Vegapunk was dumbfounded as he felt the entirety of Egghead move beneath his feet, lifting up into the sky.
The first thought to enter his mind was that of the Sky Islands that existed above the Blue Sea, but as far he was aware they did not exist due to being levitated out of the sea like what was happening here. Vegapunk couldn't help but to look up at Dragon Emperor in awe, as this was of course Alex's doing.
Rewinding time a little bit, after Alex returned from Mary Geoise he and Vegapunk began to discuss the terms of his moving to the land of Asora. Though one could use the word 'terms', it was more along the lines of Alex throwing absurd amounts of money at Vegapunk that made the World Government seem poor in comparison.
That wasn't all though, as Alex also casually mentioned the various benefits of moving to Asora. Benefits such as other scientists to compare notes with, like Hajime and Azazel, as well as technologies and concepts that were unheard of to Vegapunk. Especially the existence of actual magic!
But aside from that, Vegapunk himself became desperate to go when Alex accidentally let slip that he was technically a god of knowledge, as well as the existence of Apocrypha.
Vegapunk saw it as fate since he had eaten the knowledge Devil Fruit, which allowed him to retain any and all knowledge. The bottomless funds that Alex promised was just the icing on the cake.
But then came the question of what was going to happen to all of the research and projects Vegapunk had worked on so far? That was what led to their current situation, where Alex was lifting the entirety of Egghead out of the ocean with his powers.
Vegapunk still couldn't believe what he was seeing as they rose higher and higher above the sea, until they were nearly level with the clouds in the sky. But then they were suddenly enveloped within one of those very clouds, robbing Vegapunk of his vision for several seconds until it had passed.
Once he could see again though, the scientist was stunned to see an entirely different landscape stretching out below him.
As far as he could see into the distance, Vegapunk saw a seemingly endless sea of trees and mountains that were far larger than any island he had ever heard of. Even the Red Line, the strip of land stretching around the entire globe, was nothing compared to scenery laid out before him.
"Your majesty!" Vegapunk exclaimed as Alex descended to land beside him, having been hovering over the island the entire time.
"Yes?" Alex replied.
"If I may, just how large is this island that we are located over?" Vegapunk eagerly asked.
Alex just smiled wryly, and answered, "it's so large, that it is called a continent instead of an island."
"???"
"Continent?" Vegapunk asked, unfamiliar with the term.
"Yes, continent. They're land masses that dwarf any 'island' found in the Grand Line and Blue Seas, capable of housing millions of people and even dozens of entire nations with ease. They also possess numerous different climates, and go through a series of seasonal changes throughout the year instead of remaining constant."
As Alex explained a bit more about the differences between an island and a continent, Vegapunk's expression turned increasingly blank as he tried to imagine the scope of such a landmass. So, to give him a better estimate, Alex gestured the old man back into the main lab where Lala was waiting.
Inside, Lala had finished setting up a few things that Alex asked her to, like the large table that dominated the middle of the room. And as for that table's function, with a wave of his hand, Alex created a 3D holographic projection that showed the terrain surrounding them in extreme detail.
"This is where we are now." Alex said, pointing to a small point on the map.
"And this is what it looks like when you zoom out." Alex then proceeded to do just that as he zoomed out, and out, and OUT until the map was showing thousands of miles in every direction. And only then did Vegapunk see signs of civilization on there.
"Incredible..." He uttered in disbelief.
Alex nodded while smiling humorously at the old man's reaction. "It is, and I set it up so you can move your island almost anywhere in Asora that you would feel the most comfortable. You just have to keep a few things in mind."
As he said that, Alex made a few changes to the map so that it showed different zones and lanes on it.
"These are the different territories and expressways used by the races that call Asora home. Though much of Asora is unclaimed, if you want to settle in a claimed area then you will have to get approval with whoever is managing that area. Also, though you can use the lanes to travel from place to place, you can't remain stationary in any of them since it would clog up the airways. I doubt you would want to piss off the dragons and phoenixes just because of where you decided to set up shop."
"Dragons? Phoenixes?" Vegapunk uttered in disbelief, even as he saw an actual dragon fly right by the island out of curiosity.
The only such creatures that he knew of that existed were the Zoan Devil Fruit users with such transformations, Kaido and Marco, as well the very same dragon he himself created to guard Punk Hazard, number thirteen. Unfortunately, dragon thirteen was killed when Alex's wives went to pick up Ceasar Clown.
Either way, Vegapunk was so distracted by the map and everything else that was so new and exciting around him, he barely even registered when Alex and Lala said their farewells and departed for the time being. Instead he continued examining this world of Asora through the map Alex had crafted, exploring every virtual nook and cranny, until an eerie light began to shine in his laboratory.
