Chapter 2

Keith walked along the streets of New Hope, reading the report in his hands as he made his way to his team’s gathering point. Detailed within was information regarding operation skynet, the operation Markus roped Keith into joining a few days ago.

The files stated that while initially created by Frisk, scientists later spent many years repurposing the magic network pillars into a strategic weapon in preparation for the opening of the Grandsky Realm.

Over the past six months, the project's scientists further optimized the magic network pillars, and under the continuous improvement of their skill levels, they successfully created the ninth-generation magic network pillar and satisfied the higher-ups, allowing operation skynet to finally begin.

While reading, the report reminded Keith that not every technological breakthrough was due to Frisk. There were thousands of other people constantly pushing the boundaries of science.

When Keith reached the end of the report, he sucked in a deep breath. What a novel idea, he thought. And they actually succeeded. Operation skynet boiled down to setting up an array that covered multiple zones. More importantly, even if enemies destroyed one magic network pillar, it wouldn’t cause the collapse of the rest of the array. Instead, each pillar functioned as both the main and sub array. The creators referred to it as a dynamic array.

With Keith learning arrays for several years now, he had a general idea of how incredible this achievement was. Reading the report had further increased his motivation to study arrays, even though he knew he had a long way to go.

A few minutes later, Keith arrived at a large open field south of New Hope, where thousands of people stood in small groups. Following the map in his report, Keith soon found his teammates, and upon identifying his commanding officer, Keith approached and said, “Sir.”

Appearing not much older than Keith, Lieutenant Surk had a trimmed beard and high ponytail. He faced Keith and nodded. “I’ve read your file. Command said not to give you special treatment, so don’t expect any from me.”

“Naturally,” Keith agreed.

“Good.” Lieutenant Surk pointed behind him. “Line up and wait.”

Seeing Keith listen to him without any fuss, Lieutenant Surk felt like he worried for nothing. After all, the report stated Keith grew up as a civilian, so he expected a lack of discipline. The last thing Surk wanted was to order High Commander Walker’s son around. That just spelled trouble.

Unaware of Surk’s concerns, Keith found his spot and made sure to stand properly. As he waited, Keith noticed his teammates glancing at him occasionally. Bewildered, Keith looked down and found his apparel in order, so he thought he had something on his face.

Faking a cough, Keith covered his mouth and secretly attempted to clean his cheeks and nose. When they still kept looking, he activated Sensory Link on the palm of his hand to check out his face and was relieved when he found nothing.

Just then, the woman to his right leaned over and whispered, “Hey, are you really High Commander Walker’s son?”

Feeling enlightened, Keith replied, “Yeah.”

“Huh!” The woman looked Keith up and down. “I kinda see the resemblance.”

Following Keith’s response, the rest of his team started bombarding him with questions. Keith answered honestly. For example, when one person asked what Markus’ type was, Keith said, ‘Fierce and wild.’ The questions only grew stranger from there.

At some point, Surk harrumphed loudly, causing everyone to fall silent. To them, he looked disappointed, but inwardly, he was secretly intrigued by the gossip. Forget it. To be the leader, he had to act like one. However, maybe he could find a chance to ask Keith some questions of his own. Alone, of course.

Fifteen minutes later, a dozen people flew into the air without mounts and hovered above the two hundred thousand people gathered in the field. Among them were Major General Luca, Major General Alyssia, Major General Frod, and High Commander Markus. The field fell silent in a heartbeat as two hundred thousand pairs of eyes gathered on their figures.

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High Commander Markus spoke first, his voice reaching the entire field. “Over six months have passed since we arrived in the Grandsky Realm. By chance, the other dimensions haven’t discovered our presence, but with every passing day, we roll the dice. That ends now. After today, we’ll hold the initiative in our hands. No longer will we need to restrict our movement to Serenity Canyon. No longer will we need to hold back our growth. With skynet in place, we’ll have the confidence to expand.” Markus paused, his eyes growing sharp. “That’s why today’s operation must succeed. If you encounter people from other dimensions, capture them immediately; if you can’t, kill them. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, sir!” Everyone around Keith shouted in unison, the combined might of their voices sending a shockwave throughout the field.

Major General Luca waved her arm. “Move out!”

At her command, the army collectively summoned griffins and flew off after splitting into three groups, each heading to one of the zones bordering Serenity Canyon. To the northeast was Typhoon Beach, to the southeast was Mandara Desert, and to the southwest was Redpine Rainforest. The destination of Keith’s group was Typhoon Beach.

