"Even with the so-called 'grounding' of Marcus Goldman, his faction continuously and ruthlessly continues to expand into space."
The one who spoke was the leader of the science division of the newly formed 'Coalition to Oppose Marcus Goldman', or COMG for short.
It's a secret organisation formed after the attack on Washington D.C. The attack on North Korea assisted in its rapid expansion.
Nations which value Freedom, like North America, Canada, France, and the UK. Then, religious countries felt that such rapid development of technology, massive use of clone armies and passive aggressiveness made these countries extremely weary.
Among them are Poland, Romania, most of the Middle East and even India.
Others are here simply because they are afraid for their power base.
Among them are China and Russia. More or less, it became something similar to the UN, only with one objective in mind.
And that is to oppose the advancement of the sole bogeyman.
This gathering was made by utilisation of most primitive communication as everyone knows that the Technocracy is listening to the phone calls.
So, they use letters and ambassadors to deliver messages through words.
It takes time, but such a secretive meeting finally happened.
"Here are photos of what is happening in space." One of the assistants handed over photos which looked like stars.
"...I don't see anything." With a thick accent, one of the sheikhs commented.
"Look at the stars. The way it reflects light it blurs out star positions. That means that there is something there which makes the light fly around it.
Most importantly, it's right above Marcus Goldman's homeland."
The gathered people immediately started to check the photos in detail.
"...The space gun!?"
"The diameter is around 400 metres horizontally and 800 vertically. It's around four times bigger than the original size of the space station." The leader of the science team said to the gathered leaders of the countries.
"...So big!"
"That's a massive size!"
The leaders immediately looked at an old man sitting there looking and pondering at the picture.
"Lord Mephistopheles, what do you think?" One of the leaders enquired about this. The devil in front of them was their only link with the supernatural! None of the other pantheons want to get involved with regular humans since Technocracy rose to power.
The religions around the world only answer the one who prays to them. But their interests and continuous survival? Now that's a different thing!
The only one who responded to any sort of call was devil Mephistopheles.
"The length of the weapon means that the barrel is much longer. We have witnessed it shoot energy projectiles and deliver physical objects." The old devil proceeded to explain what he was thinking.
"That means it can shoot further."
"...You mean…"
"He will shoot to other planets!?"
'To think that things are progressing so fast! This speed of development is ridiculous!' Everyone thought at the same time.
The group is slowly losing hope that they will be able to oppose this freak of nature!
"The boy is the successor to Solomon—the only human who was able to oppose the devil kind. He was a student of the Biblical God. That makes Marcus Goldman a direct successor to the Biblical God when it comes to developing things.
I have no doubts that after taking the Underworld, he now controls the life of humanity, too."
"The Fate to decide life on Earth is coming. I don't know when. But it is coming. It's the next most natural step for Marcus to take."
"...Are you saying he will fight every single pantheon on Earth?" The Indian leader asked with wide eyes. He never expected that Marcus would attack his very religion.
"That's after he gains a foothold in space and upscales everything for smooth conflict," Mephistopheles explained as he realised something.
'No wonder his airships are now patrolling global trade routes.'
Things are falling into place. It has been a few days since the war ended, but the airships are back in action.
Well, not all; he counted 15 airships. From what he has seen, a tower can hold nine of those. That means there is a tower in the Underworld.
"Then we must fight! We can't allow him to reach space!" One of the leaders exclaimed with panic.
"No. We have no means to fight his tech. My suggestion is to run away." The devil said with a serious tone. He did some simple maths in his mind. They simply have no means to win! Those airships will slaughter everything. And the new space gun will erase any opposition. Humanity simply has no means to fight.
"...R-Run away!?"
"Yes. Speak with your pantheons. If any god joins, then we could save humanity. My plan is the same as Marcus'. Run to space.
Colonise a world, rebuild and prepare for a war in the distant future. All I can suggest is to get more time to prepare."
'That's all I can think of with how monstrous he is. The only thing I can think of is how big his plans are.
