Pentagram City, northeast of the Embassy. A day later.
"So I'm telling this grandpa, 'I fucked.'"
" Did you know you can get good weed from Vander next door for less than Povely's...."
"How about looking round the corner, darling...?"
" Have you ever been to Paradise? I have, and I saw an angel there with a really big...!"
"Have you read the new issue of Asmodeus magazine, it's such a dildo!"
" When are we gonna get a new Overlord, this one's too dumb to be a pony?"
"Fuck you, you're a normal pussy."
"And I'm out of this shit, I think it's nons..."
"I actually think the Eyes are watching..."
"What are those Red Eyes... It's like they're looking right into your soul..."
Dozens... hundreds... thousands... Thousands of voices that had to be filtered and searched for the right information in them....
These lumpen people just can't talk about one thing at a time. No, here they're talking about drugs, here they're talking about sex, and here they're discussing the Lord of the Neighbourhood.
The latter, sadly, was sadly in short supply.
Watching, as if from the 'cameras' of the passing Sinners, William involuntarily gave himself to thoughts.
'Is this how the Anaphim see us angels?'
William would have called this Construct 'Eye', but he couldn't bear to give such a small and peculiar Construct such a name. The slider fulfilled its purpose perfectly, allowing William to collect data on the Overlord without any problems at all.
Plus in Heaven, technological progress had gone much further there, so here in Hell, no one had ever heard of such espionage as the Eye of the Anaphim.
No one at all suspected the ordinary little spider on a spider web of passing data from their conversations to the dangerous Fallen One.
'Just a little more and I'll simply send the Crawler straight to the Overlord of this area, if the weakest variations of Overlords couldn't sense something amiss, then these... It'll be an interesting experiment...' - William sipped his tea quietly, watching the street, not far from the 'Residence of Someone There'... William didn't care about the name of yet another idiot who thought he was something more, calling something other than 'The Big Toad in the Well'.
Just a new cancer in this bucket.
William already had five such Crawlers.
Each of them extracted a different type of information, including this one. General, or 'rumours', to put it simply.
William's general thought was to classify and cluster the data. Ideally, to create a Construct Head, something that would stand over the Crawlers and do most of William's current work.
'Queen,' William thought aloofly, taking another sip.
It was business as usual in the Embassy - calm, quiet, and lonely. None of the previously labelled souls appeared, and consequently William was not forced to hide, or flee to the city.
He had already thought of a couple of places on the edge of Pentagram City, where there were some sort of 'dumps', where there was even more anarchy than in the centre.
Now...
He was gathering data on a potential Overlord, the one he would have to kill to take over the neighbourhood.
William didn't know what district Zestial owned, but since it was one of the oldest, it was obviously not a small area. Or he had found a stable territory that he could easily maintain and rebuild after the sweeps.
One of the most important reasons for the loss of territory, besides 'natural' reasons, is the Sweeps. They force Overlords, everyone in general, to hide and then rebuild the ruins that are the result of Division One.
William didn't need a large neighbourhood. One block at most.
Perfect for a start, and William had just the thing in mind for one... Overlord? Overlord?
The lord that held this small neighbourhood.
In addition to the so-called 'main' Overlords, the strongest in the Ring that are some sort of 'bosses' or 'rulers' of Pentagram City, there are lesser Overlords.
They don't own thousands and thousands of souls. Usually a couple of hundred, or dozens. They're 'groups' or just gangs that own a couple of streets, plying their trade as best they can.
There's a strange relationship between the Sinners here.
There's a kind of currency. 'Skulls' for coins and "Bones" for paper money... Or "Pennies" and "Rubles"... Or "Yuan"... Or "Euros"... Or "Knotas"... It's very difficult to have a single currency system.
Here, in every neighbourhood there is a way to convert currency, to the benefit of the owner of the point, of course.
Deception and scams were commonplace here, and it was strange if you weren't scammed, which made it even more alarming.
This same Overlord was doing just that. A small neighbourhood for currency exchange between the 'Parts' of Pentagram City, keeping a small currency stash somewhere under her house.
Red coat, red skull instead of a face. A red hat and a permanent expensive cigarette in her teeth. The rest is just an ordinary woman from Earth.
She wielded... fire or smoke.
There's nothing more to be learnt from the Sinners' conversations.....
