Chapter 018

2023 April

Conquering Pillar

Philip City

Canis is looking down below, from the rooftop of a building.

He quite enjoys this feeling right now, where he could hide himself amidst all the chaos.

He is currently wearing a makeshift turban and a cloth as a mask, he also wears the previous armor he wears in the UASF raid.

Persian Warrior, which may have come to people's mind when they saw Canis.

However, he didn't wear the turban because he was going with this vibe.

Unfortunately, the cooldown of the crown isn't done yet and the artifact was 'bounded' to him because of this, this is a unique characteristic of some artifacts.

Only on his death or the countdown ends will the crown be removed.

A small kid with a large arm and a tree on his back is standing beside him.

They are looking at the Association right now.

"The first phase of our new mission is already done, we raided the UASF and killed the Grandiflorians in that area."

"The second phase of stealing 'valuables' from the bank and from those 'thieves' is also done. It's also a good thing that crystals are another form of currency now, we also got a lot of those instead of paper money."

(Which aren't used nowadays…)

The value of paper money slowly deteriorates, though some cities respect that money, most goods and services are done by trading crystals.

Crystals have many uses.

From energy development, level-up requirements, blacksmithing, alchemy, medicine, magic research, power supply for equipment, and more…

"The third phase should be looting the Association and Freedom guild… but from the looks of it, there are more High-Rank Champions in the Freedom guild than I thought off and from what we have seen during the survey of the area, they are highly prepared in this kind of scenario…" 

…

"Hmmm, they might have a drill for this kind of situation in that facility."

Canis has thought off.

"The Associations on the other hand…"

The people who are defending the area are numerous, 10s and 20s of them, but unlike the Freedom Guild, who fought the Grandiflorian with equal footing.

The 10's and 20's of Champions here at the Associations are being pushed back.

"They only have volunteers, people who run towards the Associaton for protection… at the same time…"

Canis looks at the large gate with rollers on it.

"The delivery area is closed, which means they are on lockdown. The whole security team must be there on the ground floor tending to the chaos… not just the enemy attack, but the number of 'low-rank' that entered their facility requesting a safe shelter is needed to take care of."

Then he looks at each of the fights that are happening in the area.

10 Grandiflorians are currently attacking this place.

The 10 of them surround the whole area.

And all of the fights look… pathetic… the Champions are losing one-sidedly.

"This means that they don't have anyone strong enough to fight those monsters… or… they are hiding inside the Association letting Low Ranker become canon fodder."

"But… if they continue this way then… the trust built towards the Association will be damaged… they probably know this too…" 

(The Champion Association is an international group built to protect civilians and Champions, a new governing body aside from the local government, or whatever that government remains after The Descend.)

"Surely… some of those Low Ranks will survive… they need to fix this kind of situation as soon as possible if they don't want to damage their name."

…

"Unless… they cannot fix it because they don't have anyone, high-level enough to fight the Grandiflorians."

Canis smiled.

"Initially I thought that those freaking VP and their followers are inside the Association… Raymond… fuck that shit… but I doubt he is in there… there is no way he will not show himself to the public in this kind of situation…"

Tsk.

"I thought the UASF is a much easier target… but this one looks the easiest… however, I doubt they will provide me with an artifact unlike the UASF."

(Well, that's my goal from the very beginning, to get crystals, rare materials, artifacts, and loot.) 

Canis made up his mind.

"Maple, let's do that again one more time."

*****

Boom!

The ground shakes inside the restroom, the water even flows inside the tunnel and after several minutes Canis walks out from the makeshift tunnel.

Canis looks around the restroom and checks every slot.

"Nice, my estimate is quite accurate."

(We are currently in the B3 of the facility.)

The reason why they didn't go straight towards the warehouse is simple.

"Even though I know it like the back of my hand and appear directly inside the warehouse, the security personnel presence is impossible to disappear completely."

(Any higher-up who is assigned today will absolutely protect this place at all costs, especially low-rankers who begin to rush in towards the Association.)

Maple appears in his Grandiflorian Mini Version form.

In preparation for this attack, Maple already hid the Blood Fruits inside this trunk and only put them on display whenever they were at home.

"Maple, we need to act quick alright… once I open the door you will become my guide… use the Gloom Dali immediately and cover all the area…"

Canis touches the door knob.

"When I open the door, move to the right then on the second corridor move to the left, then the second door on the right."

Maple, on the other hand, knew that there was only one person on this floor.

However, even though Maple knew the location of the security personnel he didn't know the area, navigation is something that the 'Detect' ability doesn't include.

"Yes, Father."

Canis nodded and held the knob.

Slowly he tried to test if it would turn.

Then…

"Go!"

Poooooffff!

Black heavy spores began to move from the restroom to the corridor, and then the spread of the pollen became faster, because Maple moved towards the security room.

Canis was also covered in black spore and the only thing he could feel was the dragging from the vines.

Noise and light were absent.

Boom!

Maple burst in the door and the security who was just about to report what was happening in the corridor failed to react, the spore covered the room.

The noise was already canceled.

And Maple took care of the guard immediately.

Swoosh!

The Semre immediately sucks all the black spores in the area.

Canis blinked several times to adjust his eyes from the lights.

The guard's blood is already sucked in and he looks like a mummy.

(Sorry…)

Canis then receives the Semre from Maple.