Maybe he will lose interest, and humanity can rebuild in peace in some distant star.'
The devil thought about this as he looked at the picture on the table.
"But we don't have the technology to colonise a new world! Not to mention travel to a different solar system! It could take thousands to millions of years with our current technology!" The head of the science division said with a shaky tone. What the devil is speaking is utter nonsense!
"That is why I am saying to get assistance from your gods! Especially the Hindu one! I do believe your gods, with the assistance of Babylonian ones, developed Vimana. The floating fortress? You could utilise the technology or is it magitek of that fortress to create a sleeper colonial ship."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Some hope appeared in their eyes, especially in the Leader of the Indian people. However, the leaders of China and Russia looked sour.
They hoped to develop something to fight Marcus here, on Earth, sometime so that they could win and could keep their power. But, from the looks of it, this is developing in a way they don't want.
Suppose they land in some foreign world. Everything will restart, including their power base.
That could lead to their loss.
The pair of leaders started to think of betrayal.
…
…
…
"I could help, too." An elderly voice said from the side.
Everyone snapped their gaze to the side, seeing a one-eyed man sitting on a plastic chair. His beard was long, and he looked elderly.
"...L-Lord Odin!?" Mephistopheles exclaimed with surprise.
"Odin!?"
"The Norse God!?"
"All-Father!?"
The leaders started to whisper among themselves and about scramble to show some respect.
"Relax, Relax. No need to panic." The God King motioned to relax.
"Lord Odin, what do you mean about helping?" The devil in the room asked with a weary voice. If Odin is here, then there is an absurdly high possibility that Marcus Goldman and Technocracy know OR have some idea of what is going on.
"Survival of Humanity is something I take personal interest in." The Norse God said with a small smile.
"I can offer the use of Bifrost to arrive at your destination. I never used it for deep space travel, but it does work, and it could technically cross the vast distance of space."
Whispering began as the leaders started to feel more hope than ever.
But Mephistopheles looked at Odin with a pale look as he realised that this could be part of Marcus' plan.
Reason? Experimentations. The Successor of Solomon could observe humans in deep space and how they rebuild and progress without his interference and knowing that his faction is out there and continues to build.
Humanity develops fastest when there is a threat to their lives. Like any other lifeform, it performs at its peak.
'So not only is he helping us, but he is helping Marcus to. Crafty old man.'
The devil snorted to himself as he continued to think of better solutions.
But sadly, his resources are lacking for any alternative.
~~~~~~Later, With Marcus~~~~~~
"I see. So that's their choice." Marcus hummed in understanding as he took a sip of his tea.
He was sitting on his indoor terrace, watching the first snowfall in late autumn.
On the opposite side of the table was Odin, who came to see Marcus right after the meeting with COMG.
"You already predicted this, didn't you?" The All-Father said with a knowing smile.
"No matter what, humans are still flesh and blood. They will resist. Fear or no fear. Dumb or not dumb reasons. None of that will change.
I have predicted this, and my Artificial Intelligence agreed with me. There will always be rebel forces." Marcus tapped his finger on the table several times.
"What are you going to do?" Even though Odin knew the course the inventor would take, he asked either way.
"Assist them, of course." The Successor to Solomon 'smiled' at the God King of the Norse Pantheon.
"It's an opportunity like no other. A remnant civilisation is rebuilding another world. Such a thing is worth studying. Especially considering I barely need to help with anything."
Marcus was quite pleased with Odin's move. The old man deserves an award.
"Let's forget about the desperation of humans for a bit. We haven't discussed what happened in the Underworld."
When Odin heard that, he couldn't cover his bitterness. Losing two of his favourite sons left an impact on him.
"I do have a general idea of what happened. It was a 50/50 move from my side. No matter how strong Thor was, those were Evil and Primordial Gods. Much older than my sons." The Allfather said with a deep sigh. There was quite a bit of regret in his voice.
"From what I learned from my observations, Loki and your two sons were absorbed by Angra Mainyu. The Primordial evil was emitting several Norse Gods' auras when I met it."