...What if...?
...
Vanessa's fucked up.
Somebody wants to take a shot at her or just throw shit under her door. Otherwise she just can't explain these constant attacks on her.
At first, it was like a timid attempt. Another idiot venturing onto her turf. She may not be the Sindirella that controls the entire market of the City, but she's the part that turns the gears of this shithole.
First some bird-like dick decided to go one-up on her, and then... Like a waterfall of shit, other nits sprinkled in. These two days had been the hardest two days of her life here in fucking Hell.
She was fucked up big time, good thing she had relatively (until the Lords first bigger offer) loyal people to cover her arse while she personally, and these cocksuckers eliminated her people as well, dealt with the problem at her door.
She was tired, fucked up and just wanted to blow or sh*t. She was sick of just beating up Jeffrey, their parrot, she just wanted at least a day of peace, because she had a deal coming up....
"Good afternoon, Vanessa." - A quiet male voice, with a touch of... something, made her lose all thought. She turned round sharply at the unexpected visitor.
He was in her fucking house, past the fucking security, past everything she'd fucking put on fucking defence. He fucking knew her real name.
Every Sinner knows that using your real name in this town is tantamount to becoming a prostitute who will be shot in twenty-four hours. Her name here is 'Windelli,' which is in charge of the 'bank' of the local neighbourhood, or even three, if she could conclude...
"What the fuck do you want, motherfucker?" - Vanessa went straight on the offensive. You can't let her get away with that. Motherfucker got into her house somehow, knows her name from somewhere.
"I just came to talk to you." - this fucking bloke has the nerve?!
He's just a dude with a doll's face, broken, and his clothes... very expensive, if she kills him, she can make a nice profit.
" About what?" - Vanessa asked warily, as she knew when to be polite. At least, imaginary politeness. She'd had enough of that bastard.
"A little expropriation of this nice neighbourhood into my hands." - this... Vanessa didn't quite understand, barely out of high school, what this... Asshole had said about obviously wanting her neighbourhood!
This pathetic semblance to the Overlord, yeah she doesn't smell a soul from this disgrace! She's had a lot of people come to her, but all of them had souls in her stash that she took when she killed those assholes. And here.
She's gonna put his head on a spike so everyone can see an example of what happens when you fuck with her.
"You're pretty fucking brave to come in here and demand that from me," a smirk blossomed on Vanessa's face. Of course, she hadn't had a face in fifteen years, but....
What!
She felt something squeeze her throat. She couldn't take a single breath. Her hands reached sharply for her throat, but there was nothing there, and that jacket was still standing still, leaning with both hands on his gaudy cane, with that nasty little smirk.
She couldn't do anything, Vanessa realised with horror.
She couldn't move, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't fucking do anything! She couldn't scream, couldn't call out to her own on cue, just no chance, yeah how did he have...?!
He just stood there looking at her intently... Is that a fucking flying notebook and pen! Or is it a pen, but she kinda didn't give a shit, she was getting fucking killed, and she really didn't want to show up to her own with no strength....
The last thing Vanessa saw and remembered were those dark blue eyes that shone like two small stars, gradually obscuring her entire vision...
...
'That was... easier than I thought it would be...', William thought with some... disappointment.
He had expected a good fight, expected a gunfight, expected a fight against the whole gang, expected anything other than... this.....
God forgive him, but what the...?!
He'd tracked Sinner, he'd gathered all the information he could about her, through the Crawlers and the Mimic Constructs he'd given her a random appearance, assembled from parts of the walking clown designs that lived near the Embassy.
He inflicted his Constructs on her and her gang for two days. Used the same tactics, with the same abilities, but these... William couldn't call them a gang, it would be an insult to all the bandits he'd read and watched about in Paradise... Did the films and books lie about the dangers of such a thing?
These guys didn't adapt by simply repelling attacks. He was capturing the souls of fallen Sinners, a boon Project Oblivion, or rather parts of it, had helped modify and create new weaves... Now he had the souls of Sinners. Not in the form of a contract, but simply in storage, as samples for research, experimentation and development... William couldn't wait to get started, but....
When he had signalled his presence, given the name of the Overlady, even given her time to prepare, keeping her busy with the conversation...
