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Chapter 287: Being Deeply Annoying
🕑 Added 2023-10-16 17:36:01 +0000 UTCHappy new week, everyone!
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Right after Jack finished the battle and crushed the projection stone, the Sage, Shol, and Dordok appeared by his side. “Let’s go!” he said. The Sage fished out his dark sphere, and they teleported right back to the underwater cave, not needing to swim down this time as he was more familiar with the place.
“Amazing!” Dordok exclaimed. “That deacon stood no chance!”
“Of course he didn’t,” Shol replied, filled with pride. “That’s my disciple we’re talking about! My star disciple! How could he be stopped by a mere deacon?”
“Your disciple? You mean my crew member!”
“Jumping seventy levels to fight is no small feat,” the Sage added, smiling gently. “Congratulations are in order, Jack.”
“Thanks, everyone. I couldn’t have done it without you,” the man of the hour replied. He then smiled wryly. “And I didn’t even have time to reveal my full strength… What’s the plan now? Sage?”
“My artifact needs three days to recharge,” the Sage replied, shaking the sphere like a rattleball. It clanged. “Let’s hide here and wait. I bet everyone will be going crazy outside.”
“Alright. So, wine?”
“Wine,” everyone agreed at once. Thanks to their feeling of triumph, they could ignore the looming threat of death for a little while. Shol grabbed one of the remaining tankards—courtesy of the Sage—and raised it high. “To Jack!” he shouted, to which everyone else replied, “To Jack!”
Jack simply laughed as he cheered and smashed his cup against them. “To victory,” he retorted, and everyone downed their drinks.
***
Maximus smashed his fist on a table, shattering its surface and sending cutlery flying everywhere. “Jack Rust!” he growled. The oval stone in front of him projected a scene into the air: Jack annihilating the gyrofolk deacon. Right as the deacon’s head exploded, Jack laughed, said, “I’m coming for you!” and punched at the projection stone. The projection disappeared.
A second smash of the fist. What remained of the table went flying against the wall. “Everyone!” Maximus roared, flying out the window. “With me! He must not escape!”
Of course, he was too late. Jack had already escaped.
***
Sapasun, the canine head disciple of the Warden, was out searching with his team. Not that he minded, cause flying around and chatting all day was fun, but he’d had more interesting days. Suddenly, the projection stone in his pocket pulsed and glowed. He took it out, seeing a scene out of his wildest dreams.
Geoff Marshon, a deacon, was getting his ass handed to him. His head, actually, but it was a long-ass head. Well, it wasn’t the head that was long-ass, it was—
“Sir!” one of his subordinates, a late D-Grade lycan, spoke in shock. “Is that Jack Rust!?”
“Damn right it is,” Sapasun replied. As they watched Geoff’s body tumble towards the ground and Jack turn to punch at the “camera,” the projection disappeared. Sapasun rubbed the back of his head. “Damn,” he said. “That guy is a beast. I should have torn out his limbs instead of breaking them—maybe then he wouldn’t have healed so quickly.”
“How did he get so strong so fast?” his other subordinate asked.
“No idea,” Sapasun replied, “but this can’t be good. Do you know how many people can see this image, my dear subordinates?”
“Everyone?” the lycan tried.
“Exactly. Everyone. And news spread. I guess what I’m trying to say is, if Jack Rust somehow manages to survive this and starts hunting again…our proud Kingdom will become the entire galaxy’s laughingstock. We must find and destroy him.” He clicked his tongue. “I should have killed him when I had the chance. Guess I fucked up.”
***
Artus Emberheart also had a projection stone. The moment it activated, he lost no time. He shot out of his private rooms and into the sky, crossing the planet at unfathomable speed. Unfortunately, even C-Grades needed time to travel. By the time he arrived at the site of battle, there was no sign of Jack Rust.
Artus snorted. His Dao perception flared out, expanding for dozens of miles in every direction, but all he sensed was beasts and trees. There was faint spatial residue at a spot mid-air, but he couldn’t trace it to its destination. He couldn’t even decipher the direction they teleported towards.
“Damn it,” he said, frowning.
The air beside him pulsed. Two figures stepped out, one man and one woman wearing clean white robes.
“We lost him,” he said. “Scan the area for three hundred miles in every direction. When the D-Grades show up, have them fly next to the ground. I refuse to believe whatever artifact they’re using has a longer range than that.”
“We do not take orders from you,” the man said.
“But we’ll do as you say,” the woman completed his sentence. The two of them shot out in opposite directions, dragging their perception against the ground like long curtains. Artus realized their auras were nearly identical, but he didn’t have time to bother with that now.
They had to find Jack Rust. If not…he could only hope that man was arrogant enough to try the same trick twice.
***
Three days passed in a blink. Nobody discovered their hidden underwater cave, though they were doubtlessly searching as hard as they possibly could.
“Oh! My sphere is ready,” the Sage suddenly said, breaking a long spell of silence.
“Good.” Jack opened his eyes. “Should we head out again?”
“Let me check.” The Sage closed his eyes, sinking into what looked suspiciously like sleep. Jack also slipped into meditation. Though he was in a terrible hurry, these three months of isolation had taught him patience. He could now go fast without rushing—an excellent life skill.