"I see. If that thing consumed them, then there is no chance of bringing my sons back." Odin resigned to that fact.
"Sadly, that is true. But I can offer an alternative which is not a bad replacement." Marcus' words made the Allfather look at the inventor with a confused look.
"Replacement?"
"Yes. I can bring back your youth and return your wife to you." Marcus smoothly explained what he meant.
"You might have lost your eldest and middle son. But you can always make some more."
Odin's eyes contrasted for a second. His saliva got stuck in his throat.
The Allfather had a flashback as he recalled his lovely wife. The God King's cheeks got rosy as he felt he was in love again. After her death, he tried to find a replacement, but nothing worked.
Because of that, he turned into a big pervert, but now he could return to his peak!
However, Odin quickly recovered and looked at Marcus with some weariness. It would seem the boy knows where to hit him!
"And what is the prize of such 'favour'?" Honestly, this was more than just a simple favour in the Allfather's eyes!
"You supplied me with several hundred years to several thousand years of entertainment.
If I play my cards right, this could last for a long time." Marcus chuckled as he recalled what humanity was planning to do.
"...Ah, I see, long-term investment."
The God King immediately relaxed. He understood the big picture.
"Precisely. You could say that one of my biggest fears is not having 'company' in space. Of course, there might be some disgusting lizardmen in space or some jellyfish, but It could be me being distressed. You could say it sounds arrogant coming from me, but the cosmos belongs to humanity.
I am not planning to allow aliens to exist if they look ugly." He felt goosebumps just imagining tentacle monsters and some nasty, smelly fishes with arms and legs.
They can call him whatever evil, but he is an artist, and ugly things are a big no.
Odin simply laughed upon hearing that. He decided not to show this boy things lurking in his pantheon.
…
…
…
"Excuse me, Master. The barrel is ready for launch." Quinella, standing behind her creator the whole time, finally opened her eyes and told him that the barrel's construction was complete.
"Oh, it took them a while." The inventor commented with a pleased look.
"It's close to eight hundred metres long construct. Such things take time." The beauty casually mentioned how the barrel was around eight times longer than the original one.
"Yes, Yes. It was an excellent time to increase the depth of the space centre. Anyway, Odin, do you wish to see the finale of the upgrade work for the space station?"
The old man, for a second, pondered. He took the mug and finished the tea in one gulp, then finally replied to Marcus' question.
"Let's go. I want to see it in person."
"Great, Quinella, call my flagship. We are going to space." Marcus nodded and then looked at his darling assistant.
"Already on the way."
~~~
Confiscator cast a shadow over Marcus' neighbourhood as a gunship left the airship's hangar and flew over, landing in front of the Inventor's house driveway.
As the side doors opened, four royal guards greeted the Successor to Solomon.
It was quite a contrast between heavy-armoured men and the group of leisurely dressed people. Even the God of Wisdom clothes were meant for leisure, including trainers.
As they boarded the gunship, the vessel swiftly flew back to the flagship of Technocracy. The massive carrier climbed the altitude the moment the gunship landed onboard.
The group of three leisurely walked through the packed hangar full of military equipment in pristine condition.
Eventually, the group arrived at the lift, which took them to the bridge level.
By the time they were at the bridge, the vessel was already leaving the atmosphere and entering the dark void.
"Disengage the camouflage," Marcus ordered the moment he arrived on the bridge.
"Disengaging camouflage." One of the crew girls obeyed the command.
Right before them, in the distance, a large construct around a hundred metres in length and four hundred metres wide.
This monstrosity was the new core for the upgraded Ars Almadel Salomonis.
The two warships floating next to it looked like small children next to an adult.
Unlike the previous model, which used mana to stay afloat and move, this one is dotted with strokes of golden projectors, which make the space station look like an artwork or more like an artefact.
It wouldn't be wrong to call this a 'Sacred Gear' even.
Both of those classifications are not wrong.
"That's a big station you got there." The All-father leisurely commented as he was stroking his beard and looking at the thing floating in a void in front of him.
