Fenrich spent the next few hours doing cleanup work with Laura and the others, Chiaki eventually came towards Fenrich and his group, followed by the Sage.
Chiaki had a big notepad that seemed to be endless, and had a pencil with her. Writing out, "It's nice to see that you, Alex, Sasha and Julia are doing well. Thank you for coming to our aid in our time of need. You have changed a lot."
Fenrich smiled softly as he fist bumped Chiaki, "And you're doing pretty well for yourselves here. Sorry that we were not here sooner, we could have prevented a lot more deaths."
Chiaki shook her head back and forth raising a hand with the universally accepted stop symbol with her hand and began writing, "It is not all bad, we have lost the twins that joined us, Ren will be more saddened given he was starting to fall in love with one of them. However, as you have said before, the apocalypse has changed a lot of us. Those that mainly died were the ones with no hope for the future or conviction to support the home we have created. Our core forces have grown stronger, and the useless bunch have been cut off."
Fenrich nodded his head knowingly, things were progressing faster this time around compared to the last time, Shelters, Settlements and Smart Bases were discovered earlier, the majority people of this timeline were taking advantage of their resources and opportunities they provided. Sadly, however, it also meant their worldly views were changing far sooner than before. It was not a bad thing, but it wasn't good either.
"Fenrich, may we talk in private? You're an Emperor to be, it is not wise for the commoner masses to see you dirtying your hands. Providing support is already more than enough." Obliviscaris said as he came forward, dressed in the same tattered clothes, unkempt as ever and smelling like he hadn't bathed in many years.
Behind him, were a group of finely dressed men and women, and people who have an authoritarian air about them. Fenrich raised his eyebrows to which the Sage smiled knowingly. "It's time we brought Ren back, but that can wait until after our discussion."
Fenrich shrugged his shoulders and followed the Sage and his group into a meeting room within the Shelter.
"These are some of my old friends, colleagues and the connections I have made. They were all people who had managed businesses finances, planned for city and rural development, agricultural planning of farm land and more. All in all, they're the big wigs that can make the country move with a single stomp of their foot. They are here to manage the budding Empire. You already have an A.I Smart Base, Ren and Chiaki have secured a Shelter. You can claim the Core of this Shelter and have it merged with your Smart Base. We have secured a Shelter Movement Scroll, Land Lease and a Guild Creation Token. These are all major things to be discussed and made proper use of." The Sage explained, causing Fenrich to be shocked at all that Ren and Chiaki had been able to gather, and the people that Obliviscaris had on speed dial.
"Well, that certainly is a lot of resources that cannot go to waste. What are your thoughts, Obliviscaris? Does Ren and Chiaki know about your streak of abandoning mankind? Do they know about how you were the reason they both died? Are you going to betray us at a pivotal moment where we cannot afford to be betrayed?" Fenrich's aura was gradually increasing as he questioned Obliviscaris. The others in the room were showing looks of discomfort and sweat began falling from their foreheads.
"I have turned a new leaf, Fenrich. I admit that I made the wrong choice prior and even betrayed you which is what caused you to experience a deviation in your Cultivation. The Buddhist Temples have a unique effect called Path Breakers. I entered the Buddhist Temples as Obliviscaris, but when I came out my head was bald, I was in monk clothes and had taken a new name. I'm not justifying my weakness, but informing you of what happened back then." The Sage sighed ruefully, "You took me in when everyone else abandoned me. You helped me reunite with my daughter in the Blood Winds Multiverse. You gave me a place that I called home, I would have never backstabbed you if it weren't for that careless mistake I made."
Fenrich stared deeply into Obliviscaris' eyes, looking for any signs of a lie, increased heart beats, pumping adrenaline, but all it showed him was the truthfulness in the Sage's words. "I will trust you once more, but you will be under surveillance by one of my people around the clock. I will know exactly what finger you picked your nose with, when you farted and whether it rumbled like thunder or not. Do not prove my judgment wrong." Fenrich finished before a new thought came to his mind.
"The Buddhist Temples, Omniverse Buddhist Clariant faction?" Fenrich questioned with a look of interest.
"Indeed so." Obliviscaris nodded his head.
"After the Integration Period ends, you will need to guide me to the old Dragon Continent (Continent of Asia renamed.) I would like to personally meet Choshui before the Buddhists get to him. Their mountains, is it true they had turned into a low System tiered Artifact due to their beliefs and prayers over thousands of years?"
