John was very confident in the superiority of his system and abilities, yet he harboured a lingering uncertainty regarding his friends. They simply weren’t ready.
The humans who had entered this trial struggled against the machine swarms; their failure was usually attributed to a few specific handicaps: the locking of their initial powers by the trial’s rules and a crippling lack of knowledge about the Source Code World.
All this was destined to change the mont John claid a territory. The decrease in one’s strength was a side effect of belonging to a fallen race. And the lack of knowledge would be solved by him and his friends.
He was sure the humans coming to the pocket trials in the future would fare way better than previous human waves. And that would invoke a sense of greed and envy, a desire to take the privilege away from him and his friends by brute force.
John wasn’t the type to get drunk on his current streak of victories and forget the bitter, cold reality waiting for them back ho. Even if he was a god within the confines of this pocket trial, he was still an unknown commoner back on Athanasia. His friends, by comparison, were even more vulnerable.
Attempting to compare their current standing with the established power structures of the human race was a futile exercise; the scales didn’t just tilt toward the Paragons, they collapsed under their weight.
John wanted to mirror the success of the initial Bulltors conquerors by inducing a grand shift in the power balance of Athanasia, but he knew there were a thousand variables to consider before he could strike.
First, there were the Paragon factions themselves, monolithic entities driven by greed and conflicting ideologies. Then, there was the problem of the populace.
Normal people were conditioned to worship Paragons as their leaders, while the stronger warriors craved more power and prestige, which they could only obtain by serving those very sa Paragons.
On top of these barriers, he knew the machines wouldn’t stand idle. Mark wouldn’t stand idle. The mont they stepped out of this trial, a target would be painted on their backs.
He was sure Mark wouldn’t keep his word, would spread the facts about John and his friends all over his traitors. On top of that, he would spread the rumour regarding killing John to get the ownership rights of the new territory and portals.
John expected swarms of assassins attacking the academy, and lots of attempts to clash against their widely announced base of operations. He would handle the forr using personal strengths and various defences. And he intended to handle the latter using deceit.
That was precisely why John didn’t care about the philosophical bickering between Ricky and Cissel. He ignored the noise and focused on the real gains he stumbled upon: he had two Paragons on his side. And he had two others who belonged to strong families serving Paragons.
"Here is what we are going to do," John said, his voice cutting through the tension. "We return to the academy and conduct a thorough, deep search until we find a location suitable to serve as our hidden base. Once fortified, we spread the word subtly. We announce the rise of a new entity: The Anomaly God Paragon."
Using this fake identity, John and his team would begin luring families and desperate factions to their side. In exchange for their loyalty, John would provide three things the established Paragons couldn’t compete against.
First, he would offer guaranteed passage through the portal to the Source Code World. Second, he would provide valuable intel on the nature of the trials and the most efficient ways to conquer them.
Finally, he would provide advanced defensive structures and specialised gear as paynt for the elite services, and in exchange for different treasures.
John knew that the most valued item in all of Athanasia was the Miraculous Drug, the catalyst for human evolution. The Paragons built their prestige and influence by monopolising the drugs. However, he had an alternate way to handle the power demand.
He had Ricky. That Paragon reincarnation had the ability to create Bug Dungeons, and John had the unique ability to systematically destroy them and harvest the refined bug codes, turn them into his version of the Miraculous Drugs.
John didn’t bother hiding the fact that he was fully aware of the connection between Ricky and the hidden dungeons across the academy. He watched as Ricky underwent another round of visible scare, doubt, and shock.
To Ricky, it felt as though John was seeing through him, peering into his very soul as if he were standing naked in a cold wind.
Yet, John didn’t waste ti explaining the deeper connection between the miraculous drug and the dungeons, nor did he ntion anything about his ability to form a different version of the drug. He simply asked Ricky to be ready to create more of these dungeons once they returned, without explaining why.
On top of that, John knew there was another, perhaps more potent thod to unlock human potential: The Activated Cores.
John wasn’t entirely sure if the cores would function the sa way back on Athanasia as they did within the trial. He and his friends had already exhausted their initial usage quotas.
However, he had the Fog Golden Cores in his inventory, the ones capable of resetting the core limit and allowing for reuse. John currently held three of them, and he intended to experint with one of them the mont they returned to the academy.
If it worked, he would have a second thod to evolve humans and unlock their hidden attributes. To ensure he had a sufficient supply, he intended to reactivate more dens and summon the Wrathers and yellow monsters before taking final control and ending the trial. And he would receive paynt in the special cores in exchange for valuable intel and strong defences.
Like this, he had two different thods to establish his authority. He doubted the Paragons would stand a chance against him.
However, his friends didn’t share his enthusiasm. To them, the plan sounded like a suicide mission.
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