A while later, Dupe returned with an old man behind him. "This is our new head of engineering, Rupert Hell. You've already met once before."
The old man was mostly bald with a ring of messy white hair going around the back of his head. The hair was long enough to reach his shoulders. His ugly big nose was crooked, and he was missing a tooth. His face was flushed red as if he had been drinking. The only positive trait at first glance was that he stood straight and seemed fairly fit for his age.
"The old man that lost the bet to me?" Ed said while frowning. "Will the other engineers really listen to him? And Hell is really his last name?"
"Of course they will!" The old man stepped forward proudly. "If they don't want a damn wrench in their face, then they'll worship the ground that Rupert Hell walks on! I was building steam wagons before the Mana Apocalypse started and those brats weren't even born yet!"
"Alright. Let's see what makes you so confident then." He stood up from behind his desk. "Let's go. You've got once chance to impress me."
"You got it boss!" Rupert answered happily. He turned around to leave while pulling out a flask from his coat pocket. He took a large swig and his face turned slightly redder.
'Another problem causer...' Ed sighed to himself. 'It's so hard to find good subordinates.'
They traveled outside of the fort by train and arrived at a small warehouse. The drunk man wobbled inside. Surprisingly, all of the engineers lined up in perfect military etiquette and saluted him. "LISTEN UP!" He yelled. "I've got somebody to impress today. So, we're going to show off the big project we've been working on. Get to it!"
"Sir!" They saluted excitedly while preparing. There was a large curtain hanging over the middle of the warehouse. 'Top Secret' was painted in red atop the dark curtain. The men moved the curtains to the side in a practiced manner.
Ed's eyes widened in shock. A massive machine was behind the curtain. It was bigger than a typical house. A loud whistling sound rang out and steam appeared. Mechanical clinking sounds could be heard as the gears started spinning. "Please... Please tell me that's not what I think it is." He muttered in disbelief.
"IT'S EXACTLY WHAT YOU THINK IT IS!" The drunk man yelled with unprecedented excitement. "IT'S TIME! TIME FOR OUR REMATCH!"
'He's a complete fucking lunatic! I'd rather hire Luny. I might be able to have a sane conversation with her when compared with this old man.' The monstrosity in front of him was none other than a steel bull. It looked similar to the one that he and the old man competed with previously, other than the fact that it was ridiculously big. His pleading eyes turned to Dupe, as if begging for an explanation for this madness.
Dupe smiled awkwardly, "I know. This is just the way he is, but it gets better."
"Come!" Rupert gestured towards Ed. "Come see what it feels like to be on top of the world!" He stepped on a small platform attached to the bull. It began to rise into the air. Several similar platforms were right next to it.
Ed glanced at the platforms and opted for flight instead. A blast of wind pushed him into the air, followed by a blast of fire. This was a small trick he had picked up to stop himself from burning the ground when flying.
He landed atop the giant bull. Surprisingly, there were many red seats arranged in rows along the body. A particularly large seat sat alone on the bull's head. A series of levers were situated in front of it. 'This thing can actually be controlled...?' He wondered.
The old man soon arrived. "Tsk!" He crossed his arms while glaring at Ed. "Flying bastard. Ruined the whole grand reveal of arriving from the elevator."
"Tell me. What can this thing actually do?"
"I'm glad you asked!" The old man was enthusiastic once again as he walked forward and sat in the big seat at the head of the bull. "It isn't really used for competing like the one in the bar. That was just a small joke." He grinned. "The true purpose of my Hell Bull is destruction!" He grabbed a lever and yanked it backwards. Loud rumbling sounds rang out as steam shot from the bull's nose. It reversed backwards slowly and crashed straight through the warehouse wall!
Rubble came crashing down as they exited the warehouse. The old man lifted a metal umbrella and the debris bounced right off of it. Ed simply melted whatever came near him.
"GAHAHAHA!!!" The old man laughed hysterically. "Amazing, isn't it?! The only weakness is stuff falling on us, but I'll get to fixing that later!" He pushed a lever forward and the bull changed directions. It appeared to be moving slow from high atop the bull, but they were actually moving nearly as fast as a steam tank. Large wheels easily climbed over any debris on the roads. The head of the bull was low to the ground and crushed whatever got in its way.
Ed watched in horror as they crushed straight through a large store. The umbrella wouldn't protect Rupert this time. Ed had to quickly activate his powers to prevent the falling rubble from injuring the old man. They had crushed several buildings in a short span of time. "THAT'S ENOUGH!" He screamed over the roaring sounds of the Hell Bull's engines.
Rupert nodded and pulled a lever. Steam billowed out from underneath the bull as the engines were cut off. He turned around while smiling, "Impressed?"
Instinctively, Ed wanted to yell out that it was a useless hunk of junk. A complete waste of their time and resources. But he couldn't. He could ignore the fact that the Hell Bull was an amazing engineering feat, but the reality was that the bull was actually useful to his future plans. He sighed while nodding, "Very impressive. I want you to come up with a way to protect the pilot and riders. Then use it to demolish all of the buildings within the center of the city."
"Oh?" The old man's eyes widened in surprise. He had been expecting his genius to be criticized. The military had never understood his creations until he explained them. They never saw the true uses for his beautiful machines. The bull could be used for clearing land and demolishing buildings. More importantly, it could be used for war. It wasn't capable of crushing city walls, but it made for good cover when moving forward against an enemy. It was also easy to mount some weapons atop it and make it a moving artillery unit.
They returned the bull to the now destroyed warehouse. Ed jumped down and landed near Dupe, who glanced away while whistling, as if none of this had anything to do with him. "He'll work for now." Ed said. He glanced at the old man. "You've got my orders. The faster the better. Start preparing a large construction team too. We'll literally be rebuilding the entire city."