"It is a mystery that was never solved in the old timeline, Earth was destroyed when you entered the Multiverse on a grander scale, and all of Humanity was wiped out because of your potential back then. Maybe we'll find the answers to your questions this time around." Obliviscaris said, not at all with any ill intent. That was just simply how the Multiverse and greater Omniverse worked. When one star shines too bright, others move to snuff the chance of another star appearing.
"Don't forget that I am not the planning, cunning or the tactical type. I will leave the planning to all of you and find more subordinates to do what I cannot personally do. Ren is the same as me and so is Chiaki. You all will have to make the best decisions with our interests in mind. Now take me to the Shelters Core. I still have a lot I need to do before the upcoming event begins." Fenrich stated as he got up and out of his seat.
The Sage complied and brought Fenrich into the underground room that contained the Shelter Core.
Fenrich walked up towards it and placed his open flat palm against its surface.
[Ding! You already have registered an A.I Smart Base under your control. Would you like for this Shelter Core to be taken over by Eden? Yes/No]
Fenrich clicked on the Yes prompt and got another series of prompts.
[Ding! You have taken control of the Unnamed Shelter.]
[Ding! Your Smart Base has gained 75,000 units of meat, 150,000 units of Iron, Steel and Bronze.]
[Ding! Eden has met the conditions to Evolve.]
[Ding! Your A.I Smart Base has become Level 1. New unique buildings, structures and shops have appeared.]
[Ding! This Shelters Bloodline Room has been moved by Eden into your A.I Smart Base. All the other facilities have been successfully moved into your A.I Smart Base.]
"Your A.I. is rather smart, isn't she?" Obliviscaris watched through his Dao vision two massive robotic hands touch their Shelter and through Fenrich's A.I. as the focal point, transferred everything away leaving the place bare bones.
"Do you plan to destroy this Shelter now? Nobody else can gain its benefits now that the Shelter Core is gone." Obliviscaris questioned with interest.
"I plan to move the foundations of this Shelter to our Smart Base, I will use this as a structure to be built upon for all of those that have chosen to walk the road of Professions. This will also be a housing quarters for those that have not sworn fealty to me, until they swear to serve, they will not be given access to the resources or luxuries that my Smart Base has to offer. They will still be given three daily meals, clothes and minor opportunities. But they are not to be treated with the same standards as those that serve me."
The Sage grinned showing off his yellow teeth, "Huh, entering the Emperor's Path really does make one smarter intuitively doesn't it?"
Fenrich smiled, taking the jab thrown his way in stride, "It's good to have you back, asshat."
"You know you love me." The Sage smiled wider as he thought of something else, "Hey, why don't we also use the old Shelters husk to make a brewery. I'm sure your Smart Base is probably dry, and with tight control and restrictions on alcohol, there is no chance of wanton alcoholism running rampant. It will motivate more people if they know they can get a drink after a long day."
"We shall see, don't think I don't know what you're up to you booze hound." Fenrich didn't deny it nor fully commit either. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't interested in brewing specialty alcohols, they were a great source of income just as much as it was an enjoyment.
The next few minutes after, the Sage summoned a portal and brought out an unconscious Ren from the solo dungeon he conquered in Carleton Place. His body was stained with a mix of red, blue and black blood dried onto him.
With all that done, Fenrich went back outside and finished helping the clean up crew, absorbed all the corpses of the dead that fell to the Alzavarius Empire, while taking Aaron hostage as he was knocked out cold and tied up with thick and multiple layers of bindings.
"He has the highest affinity with the Empyrean Aegis Cultivation Manual, a unique Class that should not yet exist, and yet it does. Fate and Karma are not your average playboys it seems. I'll take care of the Soul Bonding process, I know you'd love nothing more than to rip this dipshit apart. But he has far more uses as a slave than dead." The Sage spoke as he tapped Fenrich on the shoulder.
With everything taken care of now. Fenrich returned with Nauja and the rest while tasking her to transport everybody back to the Smart Base in batches. The young and elderly were given priority, while the rest would get their turn as it arrived.
The Sage took care of getting all the stockpiled loot, food and resources their group had gathered, and brought it back to the Smart Base, greatly bolstering all the food stuffs and other various resources needed for building, and enhancing the level of the Smart Base and its various functions.