"Still small when it comes to scales of space. But we do need to start somewhere." Marcus replied with crossed arms as he looked at the same thing.
"When you compare to the emptiness of the void, then you are right." The All-father chuckled as he realised who was Marcus' opponent the whole time.
It was not the Evil Gods, or pantheons, or humanity itself. It was always the void—the desire to conquer the emptiness itself.
When arming for such a 'conflict', other things are insignificant and pointless. Odin realised that when he heard the sheer excitement barely hidden under the indifferent tone of the Inventor's voice.
Solomon's successor is excited about what is to come.
"Indeed. We are not even discussing the planets. That is why such a leap in size."
As he said that, Confiscator joined the other warships which were guarding the Station, which was under refurbishment.
The proper defensive systems are not in place yet. Considering it has four reactors linked by the resonance method, the sheer explosion of such a station in case it gets damaged would be catastrophic.
Not that there are means or weapons on the planet's surface which could do it. The only ones who could damage this thing are deities of their respectful pantheons.
Regardless, Marcus wanted that extra protection, just in case.
He doesn't want Athena or any other girls moaning at him that he is not taking all the necessary precautions in such a critical moment.
As the ship got in place, the group had a great view of the planet.
"The Space Port is opening soon. It will be quite a view." The Inventor said to his guest as he motioned with his hand.
The knights brough over a couple of chairs and a table.
"In the meantime, we can enjoy some tea."
"Hohoho, that is fine by me. It has been a while since I had tea in an interesting place." The Allfather said with an amused tone.
"Such circumstances are rare." With a nod, the God King sat down and gazed at the blue marble.
Marcus followed him and sat down in his chair.
Quinella proceeded to pour tea for the both of them as she was acting as a maid at this moment. Weirdly or not, in that rush, her creator didn't take anyone with him apart from her.
Her calculations indicate that he was highly excited by this development. She will keep that for future reference.
"I don't doubt that you have some idea of what I have planned for the future.
Since you are God of Wisdom, your divinity reaches into the future. It's almost like precognition." Solomon's successor casually started a new theme of conversation as he looked at Earth.
There was a burst of light on the planet's surface. A pillar of light rose to their location.
"Something like that I do possess." Odin didn't agree or disagree.
"Hmm. I suppose when you are smart enough, you can start predicting courses of action. Considering divination and other means can't affect my lands. The sheer amount of mana under my control doesn't allow foreign energies to enter."
"True. I don't directly see what is happening in your lands. But I don't need to. I simply study your character and see the course of action." The Norse deity plainly explained how he sees through Marcus.
"Then you know what I am planning."
Quinella's eyes widened for a second as she looked at her Master.
'Is he speaking about–' The assistant wonders why he is commenting on THAT project!?
"More or less." Odin shook his head from side to side.
"And you don't mind?"
"Mind what? No one believes in us. It has been over 500 years since the last proper follower died. Norse is a dead religion.
Valhalla has not seen a new warrior join for over 800 years. Ragnarok can't even start as there are not enough souls to begin the end of the cycle.
We are in perpetual stagnation." Odin explained the situation with a bitter tone.
"The only followers we have are Valkyries and their descendants. Even then, it's not sustainable." The One-eyed God sighed with disappointment.
"So I simply put. I don't care. Humans have reduced my faction to an observer in a grand scale of things." Odin simply shrugged with his hands.
"Other factions are in a similar situation: Celts, Egyptians, Greeks, Sumerians. They don't have much of an opinion on what you are planning to do." The All-father finished saying that with a thin smile.
"But?"
"All can change. Humans start believing in higher beings when death is staring at them." The God took a sip of his tea as he looked at how a massive barrel left the planet and proceeded to fly towards them.
'That's a lot of weight. To push such an object from the planet's surface requires a lot of energy.' The Norse God suspected some sort of en masse energy production.
Something Marcus has mastered and utilised in almost all of his creations.
'Conjuration but through technology? Or both?'
"True. So where does Norse stand in this? When thousands, if not hundred thousand, start worshipping All-Father?" Marcus enquired without looking at him.
