a shiver down his spine. "Show me what your people have built from these scraps of stolen divinity. I wonder…" Her smirk deepened, her eyes gleaming with something dangerous. "…if you've created anything worthy of my attention."

She hoped she could get the materials she needed to build the transportation device from this Deri-legu group.