Turning towards the source in alarm, Vegapunk found himself looking at both a golden-yellow magic circle, similar to the one Saturn had used, and an ancient looking door that had appeared out of thin air.
*Sceeeee.*
The door screeched eerily as it opened to reveal a youth, while the magic circle flashed before fading to reveal a good-looking man with mischief in his eyes.
"You must be Vegapunk. I am Azazel, head of the R&D division of Asora. And this is Hajime."
***
Alex and Lala flew through the air side-by-side after departing Egghead, leaving Vegapunk in Azazel and Hajime's capable, but terrifying, hands.
Alex knew they would give Vegapunk a general rundown on what he permitted their scientists to work on. It was pretty much free reign on whatever research they wanted to conduct, so long as they did not threaten or harm Asoran citizens, and Alex was kept in the loop about anything that was particularly dangerous.
Even human experimentation was allowed, so long as the subjects were unredeemable criminals, and the experiments themselves were not needlessly torturous. Azazel was particularly glad for that one, as expected of the most 'evil angel' in the world.
But Alex felt as if he didn't have to worry about that too much with Vegapunk since the man seemed to have a fairly strong moral compass. As indicated when he told the story of Kuma, and the deal he had made with the World Government.
But if there was one thing Alex was worried about, it was the seven developing embryos that he had sensed growing in a secret section of the lab. From what he saw, not only were those embryos developing at a rapid pace, but several of them were also eerily similar to the members of the Seven Warlords Alex had met. It didn't take much to assume that all seven were based on all of them, Crocodile, Doflamingo, Hancock, Hawkeye, Kuma, and Moria.
Alex had an idea what they were, based on the Pacifista that were cyborg clones of Kuma. But he still planned to ask Vegapunk about the specifics the next time he talked to him. He wouldn't be surprised if they were just another weapon for the World Government to use in the name of 'peace'.
The rest of the trip back to Alexandria was silent and peaceful for both Alex and Lala, who snuggled up to his side for quite a bit of it.
All good things must come to an end though.
Before retiring to the space-time or for the night, Alex sent Lala ahead while he decided to make a quick side stop in Orario.
It had been a few days since Alex had seen the city, and he thought it was about time to check on it.
Going through the portal connecting Asora to Orario, Alex emerged on the other side to find that the already sprawling city had changed significantly in the few days since he had seen it last.
While Orario was already a massive city compared to the others in this world, it had been significantly expanded with devil magic moving and extending the protective outer walls. Not only that, but many of the run down and ruined buildings throughout the city had either been repaired and restored to their prime, or remodeled completely.
One such building was the church Hestia had once lived in.
Once dilapidated and abandoned, the church was now a monument to Hestia herself while being a hub of activity. Though Hestia herself now lived in the Misty Manor/the space-time orb, the church itself was still in use as headquarters/housing for her Familia, which had grown significantly in just the last few days.
Naturally once word got out about Alex and Hestia's relationship her reputation skyrocketed, which was a complete turn around to how things had been going for her before his arrival. Now she had aspiring adventurers from all over Orario trying to join her Familia, as well as numerous potential business partners desperately trying to estabish contracts with her.
Unfortunately for them, Hestia only accepted novice adventurers into her Familia with the few veterans being direct relatives of her new recruits. This was due to the fact that she knew most of those wanting to join her were doing so to try and gain benfits due to her relationship with Alex, with some of them even offering up their children as adventurers to get in her good books.
The same could be said of the different businesses trying to establish contracts with her, as Hestia had readily declared that she already signed a contract stating that all of her Familia's arms and armor would be made by the Hephaestus Familia, while all of the potions they would be using would come from the Miach Familia. This of course did not go over well with their rivaling Familias, but there was nothing any of them could do about it.
Aside from Hestia, numerous other Familias were also flourishing after Orario was connected to Asora. Numerous adults and students from the Academy had also gone through the portal to ply their trade or gain combat experience in the Dungeon, the latter through programs that Sona established with several gods and goddesses that she had already interviewed.
She had established a system where the students could choose a god or goddess from a list whose divinities and ideals they aligned with, and join their Familia after an interview for extracurricular points. And of course the gods and goddesses in question would not turn away so many young aspiring adventurers, especially from Asora with all of its 'interesting' people and ways of fighting.
There were however several stipulations in place that Sona had insisted on, such as their studies coming first to exploring, and that the student's safety be prioritized above all else. Along with these two were also basic rules preventing the use and abuse of her students, such as prohibiting sexual relations between the deities and the students, but that was also why Sona had interviewed them personally to begin with.
The adults from Asora meanwhile were traveling into Orario to either open branches of certain businesses, join a Familia, or further their own skills in whichever craft they specialized in. Those specializing in combat began diving into the Dungeon on a daily basis, while those specializing in crafts of some kind, usually smithing, enchanting, or alchemy, joined the respective Familia.