Damn it, he realises that not everyone has experience in the army, but there was the Great War recently, and World War II is coming soon... This woman....
...was here for 15 years, died at 27. She definitely caught the war!
Or is his perception of time as an Archangel inaccurate and wrong about Hell?
On that thought, William concentrated as he wandered around the Overlady's house and surveyed it, with the surroundings weaving in and out.
Money, drugs, bodies... It was in the house, under the floor. He wouldn't live in this dump, but he'd have to borrow knowledge from the people of Earth...
No, he could build himself a mansion with Entropy, but then the building would be... with surprises and it would be difficult, if not impossible, to repair without his help. Especially this one would just take a lot of energy, and his new and pathetic shell has a very small conductivity at a time, not as huge as it was when he was a Celestial. It's like comparing an ocean to a stream.
'...So, what to do with her gang... What does she have about them... All scum and scum, more than once, with Vanessa's own permission, raped, murdered and more... Under the knife and on my desk all of them.', William quickly made a characterisation and plan.
...What to do with the Sinners of the neighbourhood...? They're used to it. The Overlord has changed, it's localised as it is, they're still subject to another... Until William gains enough influence and strength to not hold this territory as only his own.
'...Now to also make an army... God for what...? Oh that's right.', sighed William tiredly as she set about bringing order to this neighbourhood....
...
Pentagram City, Northeast, two months later. 'Neighbourhood of Silence.'
It was torturous. William felt like he was back to filling out paperwork by hand when he worked in Sin Division.
He'd had Constructs to help deal with pesky Sinners. But it clearly wasn't enough to keep William's headaches at bay.
A Scout that was a battle scout and a good support, and could also, sometimes, initiate a fight if there were more than two of them.
They were excellent at outsmarting the common scum, they didn't have to be quiet, which meant they could use their agility, weapons skills and knowledge of throwing weapons to their full potential.
Suppressors. Already proven themselves in conjunction with the Scouts. They could handle the even stronger Sinners with surprising ease. Withstood a lot more, there were calculations, and their intelligence, with the addition of the Entropy Matrix to their formulas as well, got better. Now their clusters didn't resemble the output of clowns.
Now, it really was the dangerous squads of armoured knights that crushed the heads of anyone who chose to disrupt it... disrupt the order in William's territory.
The Observer. Newly made Constructs that can merge with shadows, hide in it, becoming one with it, becoming almost invisible. Excellent scouts of the battlefield, the enemy's rear, but most importantly...
They had a good fight. With one Sinner. The claws tore through flesh, scorching red, and the general anatomy offered opportunities for quick manoeuvring.
Messenger. This was the moment these little ones would be sowing. Vanessa had her contacts, her arrangements. Now they were not valid, for those with whom the past Overlord had made deals were notified that Vanessa had become... unavailable.
But most importantly for these beautiful feathered creatures! Now, as soon as they delivered a letter, they disappeared! BUT! Not vaporised, but restored to their original form - the message itself!
A small cause for William's pride. Instead of a full-fledged 'Executor' level Construct, these little ones were now 'Mimic' or even 'Instrument' level, for their formulae were superimposed on the message itself, which made the shape of the Construct emerge from the parcel itself, which meant that no matter how many times the shell of the Construct was destroyed, as long as the parcel was not taken away and the Weave was not removed or destroyed, the Construct could incarnate as long as it had energy....
'We should work on that part... What if we feed the formulas with ambient energy that will convert into...', William gave thought as he walked through the grounds of his neighbourhood.
A small rectangle of six large houses. Six storey houses, in the shape of rectangles. The buildings form the rectangle itself and have small courtyards in between. Sort of like zebra lines. Two houses, a courtyard, two houses. All the way to the end of the block.
Of course, through the streets some Sinners had already decided to attack him... Which immediately snapped their teeth, even a couple of weak Overlords, about a dozen souls, snapped their teeth, not just from him personally, but from his Constructs!
The bundle of Crawlers and Watchers that notified the Suppressors and Scouts was having just fine results! William's mood was elevated, which was in no way spoilt by the prospect of changing houses and sorting out the souls that lived in his neighbourhood.
The first thing he did was to enchant his territory. Not with complicated formulas, for he planned to expand soon. Just to test the desired functionality.
