"...fucking Cthulu Whale." Ashton grumbled as he drove the mobile safehouse.
If it wasn't obvious yet, Ashton really despises the thing already. He hates everything about it; its size, its appearance, strength, tentacles, and everything that it stands for.
The damn thing has been a nuisance to him these past couple of days. Every four or six hours of his sailing, the whale would suddenly appear and will try to swallow him along with the safe house. It really grinds his nerves but he had no other choice, he had to endure it.
Ashton would've loved to bring this thing down. Oh, how he wanted to shove several grenade shells in its tentacled mouth and watch it implode from the impact.
Sadly for him, this doesn't really work. He already attempted it before and it didn't even tickle the damn thing. Whatever this thing's made out of, it's extremely durable.
This is why Ashton could only take this one step at a time. Sailing every now and then, keeping vigilant of its whereabouts. Once it shows up, he runs away and waits until it disappears before trying it out again.
Since the whale is too damn strong for him to handle, who says that he has to kill it? He can always just run away, there's no shame in doing that.
'If it's stupid and it works, then it ain't stupid.' - Wise Words said by a Wise Man.
This was how he planned on solving headaches.
Still, this doesn't mean that he likes this process. He particularly hates the way how helpless he is against this thing. Even with all the progress, he made with his training and cultivation, it's not enough to injure this thing, not even a single bit.
But again, he doesn't have a choice other than this so it'll have to do.
Thankfully though, it's only the whale that's showing interest in him so far. Ashton would probably lose his mind if there's another one. Also, he's nearly at the other side. He'd only have to endure this for a bit more and he's out.
"It's getting anxious too..." he murmured while watching the whale thrash around the rivers in search of him.
The whale had been following him religiously and the closer he got to the other side, the more desperate it got. It's tracking him more and more, plus it stays around for longer too, which delays his voyage as well.
The cunningness and intelligence of demons are something that Ashton really doesn't like about them. The more he interacts with them, the cleverer they get and he doesn't like that.
Anyways, he's already at the last stretch of his river voyage. Unlike the whale, Ashton had time to spare so there was no need to rush it. The whale can try as much as it liked but Ashton will never become its food so it could only dream.
And because he finds its existence hateful, Ashton clearly has no problem letting it suffer as he takes it easy. It's just fair that he stresses it out too like the way it stresses him out.
"Damn! Woo! Finally out of that damn river! Woo!" Ashton cheered in delight as soon as the safehouse arrived on land once more.
He looked back at the river and raised his middle finger at it, feeling the stifling pressure on his chest disappear once he left that place. He laughed when he heard the echoing snarl of the deep river Chthulu Whale. It's clearly angry but did he care? Not at all. In fact, that made him even happier.
What should take him only three days, got extended to a week because of that damn thing. Now that he's out of its reach, how could Ashton not be happy?
Driving the safehouse into the familiar corrupted ground, his heart felt light. He even hummed a tune as he peacefully drove away from that river.
Of course, this doesn't mean that he lowered his vigilance. He didn't forget that he's still treading on dangerous territory.
He still scanned his surroundings now and then. He saw some demons but none of them attacked him because of the corrupted coating of the safe house. Plus, the ones around here were infants or teenagers. He could kill them in a blink of an eye should they dare attack him so he's not worried for now.
'Alright, now that I'm out of that god-forsaken river, my next destination is a bit more manageable.'
Ashton unfolded the map and traced his tracks.
'If I follow this path correctly, I should encounter the ruins of a Demonic City.'
Following the map created by the expeditioners, the Demonic City was his next landmark.
During their expedition, the group of adventurers discovered this location. Here they found traces of a thriving demon civilization. It's a city filled with sin and filth. The group apparently witnessed unspeakable acts when they investigated this place.
Also, this is where they discovered how the demons experimented on their own kind to squeeze out more power from their bloodline and corruption.
The expeditioners made a unanimous decision to raze the city to the ground. Swearing to not leave even a single demon behind. They also destroyed all their ritual tools and scriptures, not leaving a single trace of them in their wake.
This is where they expended a lot of their resources, which is stupid and caused them to suffer in their future journey. Nevertheless, they were successful in their plan and all that's left of the demonic city are its ruins.
'It's been a long time since the expedition did that though.' Ashton mused to himself. 'I wouldn't be surprised if those ruins are now crawling with demons again.'
'I also wouldn't be surprised if they rebuilt the city again.' He added.
A lot of things can happen so long as there's time. Demons, as much as they disgust Ashton, are a clever race. They are cunning and smart. It wouldn't be too surprised if they somehow enabled themselves to rebuild the city from scratch.
If that's the case, then Ashton's probably arriving at another strategic demon base again.
'Well, with my current speed, I'll arrive there soon. Around three to five days, I guess. I'll see what's up then.' He decided inwardly.
For now, he takes it easy. He just left a risky zone. Even though he barely did any fighting, he still felt exhausted.
He doesn't need a vacation again this soon since he just had one, he's going to be fine after sleeping.
Once the sun was down, Ashton retreated to the library and kept the safehouse on his inventory.
Aria greeted him as soon as he arrived.
"I see you've crossed the River of Tar." She said while they were resting in their room.
"Yes, finally out of that damn place. I'm heading towards the Demonic City though, it's probably been rebuilt by demons."
"If that's the case, you can decide what to do when you arrive there." She stated, "I mean, you have more means under your belt to deal with them compared to the expeditioners. I'm sure you'd be fine."
"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too."
"Oh! That reminds me, I think I'm close to deciphering the foreign language!" Aria cheerfully said.
Ashton's eyes widened as he asked: "Really?"
"Really." She nodded, "I can understand most of the things that are written in the blueprints. Plus, thanks to you letting me experiment with the Demon Trinkets it might not be long before I can start replicating 'The Core'."
"That's awesome!!" Ashton jumped from his seat and cradled Aria, much to her exasperation. "I knew you could do it!"
"Thanks!" She smiled.
"If I rank up some more, I could probably elevate my status in the library as well." He stated, "If I succeed, that means we can make more renovations for the library!"
"If we could replicate 'The Core', we can install it in the library. We can then have more means of manufacturing materials. Maybe we can even build the entire 'ARC'!!!"
This was really a piece of pleasant news for Ashton. The news was so good that the recent annoyance and irritation he felt for having to deal with the Cthulu Whale's harassment, melted like snow under the summer's heat.
Unlocking this technology is a major breakthrough for mankind. The 'ARC' is more than capable of ensuring their survival. How can he not be happy?
"Well, if we want to replicate the whole 'ARC', then we need a lot of Demon Trinkets as well as Angelic Remains. That'd force you to travel the outside world more which would probably put you in more danger." Arai stated solemnly.
"I don't mind that!" Ashton exclaimed. "I kind of forced to do that anyways. In this journey we're at, I'd encounter a lot of them anyways that around the time I arrived back at Last Bastion, we probably have everything we need to build the city itself. It's fine, I can handle that."
Ashton didn't mind. If it means that he'd be more powerful and more capable once he returned home, he truly doesn't mind.
"Alright then, let's do our best."
"Yeah, let's."
