---Unclaimed Mountains, Emerald City---

“Urgh, finally...” the staggering figure moaned when he finally saw Emerald City in the distance. He couldn't count the days he had been walking to finally reach Emerald City.

The fight with the people who called themselves Apiaries was harrowing, as they were crying and begging for mercy as they kept attacking him viciously. Unless he dismembered them completely, they also kept standing up. Even their severed heads would keep begging and asking for forgiveness.

To make matters worse, they had managed to damage his communication orb during the journey, which was the reason it was not working. They had also sabotaged the ATV, forcing Mike to walk the way back.

Well, not completely. The one forcing him to walk the way back was actually Maahes. Obviously, Mike tried to return using Home Call when the need to escort someone else fell away, however-

A notification rang and a window popped up, prompting him to choose. He had already gone through so much, he couldn't have it fail at this stage. The beastman chose no, condemning himself to a journey of hardship and then facing the consequences of his mistake. A journey, riddled with guilt.

Every place Mike came by had already been overrun by the metallic snakes, the Cyper Worms. The people...creatures he met were quite different from the Apiaries. Unlike them, these people were monsters, only partly turned into machines and driven to insanity by the pain of the process. Many had begged him for death...

The carboy had no idea what was the difference between them, and Kruger's men who seemed perfectly fine on the surface. Was it just time? Were they all like this in the early stages? Experiencing something like this, locked into the depths of a mine must have been terrible. Not that it was any better in these small settlements.

Most Terrible of all was Sventin Inc. Town, the last city where he met people, where the broken road started. So far, the machines had always been a step faster than him and had infected the few people that were still left in the small settlements, where Mike had met no one the first time.

When he reached the city at the start of the broken, they were actually in the middle of resisting the worms. Their shield was holding out against the assaults of the worms and the infected cyborg creatures they controlled. Mike had wanted to help, but the people inside were vigilant and didn't allow him to enter.

With the hope, that knowledge that people were able to resist, Mike ruefully hurried along his way. Maybe, if he was faster, he would be able to warn people, so that they would be able to prepare. And he was right, he was able to reach other towns along the trade route through the unclaimed Mountains, that were not yet overrun. Most had not even heard about the cyber worms, yet.

This calmed his worries, but it also made it very hard on him. When he tried to warn them, they wouldn't listen. Mechanical Worms that entered people's bodies and took control of them? That was wild, even in the Pathworks. Some barely listened to him,l because they knew him as one of the Lords of Minas Mar, others only felt more doubt, thinking this was a scheme of Minas Mar.

Frustrated, he could only leave his warning and continue his journey. Mike himself also faced many bests and the attacks of the cyber worms, but none of them were as bad as the first fight with the Apiaries. The worms themselves were not strong and they could not modify the creatures they took control of in such a short time.

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But it was all behind him now. He had grown numb. Emerald City was his last stop before he finally left these cursed mountains. He hoped he could then use Home Call. If not, he would continue to Thres. At this point, maybe Thres had a System Church? Then he could use teleport there. He wasn't blocked from using it on the way there, so it probably was blocked on the way back, either. Right?

He had finally reached Emerald City, and although the mechanical plague had not reached here yet, other things seemed to be going on. The city’s defenses were raised and a big crowd was waiting at the only entrance.

Ragged travelers, merchantries, adventurers, the few people that dared traverse through the unclaimed Mountains, connecting the few cities with each other. All of them were halted at the entrance to the barrier by a team of guards.

“Please, identify yourself or we cannot let you enter,” was their routine, whenever one of the merchants or travelers stepped forward. Has something happened? He knew this was not the case when they came through here the first time.

It didn’t seem likely that Mike would be able to enter today. Despite being in a hurry, he knew that making a scene would be of no help. Tired, Mike approached one of the caravans that were waiting for their turn. They had already put up camp for the night, with fires and tents surrounded by their convoy of trucks and a moderate barrier.

“Good evening,” he chatted up one of the guys standing at the edge of the camp. The man eyes him vigilantly but greeted back.

“I just arrived and wondered if you knew what was happening here? When I came by…about two months ago they didn’t have this kind of security,” he explained, having a hard time recollecting how long he had been traveling for.

“Oh, yeah. A bunch of stuff happened in Emerald City.”

Seeing that Mike showed no sign of trying to enter the barrier and didn’t approach with bad intentions, the guy was much more open about a little evening chat. It wasn’t like he had anything important to do, anyway.

Thanks to him Mike found out the general situation and what had happened in Emerald City since he came through. It all started several weeks ago when a great fight broke out between one of the ruling guild’s elites and a small number of unknown assailants.

“They say one of them was able to turn into a monstrously savage Wolf that ripped their opponents apart and the other created a sludge of darkness that was able to swallow even high-level players alive!” the man repeated what he himself heard. Although the rumor was faulty and twisted, it was enough for Mike to make the connection. Ray and Lydia had wreaked havoc. The question was, why?

The man continued to explain. After a tough battle, the assailants finally managed to flee, passing the city borders they used a massive flying vessel and vanished almost instantly. Another point that raised questions to Mike, but he continued listening, as this was not all. He leaned over to whisper the rest of his info.

“That was bad and all, but not the actual reason for this security. I heard it from some of the others, who happened to listen in on the guards. It seems that some time later another group entered Emerald City and started targeted attacks on guild properties.

That’s the reason they continued the lockdown on the city and control anyone who enters and leaves.”

“What do you think the aim of that group is? Terrorism?” Mike asked, also in a whisper. The man looked left and right to make sure no one was there as if he was about to share some really juicy gossip.

“Word on the street always had it that the guilds and corps have some kind of dark secret, they are hiding. Like, there must be some uncouth reason, Emerald City is doing so well, right? The best explanation is probably some internal conflict that is being fought out in the dark.”

“And of course, it’s us, poor bystanders, that have to suffer from it,” Mike played along and complained about big business.

“Exactly! You have a good head on your shoulders,” the man praised him cheerfully.

He did, this was also why he decided that he would probably have to get in touch with the new group of people. Mike doubted it was a coincidence that Lydia and Ray had to flee from this place and only a week or two later, an armed force starts to stir shit up in the dark?

They were probably allies of Minas Mar. If he could get in contact with them, he had a better chance to spread his warning and the info on the worms, than trying to persuade the leaders of this place. There was only one good thing about the current situation, at least the worms would have a hard time entering, with the barrier blocking any access apart from the only entrance.

It would be great if it didn’t come with a lot of people defenselessly sitting in the open like this, and putting him before yet another problem:

How would he get in?