"We are warriors. If they end up in Valhalla, then it's fine."
"...and if they don't?" Marcus pointed that minor detail out.
…
…
…
For a few moments, none of them spoke. Quinella wondered what the Asgardian God would choose. Would he rise against Technocracy? Considering that Marcus has mastered how Biblical God utilised the flow of the souls.
Now that it's linked to the satellites around the planet, none of the souls can escape Technocracy's authority.
"...Pity then, I guess."
'I see. So he doesn't care anymore, or rebelling doesn't have that much value considering what we can do. How— human of him.'
The Assistant realised that this Asgardian God was more human than she thought.
"Hmm, we can always create something to satisfy your need for warriors." Marcus conceded some of it, as he doesn't care where souls go. What he cares about is that they go the way he wants.
He was like a roadmaker. He puts the roads down where he wants. But he doesn't care who goes on those roads.
"Doesn't matter, Marcus. You will be advancing at the solar system scale and beyond. I only wish for you to keep with your previous offer."
Odin didn't care much about Asgard's role in the wider world. For many years now, they were the shadows of themselves. They might recover with Marcus' threat to the broader human population, but it's a threat they can't win unless they develop some sort of trump card, but that is not that simple either, as Marcus has shown that ruthlessly continues to improve and grow.
All-father can only see some sort of continuous existence under Technocracy's umbrella.
That is why he considers surrendering to him when the time is right.
Fostering friendship beforehand is vital.
"Don't worry, I will keep that promise because it is also important to me. I never brought a God back to life before." Marcus is not planning to go back on such a promise.
Gathering more data like this is important to him as well.
Something like resurrecting a Goddess, revitalising God King. He has never done any of those things yet.
More data on such experiments are necessary for future wars against the other Pantheons.
"Good."
The pair stayed quiet for a while as they watched how the barrel of the new Space Station left the atmosphere and proceeded to hurdle towards them.
It was an enormous object—around four times the size of the warships.
"Activate guidance systems," Marcus ordered the girls.
If this continues, the barrel will slam into them.
The girls on the warship bridge proceeded to activate the graviton system of the station. The station released the Guidance beams, making the barrel stop spinning towards them.
'Oh? That's quite the power this station produces. It easily stopped such a big object in its tracks.'
The All-father wondered how the connection would happen.
At first glance, he never thought that the core piece of the station could generate such power.
But it turns out that the station's main power is the core piece, and the barrel is what they say it is—the barrel of a massive gun.
'I suppose this faction doesn't mingle with words. A barrel is a barrel, no matter how ludicrous the size of it is.' Internally, he sighed to himself. He got used to humans who say one thing and do another.
Gravity manipulation rotated the barrel, aligned with the laser guidance and then started to pull towards the core.
Marcus watched all of it with the excitement of a small child. This project was his most significant one to date!
The barrel is special. It doesn't just release energies to heal and destroy or deliver the payload. But its sheer size allows it to work as a massive shipyard!
That is right! The massive 800-metre-long and 400-metre-wide barrel is, in fact, an assembly line, too! The barrel has several layers, which rotate in between depending on needs.
The pulling of the barrel lasted over several minutes as the moment it connected joints sealed itself like a massive lock. Energy started to flow into the megastructure. Hull turned liquid for a second as both parts merged. Once it became solid, graviton projectors ignited throughout the whole station.
"...Completed. Now ships 14 and 15 can release its cargo and send it to the station." Marcus didn't stop with the completion as he already had an assignment for the newly retrofitted station.
"Oh? Those ships have something?" The kid doesn't stop even for a second.
"Of course. Start-up bases for Mars, Venus and Saturn."
As the Inventor explained, the girls on the bridge send out the commands. The other two warships opened up their main hangar doors, which released sizable nail-like constructs. Both of the ships had two each.
Graviton projectors from the Ars Almadel Salomonis captured the nails and proceeded to pull them into the barrel.
As this was happening, the station started to move away from Earth.