A circular mushroom with a lot of holes in it.

In addition to that, he also receives numerous Honey Caps.

Then he opens a door beside the security area that looks like a server room, he throws those Honey Caps to the server itself and throws the Semre inside.

Poof!

It didn't have any explosive power however, the spore stored inside would explode.

"Well it needs to be done, the Semre has a random time limit of its own and will explode instantly when the time expires, this way we will force the Semre to explode in the area that we wanted."

Back in the UASF after they attack random Champions around, they will suck the pollens using Semre and throw it in a corridor, in hopes it prevent the movement of rescuers and reinforcements.

Canis went back to the warehouse security area and used the computer.

Tak tak tak tak tak.

He just deleted the whole week of record, he even used the fingerprint of the dead security to bypass the record and disabled all the cameras around the facility.

"It's a good thing that this system is so-called 'User Friendly'."

Tap tap.

Canis taps the shoulder of the security.

He knows this man, he sees him from time to time…

(I need to do, what I need to do…)

Then they move towards the warehouse.

*****

Champion Association Warehouse.

This is located at the lowest part of the facility.

This area contains crystals, stones, and various materials from different monsters from Red to Green Rank Pillar.

This is also a haul for at least 1 month from various parties registered to this place.

The three-floor large area contains value so enormous that the loot might not fit inside the Control Center anymore. 

Green crystals are stacked properly on a single rack.

Leather, claws, teeth, bones, pelts, organs, eyes, name any part of a creature this place contains it all.

Various stones, with weird markings on them which are not famous tools for Champions, are stuck here.

These stones are palm-sized stones but are very heavy, each stone weighs 3kg and yet they provide similar effects to other items.

Such as Heal Stone, which is similar to ordinary red potions and is 10 times lighter than the Heal Stone.

These stones were stuck here because Champions sold them directly to the Association even at loss.

Heal Stone, Conqueror Pillar Stone, Shelter Stone, Strength Stone, Agility Stone, Fire Resistance Stone, Water Resistance Stone, Thunder Resistance Stone, Poison Resistance Stone… and more.

This made them very unattractive to carry.

Lastly, he looks at racks of racks of crystal with various colors.

A party tag was attached to each container.

"If I took this then… those people will lose their income…".

Canis went into deep thinking.

"The Association will need to compensate them for their losses or they will lose face."

Canis smiled as if he enjoyed what he was doing.

"In the end, the Association will carry all this burden."

The company that he has been working for 9 years will carry the burden of all the losses.

"Hahahahaha! So what! Good!"

Canis's eyes are full of disdain.

He remembers all the 'investigation', that is done to him and his veteran colleagues. 

The threats and abuse he receives from the higher-ups or the people under them.

"Fuck them!"

Canis grinned.

He moves towards the side and glances at the enormous warehouse once again.

"This place will be emptied out soon."

He touches the wall.

"Access…"

*****

2023 April

Champion Association

Josh

"Why did this happen to me when my evaluation is coming up?"

Today.

He was assigned to be the Operation In Charge, this is because several of the bosses of the Association took a break.

This is only for today and tomorrow the bosses will return once again.

In just a single day.

Everything changes for Josh.

"People came in yesterday and I cannot push them away… the Association is the Guardian of humanity, we protect people that's our motto and if I push them away the Association name will be blemish but…"

He looks outside the window.

The fighting with tree monsters continues.

"We don't have enough manpower to handle this situation, and right now I even ask and bow down to Low-Rankers to help us in defending this place… I promise them crystals after we survive this…"

Josh shook his head.

"I don't care… I have money to pay them… and, I will request the Association to help me… I know they will not refuse my request because this will help us build our image."

"Champion Association helps the Champions when they are in dire situation… I could already see the headline."

Somehow this way of thinking helps him relax for a bit.

Wong! Wong! Wong! Wong!

Wong! Wong! Wong! Wong!

"What? What is that?"

Immediately he ran towards the lower floor.

He didn't use the elevator instead he used the stairs.

Then one of the security also arrives at the stairs.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know Sir, Ian is not responding."

"Ian?"

"The security personnel task for the cameras."

"Right!"

Bang!

They open the door on the B3 and immediately run towards the security camera room.

Bang!

"What!?"

"IAN!"

Josh was shocked the man's blood was drained and he looked like a mummy.

Another security personnel checked the pulse of his friend and shook his head.

"What happened…"

Josh moved to look into the monitor but they were blank.

"Sir, the monitor was turned off…"

Tak tak tak tak tak.

The security immediately works on the computer.

Ting!

When the monitor appears.

The security and Josh's eyes open wide.

Their mouth is fully opened.

"What… in the world happened…"

Josh remark.

The whole warehouse is empty.

(Nothing! There's nothing there…)

Josh put his hand on his head and grabbed his hair.

(There is nothing…)

His eyes scan all of the monitors but it's completely empty.

Josh's eyes became watery.

His head feels a sudden pain.

Growl!

His stomach became bad all of a sudden.

The security continues to work.

"The camera… everything that was recorded since last week was deleted…"

"How is that possible?"

Josh looks at the dead security.

(Is he a part of this?)

"Timed… the delete was done recently…"

The security looks at the logs.

"It was Ian Sir, his fingerprints were recorded earlier."

"So… his involved in this…"

"We… we don't know Sir…"

The security was lost for words, the dead could not defend themselves.