A few minutes later, the Sage spoke again. “I have good news and bad news,” he said. “Which do you want to hear first?”
“The good ones.”
“The B-Grade hasn’t returned. She just told the Kingdom that if Jack isn’t captured, they will pay greatly. I trust the C-Grades will also be hunting us now.”
“Great,” Jack said. “Was that supposed to be the good news?”
“It was. If the B-Grade was present, I couldn’t evade her perception. Now, at least we have a chance.”
Jack grumbled. “And the bad news?”
“They aren’t going to let us pick them off anymore. The D-Grades are still searching for us, but they’re now working in teams of nine. Each team consists of three deacons and three mid or late D-Grades.”
Shol, who was meditating close-by, also opened his eyes. “I don’t see the problem,” he said. “We’ll just join in. They can’t handle the four of us.”
“The more people fighting, the more things that can go wrong,” the Sage reminded him. “Plus, battles will take longer, so the chances of a C-Grade arriving are greater now.”
“Not if we kill them fast enough.”
“Do we have a choice?” Jack asked. “We’re trapped in a planet full of hostile immortals, without allies, reinforcements, or an actionable escape plan. Let’s just go out there and punch people until there’s nothing left.”
“Damn right!” Dordok exclaimed from deeper in the cave, hoisting his steel greatclub. “Let’s give them hell.”
Jack laughed. He then said, “I was wondering, how does everyone outside Earth know about hell? I thought it was a religious thing.”
“Oh, religion exists alright,” Shol said, standing up. “It’s just gods that don’t.”
Jack and the Sage exchanged a glance. Jack stood, too. “Let’s go,” he said. “Sage, find us the best victims.”
“This is the planet right now,” the Sage said. Spreading his arms, he conjured an illusory image of the planet, like a transparent globe. Continents were green and oceans were blue, while red and black dots crawled along the surface. Each dot was surrounded by a faint circle of the same color.
“Red dots are teams of D-Grades, black dots are C-Grades,” the Sage explained. “As you can see, the C-Grades aren’t actively searching, but they’re spread around for maximum coverage. No matter where on the planet we appear, a C-Grade can arrive within five minutes at the most.”
“Hmm.” Jack leaned over the globe. “Those are many black dots.”
“They’re going all-out. The projection stones the inner disciples are carrying transmit their location, but they also project their battle across the planet—and all it takes is one loose mouth for the news to spread farther. For the Animal Kingdom, this has gone on for far too long. Every immortal we kill is a slap to their face.”
“So we should keep doing it,” Jack replied.
“Not like we have a choice.”
“How can you do this?” Shol asked, inspecting the globe carefully. “You’re just a D-Grade, but you’re monitoring an entire planet?”
“It’s a combination of my specialized divination skills and the Church’s information network,” the Sage explained. “And, still, this map is only an approximation. It is not accurate. There could be any number of life-threatening mistakes.”
Shol pursed his lips. “Lovely.”
“Best we can do, brother.” Dordok draped an arm over Shol’s shoulder. “Look at the bright side; your death is nothing compared to the headache you’re causing for these animals.”
“True. This is the greatest service I’ve ever rendered to the Exploding Sun,” Shol agreed. “I don’t fear death. It’s just that I want Jack to survive. After seeing him grow at such unprecedented speed, I’m really looking forward to the heights he will reach. Given a few decades, even the Animal Kingdom will need to take him seriously.”
“Hmm.” Dordok smiled proudly. “I share the feeling.”
“They’re already taking him seriously,” the Sage added. “All of us. We may be pests to them, but we’re the annoying, persistent kind. Even the Grand Elder must be gnashing his teeth about us.”
Jack laughed. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. Sage, of all these red dots on your map, which is the most opportune target? We can wait a little bit if it increases our survival chances.”
“Not too much though,” Shol said. “Your duel with Li Qian is supposed to happen in less than a month. We have to find a way back by then.”
“How about these ones?” the Sage said. A new image appeared above the globe, magnifying one of the red dots close to their location into nine immortals flying in a loose formation, led by two sharkens and a feshkur.
“I don’t recognize any of them,” Shol said. “They can’t be too strong.”
“Then, they’re perfect. Let’s take them,” Jack affirmed, shooting to his feet. “Lead the way, Sage. We’re right behind you. You have the map, so we can avoid all other search parties on the way there.” He grinned. “Let’s cut loose a little.”
Comments
Ted Burgess
Godspeed.
Samatar
I'm still kinda confused on how that fight with Li Qian is still on or even matters anymore. Jack is a wanted rogue cultivator who left the Exploding Sun. How and why would he even be accepted back in when he's being wanted by B grades? What incentive does Li Qian even have to still accept a duel with a criminal? What does Shol's master even gain from this? I can't imagine the Exploding Sun will side with her against the Hand of God just cause Jack beat Moonson's head disciple? For that matter the whole point of having Jack fight and beat Li Qian was so that Shol's master wouldn't lose face and lose the position of Grand Elder but how does Shol and Jack leaving the faction and causing a huge mess with the Hand of God not make her lose face and threaten her candidacy if not outright make her lose it?
Daniel Rodrigues
This’ll be my last chapter for me guys. Won’t be around to read the rest unfortunately….