"First, send one to Venus. Calculate the trajectory. Use Earth's space agencies' data for this." Marcus ordered as he watched the massive space gun move.
"Accessing data."
A holographic solar system map appeared above the table as it showed how the planets are moving around the sun and their current location.
"Turns out Venus and Mercury are pretty close to us. Only Mars is some distance away.
It's a good thing the Gas giants and the other planets are not that spread out." A quick check-up later, Marcus realised he could deliver that data for the physics class presentation.
"I want the last two start up bases to have probes attached and ready for deep space operations."
[Is this concerning the physics class, sir?] Aurora enquired.
"Yes. I want you to iron out the details."
"Oh, my. Are you abusing your faction for a school project?" Odin asked the inventor with an amused tone, what a cheat.
"Well. I got, in a way, declined to boost up my school. The principal didn't like the sheer publicity his school would be getting.
I suppose he doesn't want all the skeletons revealed that he has in the school."
"...M-Master! Why didn't you tell me!? I could have solved all the issues!" Quinella started to pout! How dare some mundane man with a limited lifespan decline her creator!?
"Don't worry, I have my means." Solomon's successor smirked while saying that.
"...I am amused that the school declined your offer to improve its infrastructure." Odin realised what they were talking about.
"I suppose old-school people prejudiced people. They see the world through their unique lenses."
"Doesn't change the facts!" Quinella huffed as she crossed her arms. She was already thinking of making the school board cease to exist. She has a warship full of soldiers and mechs!
'That reminds me. I should propose spec-ops units. For cover-up missions.'
The beauty stroked her chin as she saw the first needle-like construction flow into the barrel and a massive amount of energy surge in the station.
"Launching in 5
4
3
2
1
Launching Venus start-up base!"
A rainbow beam erupted from the barrel as it rushed towards the sun. The beam's trajectory slightly bent as it extremely rapidly flew away towards its destination.
However, Odin stopped stroking his beard as he realised something when he saw the beam!
"...That was… Byfrost?"
~~~~~~Meantime~~~~~~
The rest of the world closely observed the rise of the barrel into space.
The sheer scale of such a construct quickly leaving the Earth's atmosphere has baffled people.
The weight, the scale, the size of the object. All of this has left them scratching the backs of their heads.
How was this possible?
The only explanation for this was that Marcus Goldman had solved the mystery of gravity.
Gravity, even to this day, is just theory, yet this kid is employing it! He can harness a fundamental force of the universe!
Not that it was enough. The massive object in space is now visible with a plain eye! Just look up! And you will see a gun floating in space!
"How long has it been?" President of the strongest nation in the world asked with a resigned tone.
"What do you mean, sir?"
"How long has it been since Marcus Goldman pointed that thing at London?"
"...No less than a month?" The Vice President said after thinking for a few seconds.
"In less than a month, he upgraded his Gun into a four times bigger version!" The man snapped. He couldn't take it anymore. He was living in a bullshit world! That shouldn't be happening!
"So, is the project cancelled?" The man enquired about THAT project they have been planning.
"No. Keep on diverting money towards it."
'Not that I think it will help in the long run. Even if we leave Earth and settle down in a different solar system, can we keep up with what this man is doing?'
All of this starts to look bleak no matter how he looks.
As he was thinking about that, bursts of lights bombarded the night sky.
The sheer size and power of Ars Almadel Salomonis keep the portion of the planet away as it continues to shoot the nail size objects into parts of the solar system.
Similar thoughts crossed other nations as they looked closely at the new monstrosity in space, shooting projectiles at planets.
People were terrified, scared, and restless, but what could they do when something that size was floating above their heads?
It is a pity that people haven't realised yet that this object is the opening move in a chess game called 'space'. It was like moving pawns for the first time.
The inventor isn't even considering it 'big', as Marcus has some grand plans regarding the scale of projects.
Even though this station was close to 1 km, well 900 metres, it was just M2, or so-called Mark 2. There will be Marks 3, 4 and 5 and more.
So it is not big…
~~~
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