All in all the city was booming with business as trade flourished, was expanding greatly with the help of devil magic, and was in better shape than it had been in decades, if not centuries.
There was only one small problem.
Alex turned his attention outside the city where he could sense a gathering taking place in the hundreds of thousands just beyond the horizon. And by the strength of several of those gathered there, as well as the fact that he could sense divine power amongst them, Alex knew it was Ares preparing for his invasion.
Despite a gathering of militant forces unlike any this world had ever seen before, Alex wasn't the least bit concerned about the future of Orario. Instead, they were like a blemish on an otherwise idealistic landscape.
Plus there was the fact that he had assigned Sairaorg to deal with Ares and his allies, so they weren't even Alex's problem at all.
Regardless, Alex decided to go and check them out since he had nothing better to do, and his curiosity was getting the better of him. He wanted to see some of the races and gods participating firsthand before the slaughter, as well as deal with one or two other matters beforehand.
So Alex headed the southeast without waiting any longer, darting over the land until he arrived at a massive sprawling warcamp centered around a ruined citadel. There were tents and other temporary housing for as far as the eye could see from nearly every single major faction in the world of Danmachi, except for Orario.
Not only had armies gathered from every major race, such as Humans, High Elves, White Elves, Dark Elves, Amazons, all manner of Beastfolk, Dwarves, and even Pallum, but there were also even a number of different countries that were present as well.
Drawing on the knowledge acquired from the numerous texts and maps that his Seekers had acquired from this world, Alex identified standards from the city of magic, Altena, the city of swordsmiths, Solingen, Teslkyura, a place only known as The Empire, the small desert countries of Israfan, Shalzard, Warusa, as well as numerous other smaller nations and villages that dotted the continent.
The sight made him frown slightly, as Alex wondered how many were here purely because of the lies Ares had spread about him. Though he didn't mind them so much, as Alex could sense that many of those down below were only using the lies as a pretense to attack Orario, like Ares himself was doing, that didn't mean that he wanted those who genuinely believed them to die as well in the coming battle.
Making a mental note to speak to Sairaorg about that later, Alex descended to land amongst the sea of tents scattered amongst the ruins, his figure disappearing as he did so due to the power of the Suke Suke no Mi.
Invisible to all around him, Alex proceeded to wander the camp as he examined the structure and people curiously. Most of them appeared to be Rakian citizens, who were excited for the coming bloodshedding once the battle actually started.
From what he could see, Alex concluded that each faction was remaining seperate from the rest as much as possible despite them all uniting to 'liberate' Orario. There were even skilled guards at the boundry of each faction to prevent anyone from crossing over.
None of that mattered to Alex though, who traversed the camp as he wished without restraint as if he were taking a casual walk. As he wandered though, Alex steadily made his way towards the middle of the warcamp, which were the ruins that Ares and the rest of the higher ups were camped at as they prepared.
Making his way to the main tent, which actually rivaled a small manor in size, Alex was unsurprised to find a collection of gods, goddesses, kings, queens, lords, and so on gathered within as they discussed the upcoming attack.
"And I say we're ready!" Declared one elven man arrogantly, who had a look of perpetual contempt on his face even as he looked at the gods and goddesses.
"Calm yourself Seale." Said one of the gods present, one who's appearance was like that of a young boy that refused to take things seriously. But there was a calculative look in his gaze as he glanced over those gathered presently.
"Indeed." Ares said in a less than amused tone, before addressing everyone else as he continued, "We are still awaiting reinforcements from the east, and then we will finally have amassed a force powerful enough to take Orario!"
"And free it from the Dragon Emperor, right?" One goddess added as Ares finished speaking, drawing all eyes to her before they swiftly turned into lust-filled gazes full of desire.
"Of course, my dear Aphrodite." Ares amended quickly as he tried to pacify the goddess of love and beauty, though she turned away from his touch.
Aphrodite was a beautiful goddess with incredibly long blonde hair, and a modest bust concealed by a light blue top. The rest of her outfit however was comprised of pink sashes and cloth, which excelled at their job of concealing what needed to be concealed of her body, while heightening her allure and the desire of those who saw her to see more.
While normally Aphrodite wouldn't mind a tryst or two with Ares, as they had had many in the past, right now she was more concerned for the people, particularly the women, of Orario. Of the numerous stories and rumors escaping Orario about it's new emperor, the most prominent were those about him r@ping any and all women and goddesses who catch his fancy, before forcing the mortals to bear his children and become a part of his ever growing collection of sex slaves.
