There were still a few stages in the plan that had to be sorted, but that was the gist of it. Feldon and Kyle organised the mercenary force under them to sortie out. A new name was given to the force as well to show a sense of solidarity amongst the people rather than just pivoting around Kyle as the figurehead.
“ADCON? What does that stand for?” Feldon was confused.
“Anaconda Defense Contractors.”
“You really got something for snakes, don’t you?”
“Have to stick to the naming convention.”
It would take a while for the name to stick, but as long as Kyle kept the men well-fed and in high spirits, he believed he could eventually transform the mercenary group into a professional fighting force. I have all the equipment and weapons necessary – I just need time.
However, time waited for no one: He needed to strike Tenar within a week as hard as he could, based on his plan and agreement with Count Leon. This was an opportunity he could not let up if he wanted to have any shot at making Versia a puppet.
That had always been the end goal of Kyle, ever since he wanted to build a weapons factory in Versia with the help of Dekar. Making Versia a puppet would allow him near free reign to act like a warlord.
Kyle was on the clock: if he did not make it to Tenar in time to make full use of Count Leon’s frontal attack, then he knew Count Leon would retreat immediately to focus on Ocra and subsequently retake Raktor back from the major gangs who were now running the city like their own fiefdom.
Kyle quickly set up the supply network to Count Leon’s forces, using the stealth hovercraft to airdrop packages onto designated landing areas for the troops to pick up, replenishing their supplies.
As such, he needed to quickly enter the catacombs and re-establish a forward base of operations. The only way he could think of entering was via the dungeon again, but there was a catch.
“If we go through the same way we left the dungeon, then the trial will activate again,” Kyle explained as they began to mobilise, the newly christened ADCON platoons moving out towards the entrance of the dungeon.
There was already existing infrastructure there set up, with Kyle having created a base of sorts to both train the ADCON recruits and act as a scouting base to warn of any signs of the Warden Drones returning in force.
They had already been regularly making trips down to the same cavern, fighting against rock spiders in an intensive, gruelling training session over the last two weeks, hardening the ADCON recruits into experienced fighters, though only against monsters.
Instead of clearing out the trial, Kyle plotted out the estimated map of the dungeon. “We can use the existing tunnel network that the mineral ants themselves has dug. Instead of entering the trial cavern, we should fly the other way and scout for an exit.”
Kyle himself went to scout, flying through the hollowed-out tree trunk that served as a large corridor towards the expected location of the first cavern where he had previously completed the Trial of the Horde.
Sure enough, there was a gaping hole near the expected location, where it led right down to the crushed rest area, the dead body of the queen spider and the three middle-class slovesa still there. Kyle recalled the queen spider fell through the cluster of gemstones as well, so he had a slight expectation that he would be able to access it through the top. Is the entire hollowed-out tree trunk a sort of emergency access pathway?
There would be time to investigate the formation of the dungeon later. For now, he got the mercenaries to begin the transfer of supplies here before laying down rail tracks that went all the way down the passageway towards the original entrance that Kyle and Feldon entered by.
The steel factory of Desham made a few rapid versions of railway tracks. They were not of the best quality, but Kyle didn’t need comfort – he needed speed. The tracks were laid out quickly, aligned and locked into place.
“Gas masks on,” Kyle ordered as they reached the end of the passageway, where they reached the collapsed end of the passageway. He got two mineral ants to begin digging a large enough pathway leading back towards the old workshop area that Feldon had previously set up.
The workshop was a complete mess, with most of the equipment already stolen by Nest. Only empty tables and crates were left behind, with the furnace even missing. The traces of Agent Black had already dissipated, making the air safe to breathe again.
“Begin the set-up. This will be our new base for the next week.”
Weapons and equipment were hauled over, with squads beginning to fan out through the catacombs, utilising a map co-authored by Kyle and Hayden, who still had a good memory of the secret channels used.
“If Dekar is still in Tenar, he most likely will be hiding in one of these thirty chambers,” Hayden explained. “Either that, or he’s hiding in one of the overground bases. There are ten of them.”
As the squads began to move through the catacombs, they began to deploy bombs positioned at the locations indicated. Many of them were structural, placed at seemingly meaningless places. Hayden glanced at the map of explosives, trying to figure out what Kyle was aiming for.
Kyle had stolen the bombs from Versian and Yual military convoys, which could be activated via a wireless command. He had modified the engraving such that they worked on a specific frequency that would not be jammed once he deployed his own jamming radio.
There were plenty of other things to prepare and take care off – the most important being making sure the city had no anti-air defences. After his confrontation with the Nest Division, he had no doubt the capital would be well protected against stealth air infiltration.
The various squads began to report back as they swept through the catacombs, while Kyle crossed out the possible chambers Dekar could be in one by one. It wasn’t until later in the day that Dekar was finally found.
When Kyle got over there, the squad that found the chamber Dekar was hiding in was in a stand-off with Dekar’s followers, who aimed their rifles warily at them.
“Dekar, it’s me. Stand down.” Kyle removed his helmet, revealing his face.
“… Greyborn? Holy shit, you’re still alive! How did you survive?” Dekar quickly ordered his men to stand down before inviting Kyle into the chamber as well.
Kyle could hardly tell him he survived because of skills granted by the System, though it also made him curious as to how Dekar even survived Agent Black at all. As he entered the chamber, he noticed Zayin and Yona there as well. The atmosphere was noticeably depressive, with Kyle spotting a small little altar with candles lit up with a painting of the original revolutionaries mounted on it.
“I’m surprised you’re still here – I thought you would have ran away,” Zayin remarked, glancing at Kyle and his new ADCON squad. “Dekar was pretty sure you were dead, but I was more confident that you had given up.”