After everything was all said and done it was now mid afternoon. Fenrich was sitting atop the Smart Base looking out at the now hundreds of people going in and out, or the curious few to get used to their new surroundings.
Three hundred meters away was the "carcass" of the Shelter. Everything important had been stripped and integrated within the Smart Base. There were now construction bots brought out by the OAS, repairing the damage done and building the new lodging.
The underground was having alchemy laboratories built, piped and insulated so that no failed concoctions could potentially wipe out those that were housed within.
There were drill yards being built outside that were capable of holding 85 individuals each, Fenrich paid a lump sum of 2.4 million Survivor Coins for the drill yards to be enhanced with formations, increased gravity within their area, increase Skill level up rates, and a Master ranked puppet with Master ranked Weapon Mastery skills of various weapons.
Since everything was within the radius of the Smart Base, all the buffs and everything else Eden would be able to soon provide would also affect everything and everybody within her sphere.
Fenrich began looking at his level 25 Status Page before deciding on his next course of actions. After his other half killed all the high leveled Alzavarius Empire Elites with their limiters on, it was enough to completely fill out his experience to reach level 25. The rest of the stockpiled experience points, Fenrich was unsure as to how they would affect him going into Class Evolution. The only thing he knew was his body felt like it had 20x the amount of experience points that it could handle.
Name: Fenrich
Level: 25
Experience Points: 6,240,000/6,240,000 (174,720,000 Over Saturation)
Race: ??? ???
Health: 8,041/8,041
Stamina: 8,720/8,720
Mana Points: 8,140/4,440
Strength: 890 (954) [65% Efficiency]
Endurance: 830 (872) [65% Efficiency]
Vitality: 801 (841) [65% Efficiency]
Agility: 974 (1,008) [65% Efficiency]
Intelligence: 798 (814) [65% Efficiency]
Physique: 461 (481) [45% Efficiency]
Mana: 410 (430) [45% Efficiency]
Luck: 385 (400) [45% Efficiency]
Sense: 318 [45% Efficiency]
Soul: 194 [45% Efficiency]
Undistributed Attribute Points: 560
[You have more attribute points coming your way, partner.]
"Why would that be?" Fenrich questioned the husky that was now laying its body curled up against him.
[Because your current body is utter trash and couldn't handle to gain a single one of my level ups. If it weren't for your Firmament Defiance Greatsword greatly enhancing your current attribute pool, you still wouldn't gain a level up from me. But luckily, here we are, be prepared for the sting of pain you're about to feel.]
[Your Soul Bound Abyssal Symbiote ?????????? has leveled up from level 1> 2. You have gained +375 to all your basic attribute points and +200 to all your advanced attribute points.]
Fenrich's body felt like it had just absorbed an obscene amount of energy, it was to the point that it was about to blow up.
[Let me take over the reins from here, partner. The pain won't last for much longer.]
[Ding! You have used up 130,000,000 experience points to upgrade your Life Rating to Early E Tier Life Form. Gains the Title - Evolved: When undergoing your first Class Evolution, a random Gene Lock will be unlocked upon a successful transition to F grade.
[Ding! You used up 44,720,000 to enhance your Physique and foundations to 2 Star quality. You have gained +150 basic attribute points and +70 advanced attribute points. Your basic attributes have gained +15% efficiency. Your advanced attribute points have gained +10% efficiency.
Fenrich read his new attribute page as a form of distraction as the pain slowly began lessening.
Name: Fenrich
Level: 25
Experience Points: 6,240,000/6,240,000
Race: ??? ???
Health: 14,010/14,010
Stamina: 14,220/14,220
Mana Points: 13,840/13,840
Strength: 1,479 (1,523) [80% Efficiency]
Endurance: 1,397 (1,422) [80% Efficiency]
Vitality: 1,361 (1,401) [80% Efficiency]
Agility: 1,533 (1,588) [80% Efficiency]
Intelligence: 1,339 (1,384) [80% Efficiency]
Physique: 750 (771) [55% Efficiency]
Mana: 700 (720) [55% Efficiency]
Luck: 670 (690) [55% Efficiency]
Sense: 588 [55% Efficiency]
Soul: 464 [55% Efficiency]
Undistributed Attribute Points: 560
[Ding! You have gained 1,000 basic attribute points in all your attributes, you have gained the Title - Elite: Gains +15% efficiency to all basic attributes.]