As they traveled, Keith watched as one team after another split off from the main group until, eventually, Keith’s team separated as well. Half an hour later, Keith found that a large body of water took up half of Typhoon Beach, with the other half covered in sand and dried wood. Keith felt the temperature drop as he flew deeper into the zone. Occasionally, he saw the shadows of large aquatic creatures swimming deep in the water, their vast size making him wary.

Finally, after two hours of flight, Lieutenant Surk had the team land near a large pile of rotting tree trunks. Right when Keith’s feet touched the ground, he sensed the activation of a skill beneath the sand.

“Careful!” Keith shouted and cast Cold Snap, using his will to direct the freezing effect downward just as a giant crab broke through the surface. A deafening snap came from the crab’s pincer, the monster’s slowed movements causing it to miss its target.

[Mythic] Beach Crab – Level 650

Health: 2,000,000/2,000,000

Keith’s team retreated and observed the monster before them. The color of its carapace was dark red, and it reached almost a story high and fifteen feet across. Most notable was its massive pincers, easily capable of snapping a horse in two.

Thanks to Keith’s mana affinity from his Mana Lifeform title, he could vaguely sense the mana flow in his surroundings. That’s why he quickly shouted, “There’s more!”

From Keith’s initial warning, Liuetentient Surk knew he could trust Keith’s judgment, so he slammed the ground with his palm. “Earthshatter!”

BOOM!

A shockwave spread downward, injuring the Beach Crabs hiding below. Taking this chance to retreat, Keith’s team regrouped in the distance. Tessa, the woman who first asked Keith about Markus, laughed, “Nice landing spot, Surk.”

“Just some bad luck,” Surk replied as eleven more Beach Crabs emerged from the sand.

Keith’s team consisted of six combatants and four engineers responsible for setting up the magic network pillars, meaning it was six against twelve. Thankfully, none of them were your run-of-the-mill fighters. With the initial surprise over, Surk assumed a boxing stance and rushed forward.

“I’ll restrain them!” Keith yelled and divided his mind before casting Entangling Roots. Under Keith’s meticulous control, dozens of thick branches sprang from the sand and wrapped around the Beach Crab’s limbs, binding them completely. In a blur, Surk appeared below the torso of the closest Beach Crab and punched upward with a swift uppercut.

BANG!

The force of the punch sent the Beach Crab flying upward, only for Keith’s Entangling Roots to pull it back. Surprise covered Surk’s face, wondering why Keith’s skill didn’t break. He wasn’t aware that Keith’s Mana Body raised all his skills by one grade, making his Entangling Roots skill ancient grade.

However, as a veteran soldier, Surk didn’t let his confusion slow him down. One punch after another slammed into the belly of the Beach Crab, mincing its internal organs into mush. The monster died in a few seconds, allowing Surk to move on to the next. At the same time, the other four fighters in the team took on a crab of their own.

When the last monster shattered into motes of light, everyone looked at Keith in a new light. From beginning to end, Keith had locked the dozen Beach Crabs in place, making the entire fight a cinch. They wondered how high his Entangling Roots skill level was.

Surk composed himself and ordered, “Clear the perimeter.”

With the fight over, one of the engineers approached Surk and informed, “Sir, we’ll need a little more than an hour to setup the pillar. The terrain is too loose, so we need extra time to reinforce it.”

Surk nodded. “Work at ease. We’ll cover you.”

The engineers quickly got started. First, they dug out a square hole in the sand, large enough to fit a mansion. Then, they summoned a Pocket Dimension and removed reinforced cement blocks from within. After filling the hole, they installed a massive rectangular pillar six stories high atop the cement platform. Completely black, the pillar had vein-like markings across its surface. There was a low hum as it activated, and after a few tests, the engineers stepped back, satisfied.

Surk clapped his hands to gather everyone’s attention. “Good work. Only two pillars left, then we’re done.”

Summoning their griffins, the team prepared to set off when a red flare shot into the sky not far from their location. Surk’s expression hardened. “Not good, that’s an emergency signal.”

Promptly changing directions, Surk led everyone toward the flare. Keith’s heart grew increasingly tight as they closed in. Did monsters overrun the team, or was it the appearance of people from the other dimensions?

He hoped it was the former.