Thus, the Sinners who lived in his houses had a blue sky, which made his houses, or rather the flats in them, the most prestigious in his block. He immediately made it clear what qualities he wanted to see in his... subordinates? He doesn't care about them, as long as they don't get in the way.
Tenants who take advantage of his kindness!
Just 'tenants', yes.
His demands provoked a flurry of protests and outrage, but he didn't give a shit. He made it immediately clear to these degenerates what would happen if, they decided to make their point in any way other than their own words. Those idiots still hadn't found those Sinners, and they didn't even realise he had all the souls....
That he just couldn't do anything about! This branch of expenditure, his Neighbourhood, was beginning to take up too much of his time! Goodness, he realises that he needs to invest wisely and design the future structure of his District.
After his transformation, green grass appeared on his territory, a rarity that not every 'Average' Overlord has, and also he... A wind appeared! The very real one, identical to the one in his London!
The protests grew stronger, and his Sinners... The tenants began to naturally pay him tribute... For some reason, though he had appointed nothing of the sort. Those fools must have thought he'd just kick them out without it. He didn't give a damn about those coins and pieces of paper. He just used them to trade or communicate with other Overlords. No, he immediately explained his position.
'Do not touch me, do not allow me to be disturbed, and do not break my District rules.' - that's all the clauses in his 'code of laws.'
The tenants took his code to heart. Probably liked the feeling of being on Earth instead of in the desert so much. These scum naturally pack any Sinner, even the new ones that decided to turn to his Neighbourhood.
Squads of Constructs from the designated bundles.....
The leader. His 'police' officer. A 'living steel vase', with a red core and sword. She... Yes she, initialises patrols, protects the designated area and enforces his rules.
No drugs. Not at home, not on the street, not in back alleys. If these scum wanted to, they went to another block nearby. That's a serious offence.
No alcohol. If he were in Paradise, he wouldn't pay attention, but here the Sinners had a weakness and really got drunk... and threw up on his pavement. Medium severity of offence.
No prostitution or public sex or anything like that. Same with drugs - do it somewhere else if you want to stay here. Regular sex - please do it in your own place, but if they get caught... Severe offence.
So they think the Leader's looking for them, but the Crawler sees everything, so William's had a dozen cases where he's had to kick Sinners out.
This one was even stricter. If a Sinner committed a Serious Offence, he got a kick in the arse. Anything below that was dealt with by him. William was already working on automating this.
...William had been getting better about himself in general. Thanks to the constant battles with weak and average Sinners, he had realised the limits of his strength and gained real combat experience.
It would be enough, if not for the 'Strongest' Overlords, then for the 'Average' Overlords. Moreover, for all of this, he needed to gather information and learn the strength of the Overlord.
'...And here, my home...' - Ran through William's mind as he looked at... a replica of his mansion from Heaven. He was even able to create a forest.
He moved the houses around his cabin and the woods. The four houses resemble a rhombus, but he didn't care.
He has a small river, a green forest and a copy of his house. It's enough for the first time, and the knowledge he got from Earth about architecture... It helped a little, but the house should preferably be changed.....
William had done nothing more than that.
He got a territory, occupied it, and is holding it with the Constructs. He has built (created) his home, but is still doing serious research and transitions to Earth through the Embassy.
His territory, dubbed by the Sinners as none other than 'The Silence District', for here... The quietest place in Pentagram City, as it turns out. It is very quiet, there is a semblance of order and law, and the Overlord does not demand anything, almost never appearing.
No. His territory is held by Constructs who keep order like a police force. There are no official laws and fines, only the Code, but William was too lazy to write such a thing.
He'll create an Ideal-level Construct that will take over, and then William will do this stuff....
And the bigger Overlords are starting to take an interest in his neighbourhood. From 'Medium' to 'Major.'
William would like to deal only with the Overlords, as there are far fewer of them than the Mid Lords, only six... But as William knew, if he deals with the Overlords, it's not certain that the Mid Lords will admit it and start poking him with sticks, until they realise that William is somehow making sure that the Sinners who get into his area and cause mayhem never revive.
No, William plans to investigate the phenomenon of the Sinner and their rebirths, which might make him realise his condition, but....
These Overlords...
He's already regretting that he didn't just get behind someone by completely brainwashing them beforehand.
He would have had to go negotiate... That his Ego.