Next up were the automatons. They had already been upgraded somewhat, but there were still more upgrades to be had. For example, although their levels had increased, someone had neglected to upgrade their armaments as well. As a result, the low F Rank automatons were still equipped with G Rank weapons. That was not something that was acceptable for the city.
Sam quickly spent the requisite money to upgrade it, and then moved on to the shield. The shield was very expensive to upgrade, and with the upgrades already made, the next tier would cost an exorbitant amount of money. Sighing, Sam left it behind. He upgraded the turrets and artillery, which were thankfully a lot cheaper. The Superior Mana Cannon got an upgrade as well. Now it would be able to kill almost any F Ranker that it hit, as well as noticeably injure an E Ranker. Against a normal fighter, it would be mostly useless, but against a Titan, it would be vital. More importantly, it dealt pure mana damage, which would bypass almost any resistance. With the cannon upgrade, the city was looking in better shape. Sam left the city hall, and headed out towards the edge of the city. He wanted to see just how efficient the various spacecraft owned by the faction were.
Sam quickly found himself in front of the wall, which looked a lot more impressive than before. The gaps had healed over with the upgrade, leaving the towering edifice unmarred. It was now made out of higher grade materials, which almost seemed to glow in the light. It would not crumble in a single hit anymore. Sure, the second one would probably finish it off, but that was better than before.
He strode up the staircase set into the wall and reached the top. A twenty foot expanse of roiling purple fire licked at the air in the moat. It was kept in place by a small force field, but the heat was palpable even from here. Sam looked down in awe, and then leaped over, landing in the aircraft storage area. A lot of the nearby land had been devastated by the Titan, but it had only attacked from one side after all. Most of it was fine. The undead summons had ignored the various craft being stored in the area between the shield and the wall, which meant that repairs had taken barely any time at all.
Sam’s own ship was parked a few miles away, which he could feel through a tenuous tether of mana that connected them. He followed the tether for a few minutes, walking at a slower rate than normal. He soon found himself in front of the ship, which was as familiar to him as it had been the day he had left. He watched as the ramp slid down unbidden. Striding up into the ship, he smiled as the power came on. The ship controller swirled around in its tank like before, but it perked up upon seeing Sam.
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“Captain! You’re back. I was wondering if you had died.”
“I’m glad to see you too. However, I have a job for you. With your surveillance abilities, can you detect large objects on the surface of the planet?”
“As long as they are over a mile in length by a mile in height, or of similar area. Why?”
“Our planet has been plagued by a group of E Rank monsters called the Titans. They are all immensely large, and should be visible to your sight. I believe that they will be especially easy to pinpoint, given that they are moving.”
The simian creature fell silent for a moment, and then nodded.
“I can see them. The nearest one is about two thousand miles to the northeast.”
Sam grinned happily, and left the ship, folding it up into its carrier form. It would be more efficient for him to carry it. With this new knowledge in mind, he now knew how he would be able to deal with the Titans.
As he walked back towards the city, he ran through his plan in his mind. The best way to deal with the monsters would be to lure them back towards the city, where they could be swiftly butchered by the defenses. By the time the next one came, the city would be even more dangerous than before, with all of the cash that would come pouring in from the sale of the Titan parts. They would have a shield capable of standing up to a few attacks from the massive monsters, rather than simply shattering under the first blow.
Entering the city, whistling cheerfully, Sam headed towards the city hall, through the mazes of farmland and city alike. As he strode down the main road, he focused on his Dao. He had taken a bit of a break over the last few days, but the training that he had completed with Gordanus was still vital. If he did not continue, his progress would stagnate. He would still be a massively powerful fighter, but not one that was overwhelmingly so. At his current rate, he would be able to fight a low E Rank humanoid by the time he reached the peak of F Rank, a feat that was almost unheard of.
There was also the matter of the Road to Zenith. That had been neglected somewhat, mainly because he had no idea what the next step was. Going by what he already knew however, it was probably something to do with his Dao, his levels, his thresholds, or the time it took him to reach E Rank. In any case, with his rate of progression, it would happen soon enough. The entire thing was controlled by the element of Fate. If he did what he always did, it would fall into his hands naturally. Only those worthy of reaching the very top were able to step onto the Road.