[Ding! You are the first person on Earth to have gained a total amount of more than 10,000 attribute points across your basic and advanced attribute points. You have gained the Title - Berserker: Gains a 0.21x multiplier to all of your basic attribute points.
"We have been together long enough now, you know my name. I should at the very least be able to learn your name, and more about you as an Abyssal Symbiote." Fenrich communicated with curiosity and a thirst for hunger.
[My name is Azh'Lucien, I am the right hand to Azh'Kirantu. In the Omniverse terms, I am a Paragon of the Abyss, I serve only the Abyssal Void God King. That is all that you need to know for now, anything more will only pollute you. My name is too long so just call me Lucien instead.]
"How about Luci?"
[OH! You can fuck right the hell off! Just as things were starting to get wholesome you ruined it! What are you gonna do, call me a parasite again?!]
"Ye-"
The Abyssal husky was like an ambulance starting up. Or in this case a very, very irate huskulance that wouldn't stop wee wooing aggressively right next to his left ear.
"Fenrich!"
A similar voice called out as Lucien and himself stopped their bantering back and forth, and took a look behind themselves. Laura was breathless as she hauled herself up and over with dozens of 10 meter tall boulders tied to her feat.
"Your.. uncle is… killing us"
Laura flopped herself down onto the cooled rooftop, sweating profusely and her chest rising and falling at an increased pace.
[Nice.]
"You're a filthy bastard, you."
[Awwooragh-]
"Would you perverts stop looking at me that way. And you, Fenrich. I have a bone to pick with you!"
Laura snapped as her body shot forward like she were the undertaker.
"Fuck you for progressing so fast, your Uncle Bao put on an additional six boulders to me when he noticed things became too easy for me. We should also push ourselves a lot more before we get our Class Evolutions. My highest class so far was of Rare rarity and gave Skills most effective against zombies and all of their evolutions. This apocalypse is not as simple as just zombies, the next best was an Uncommon class named Sword Slave. It fits well as to what I am, but has extremely heavy restrictions."
Fenrich let out a sigh of relief, thankfully it seemed Isabella did not share the details beyond herself.
"That's not a problem, there are a lot of Region Bosses, Raid Bosses and wandering Bosses. With Naujas help, it isn't impossible for all of us to rack up contributions for higher rarity classes by hunting them down while claiming their loot drops." Fenrich said as got ready to hop down from the roof of the Smart Base.
The next hour flew by rather fast and with a lot of unpleasantness taken care of. Aaron, the Dark King, Emperor Alexander, Warlord Anderson, Empress Yasmine, Thunder Magus Alannah, Apostle, Nihility, Midnight Reaper had all been successfully Soul Bound to Obliviscaris.
"Order Aaron to implant them all with the seeds of the Empyrean Aegis Cultivation Method." Fenrich said coldly, still wishing to slaughter all the people before him. They were all a big part of the reason for the humans of Earth to be annihilated.
The process was quick and easy being finished before Fenrich could blink his eyes. Having read their before status page and afterwards status page. They all acquired 350 basic attribute points on average, and 200 advanced attribute points. Showing just how unfathomably monstrous their potential and natural talents were.
The seeds would over time slowly affect each individual making their thoughts and actions inline with the person who infected them with the seeds. Since that person was Soul Bound to Obliviscaris who was loyal to Fenrich, it mattered not. They would gain in power and gain an increase to their affinities and talents making them all the more monstrous in the future.
"Eden, after Laura and the rest are done with training, ensure they have a nutritious meal and are well rested. Inform them to take this group of prisoners out and get their levels caught up. My last instructions still apply and take precedence. Have Uncle Bao go through the spatial rings and bags of Irainia and those from the Alzavarius Empire. My core group takes precedence on first choice options, the rest will trickle out to the rest of the people."
Fenrich called out mentally and began his hunt once more. The Alzavarius Empire being summoned to Earth and paying a big enough sum to gain a small form of freedom was a wake up call.
Fenrich was on edge, wanting to gather as many survivors as possible, convince the otherworldly forces to leave. Or alternatively wipe out the forces held back by the OAS until the Integration Period ended.