Though Aphrodite strongly believes that love was necessary for life, which was why she often picked fights with the three virgin goddesses, Hestia, Artemis and Athena, she didn't believe in what she had heard was happening within the once great city. It was the ONLY reason she had brought her Familia with the intent of joining Ares' attack on the city.
What Aphrodite, along with the rest of the relatively 'benevolent' gods and goddesses present didn't know, was that everything they had heard about Alex and the state of Orario was either a lie, or old information. For example, the city had been reduced to ruins after the battle between the Dragon Emperor and their defenders.
Not only that, but the numerous scouts that Ares had placed around the city had intercepted anyone trying to enter or leave, which allowed him to collect information only he was privy to. Needless to say he only divulged what would help the others participate in the coming battle with him, such as the fact that the Dragon Emperor had managed to 'claim' every single Amazon within the city for himself, while also declaring himself 'King of the Amazons'.
The remaining gods and goddesses however, such as the previous god that spoke, Resheph, were mostly interested in seeing the city fall for one reason or another. Wether it was the people there, the resources Orario possessed, the Dungeon itself, or just seeing it fall and the chaos that would ensue afterwards.
Resheph's Familia in particular were known for traveling from village to village to plunder, murder and r@pe, simply destroying anything and everything in their path. Erebus meanwhile, as the god of evil, was driven to become the true evil that could unite everyone in order to make the impossible possible, yet apparently the one who had taken that role was this Dragon Emperor.
Regardless of their reasons, all of them had gathered to take part in the coming battle against the Dragon Emperor.
"Remember that I want this 'Dragon Emperor' once the battle is over." Sneered another of the goddesses that were present.
She was quite short compared to the other's present, yet her mere presence inspired a sense of unease and discomfort. Her long blood-red hair flowed down almost to her waist, while a bone mask covered the upper part of her face. Funnily enough that was the part of her body that was the most covered, as all there was to conceal her unmentionables were a few strips of white cloth, while the rest of her clothes consisted of sleeves that covered her forearms, and the back of her legs.
"Do you really think you can make such a claim on him, Kali?" Sneered one god who had the appearance of an older man with a white beard, dressed in a simple toga that covered the lower half of his body while leaving his chest bare.
"And why can't I Poseidon? If he is as strong as the stories say, then he is the perfect specimen to breed with my Amazons. Plus we need to show this man what it means to claim himself as the 'King of the Amazons'." Kali's expression then devolved into a vicious sneer that made all of the surounding men shudder.
Though her intentions for the Dragon Emperor may seem like heaven for any guy, all of those who knew Kali were aware that it was anything but. After all, Kali WAS a goddess of plague and death, reveling in war and bloodshed as she had the members of her own Familia fight to the death on a day-to-day basis.
And as the ruler of Telskyura, the holy land of the Amazons, Kali was basically the highest authority for every single Amazon in the world, regardless of if they were a part of her Familia or not. That was why Amazons from all over the continent had answered her call for war as word of the Dragon Emperor spread, especially after he was referred to as the 'King of the Amazons'.
For a moment no one said anything as Kali sneered viciously, and Poseidon glared at her threateningly, and the atmosphere within the room became so thick that one could cut it with a knife. Until...
"Don't I get a say in this?" A voice suddenly asked, drawing all attention towards the speaker as everyone turned towards the head of the table. Which was Ares' seat.
Sitting there instead was a man with a mane of wild black hair, while his upper body was laid bare for them to see the layers of muscle that covered him. Most striking however was the fact that every single god and goddess present could feel divine power radiating from his body.
"Who are you!?!" One of the mortals present, a dwarf, demanded in agitation as he drew his hammer threateningly.
"Stop that. You're just going to hurt yourself." The stranger said lazily while wagging his finger, before the hammer suddenly fell to the ground with enough force that they all felt the ground vibrate beneath their feet. They then watched as the dwarf tried to lift the hammer, but was unable to even make it budge as if it were stuck to the ground, or simply weighed so much that he could not move it.
"Now then, unless someone else wants to try and attack me, can we talk for a moment?" The stranger asked while pointing to a nearby bowl of fruit, making it levitate in the air as it floated towards him, so he could partake in it's contents.
"That depends. Who are you?" Ares repeated the dwarf's earlier question with barely contained anger, though he kept his temper in check since he had a fair idea of who this man was.
"Oh, right! I never introduced myself!" The man exclaimed, as if just realizing such.
"I am the Dragon Emperor, Alexander D. Morningstar." He said while giving a lazy twirl of his arm, and bowing his head before going back to eating the fruit.
"""!!!"""
Ares blinked while everyone else present tensed as they realized the man they had been planning to attack was right there in front of them, with several of them even moving to draw their weapons to attack if need be.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. I'm not here to fight, so there's no reason for so much hostility." Alex said in warning with a slight smile, as if he found their apprehension humorous.