"The entire city?!" The old man replied in shock. "A project of that size! It'll take years. Maybe longer. What's the reason?"
"You seem to like large projects." Ed smiled. "We're going to turn this entire city into a military base. Railroads will leave the city in all directions on land. A navy will be docked at the port. We'll need a central HQ at the center of the city. We'll also need warehouses, training fields, factories, barracks, and other essential military buildings. This is your chance to rebuild an entire city from scratch. You can plan the roads, buildings, and more. I'll give you full control, though the plans will need my approval after drafting. Think you're up for it?"
"ABSOLUTELY!" The old man screamed while shaking with excitement. "I work for a madman! A madman working for a madman?! How wonderful!" Rupert paced back and forth while muttering nonsensical ideas aloud to himself. He quickly scurried away towards his drafting table while completely ignoring those around him.
Dupe looked at Ed. "Why not just build a new city instead?"
"It'd be more difficult." He shook his head. "Walls would need to be put up first. Then the land would need cleared of mutants and nature. It's much easier to just raze the internals of this city to the ground first and start from here. Especially since most of the buildings are already partially destroyed. Besides, it's an ideal location. We have several sources of fresh water. Our east is the ocean. There's nothing south of us but some marshlands. That just leaves the west and north to deal with, which is about as good as it gets in Florida."
"I see." Dupe nodded. "What's next on your agenda?"
"I'm going to get some sleep." He yawned while stretching. "I'll head for some nearby cities Tomorrow and see if I can get us a food contract.
Ed returned to his room and laid atop a small bed. He quickly fell asleep.
...
A white space with nothing in all directions. Ed stood amidst this empty space while looking around. Suddenly, a shadowy figure appeared in front of him. The dark shadow contrasted heavily with the white background. An ugly grin formed on the shadow's face as it spoke in a low whispery voice, "Hello Forge."
"Nexus?" Ed questioned calmly.
"Eh? You've already heard of us?" The shadow replied.
"Mm. I have." He nodded. "I was hoping to get in contact with you soon, so this is rather convenient."
"Kekeke." The shadow laughed. "Sorry for not coming sooner. You were rather low on our priority list. You're not really important enough for us to bother with you yet, but you have some potential. I made a special exception just for you."
"I see. So, if I understand correctly then you'll be willing to give me some free information?"
"You're quite well informed." The shadow twisted around Ed's body and whispered into his ear. "We'll give you something for free, but there's a limit. If the information is deemed as too valuable then we'll restrict it to only a partial answer, so ask carefully."
"Alright." Ed agreed. He had many things he wanted to ask for. Such as cultivation techniques for the espers underneath him, various technologies from Europe, better ways to cause 2nd awakenings, information on espers within Florida, and more. Unfortunately, he would only be granted limited information and it was doubtful whether he'd be able to trade for more. He sighed to himself, 'it's a waste since I planned to travel there in the future, but I urgently need the information.'
He looked at the shadow. "Tell me everything about golden energy. If the request is too much, then please focus on how I can cultivate it. If I can't be told that then please tell me how I can defeat somebody that holds a lot of golden energy."
"Kekeke." The shadow laughed again. Its body unwrapped from him and drifted away. "So, little Forge already has the golden energy. I thought you might. It was only a matter of time."
"A matter of time?" Ed questioned.
"Mm." The shadow nodded. "Golden energy is such a crude nickname for it. It is the energy of faith. Little is known about it outside from those that have held onto it for a long time. I myself am also a holder of the golden energy.' The shadow slowly turned from pure black to a golden-black color. Then it returned back to normal.
'Faith energy?' Ed thought about the implications of such a name and his eyes widened in realization. "The thread of gold energy. It comes from the faith people have within me, Forge, and Harmony?"
"You are a smart one." The shadow grinned. "It takes a very large number of people believing in you to develop even a tiny amount of faith energy, but the benefits are amazing. It purifies your mana into a higher-quality, increases your bodily strength, and presents other opportunities. I'm guessing you developed your energy right around the time you ended up in the newspapers in Georgia?"
"Right." Ed agreed. "What opportunities does it present?"
"The human soul!" The shadow replied while the holes that represented its eyes widened exaggeratedly. "Those with enough golden energy can house the souls of humans and increase their strength even further. OP Baldy in particular is a fan of this. He holds the most golden energy in the world, for he saves so many lives. They develop faith in him and worship him. When they pass, they pay the price with their very being!"
Ed frowned. This was all new and unfamiliar territory to him. He had always focused on science. He was originally an engineer. Then he became a bit of a biologist. Mana had certain mysteries, but there was still hope for uncovering scientific explanations for them. This however, made absolutely no sense to him. It was such an unscientific idea that he instinctively rejected it at first but forced himself to continue listening.
"I cannot explain the way to cultivate the golden energy nor can I sell it. Not because I don't want to, but because I am literally unable to do so. You'll need to travel to India for such secrets, but I can tell you the obvious. The more people that have faith in you, the more golden energy you shall obtain. Now tell me, how do you think one loses golden energy?"
"By the followers losing faith in the esper?" Ed replied.
"Correct." The shadow answered. "But you must be careful. If you kill too many of the followers of such an esper, then they will only become stronger as they take in the souls of the dead."
"I see." He nodded. "That's... unfortunate. It would've been easier just eliminating the followers. I thank you for the advice."
"Kekeke." The shadow chuckled and flew near him again. "Now for the trade to really begin. I've been looking into you, Forge. You currently have little value in my eyes. No substantial power. No exclusive technology. Nothing of value at all, but everyone has their secrets. I am not omniscient. So, tell me, what else do you want and what can you trade for it?"