“I’m not going to give up until I get what’s due. I’m even more surprised by why Yona is even sticking with you guys.”
“I’ll be caught by Nest no matter where I go, Hwa Dynasty or Yual or Proco. Better to stick to others here.” Yona shrugged.
More like using them as potential diversions to escape if needed. Kyle didn’t press any further, instead asking Dekar again how did they survive.
“We ran the whole other way and jumped into the water to avoid the gas. We were swept down towards the outskirts of Creuliz.” Dekar explained.
“You jumped into the sewage water?” Talk about jumping into disease-ridden water to avoid a chemical purge.
“Why? Didn’t you do that?”
“Nevermind.” Kyle dismissed the topic, and instead focused on what he came here for. “Dekar, the deal is still valid to me.”
Dekar scoffed. “What deal? There’s no way we can take down the current government within your original two months. If you followed your original timescale, you only have a week left.”
“Then we’ll overturn Tenar in a week.”
Dekar was about to retort, but he soon noticed the equipment of the ADCON squad behind Kyle, their weapons and armour seemingly manufactured of a different design, causing his words to be stuck in his throat.
“If you work with me, I can help you restore the government.”
“It’s now impossible to restore the government – Johan is dead now. The Versian military killed him.”
“So you’re just going to give up?”
“Of course not!” Dekar snapped. “If anything, I am even more motivated to push his ideals forward. I will not let his death be in vain. None of us will.”
“Good, because I need you to be the next head of state.”
Dekar nodded. There was no point trying to act humble or defer to others – Dekar knew he was the next in line, the successor in terms of his previous governmental position. He clenched his fist tightly as he steeled his heart, ready to beat up those who had betrayed and killed Johan. “What do we need to do?”
“We need to spread the word. I need a diversion before attacking the government building.” Kyle explained the rough gist of the plan.
“That’s doable. We can have Zayin lead disruptive attacks and riots on other sides of the city to draw the military and guards away. We can pull the attention of Nest as well far away from the centre.”
Kyle brought Dekar, Zayin and Yona back to the main operating base. They sorted out assignments, with Kyle allocating a ADCON platoon to Zayin. “Make a ruckus. Let them know we mean business.”
“With pleasure.” Zayin grinned.
They continued targeting key defensive locations, planning to disable anti-air cannons and spotters positions. Kyle did not tell Dekar and Zayin yet about the existence of the stealth hovercraft, simply explaining it as a way of creating even more diversions.
As they began to scatter to prepare for the imminent coup, Kyle eyed Yona warily from a distance, wondering about what her purpose was. She is not linked to Nest any longer – if she ever tried to contact them, she would be dead on the spot, hunted down to the far ends of the galaxy.
Despite the obvious disassociation, she was a wild card in his plans, which could cause the chain of events to go off the rails very quickly. Just as he was contemplating about killing her off, she approached him of her own accord to his surprise.
“I want to join your forces.”
“ADCON?”
“Yes. I can provide a much better information network as well as improve your current espionage protocols.”
“Why?” Kyle asked warily.
“I know my limits – I’m not the type that can survive alone. Until Nest dies, I will never be able to stand freely on my own.”
“I am surprised you are willing to work under me then.”
“I only have allegiance to strength and money. Lose either one of these two, and perhaps I might change my mind then.”
“I’ll be sure to live up to your standards then. For now, it is better you stick to Dekar. I need you to ensure he doesn’t jeopardise the plan.”
Yona nodded. There wasn’t a need for explanation – Kyle was clearly planning to use Dekar as a figurehead and a puppet. Even Dekar knew about this: it was an open secret. However, it was an acceptable deal: anything was better than having Mornero in charge.
As they began to prepare, more and more ADCON soldiers came in from the dungeon, transported via hovercraft and then transferred to the makeshift railway tracks, barrelling down the passageway.
Dekar and his followers dispersed through the city, spreading rumours of an imminent attack and causing the people to panic, raising tensions. The local military was now out in force, trying to clamp down on the rumour and control stability within Tenar.
Soon, the word came in through the observer network Kyle had set up. “Boss, Count Leon has begun to move forward. He’s assaulting the frontline defence now!”
“Good. Operation is now in progress. Begin the diversion.”
M.G.Driver
I am currently doing shoutouts for authors who have stuck with me through the entire RR ordeal and gave me immense support that I needed. Especially those who didn't just ditch me because I 'lost' my worth, or took a shoutout from me on RR and ran away spreading baseless rumors about me.
Here is one that still is a friend.
Being ‘Plain Vanilla’ in a world that loves ‘Dark Truffle’ means you’re royally f*cked.
Cryptically being isekai-ed into a world of swords, magic, and mysteries was the last of Luke Raynott’s worries. The moment he had witnessed the abysmally low numbers in his ‘status window’, his senses as a gamer and an average Joe started jingling like bells in a Christmas Carnival.
That wasn’t the last of it, as he ended up getting the ‘Gunner’ class, a class with close to no practical usage in this world that depended on magic.
Will Luke be able to survive through the adversities and become stronger as an average person? Or will he become one of the cannon fodders of this erratically puzzling world?
Will he ever find out the reason behind his transmigration? Or will it all get blamed on the almighty truck-kun?
Join Luke’s not-so-average life in a world where an ant can be bigger than an elephant, and a whale can be the go-to Pokemo– beast for traveling in the sea.
Watch the tale of a ‘Pew Pew’ guy in a world of ‘Abracadabra’.
As with every shoutout including subsequent ones, please only click if you are interested in the blurb.
Personally, I found the story to be pretty well executed, and it comes with even better stat tables than mine like:
