Chapter 12: Carving Out Land

-Tian Zhang (C.U.I Guard) POV-

To say things had been going poorly for Tian Zhang would be an understatement. Nobody truly wished to be a guard at one of the many internment camps set up around the Emperor’s land. In his youth he had dreamed of working at his families farm, just as his ancestors had done for five generations. Alas that farm had gone up in flames when the corrupt parahumans had sought to take China for themselves.

His family had died then, and he was forced to soldier on alone. He had joined the Emperor’s army, for he had little other prospects in life. It had been decent, at least for a while. Yes the work was harsh but he also had his belly filled and his needs looked after, which was all he could hope for.

He had closed his eyes to the many atrocities he was forced to take part in, quietly close his heart to the begging people who he knew had done little wrong. He had to, otherwise it would be him who was sent away to the camps.

So it was the bitterest irony that he had been sent there anyway. He was charged to stand guard over the prisoners as they worked the land, slowly succumbing to the radiation bathing the area. As far as he knew he hadn’t done anything wrong to be sent here. Hadn’t talked back to his superiors or disobeyed orders, no it seemed sheer apathy had him placed here.

It was starting to wear on him. In the army you needed to be constantly aware of what you say and who is near, otherwise you end up like Xin who was demoted from guard and forced to work alongside the prisoners who remembered well what Xin had done to them.

They had found his body strung up a day later.

In the camp there was nowhere to truly rest. You couldn’t take off your protective equipment or you would begin to die. You had to keep a constant eye on your fellow soldiers and superiors because each and every one would betray your secrets for a chance of advancement out of this pit.

All the while the prisoners were present with nothing left to lose.

Tian sighed, the closest he would get to expressing his exhaustion and grief.

He only needed to wait five more days, and he would be transferred out of this horrific place. Hopefully to a rural village where he could expect slow patrols inspecting farmers and honest villagers.

As long as it wasn’t here or Hong Kong.

A flicker in the corner of his eye made him turn in curiosity, only to find… nothing?

Tian chuckled slightly. This place was getting to him, making him see things.

“Hey Rui, see anything out there?” He gestured to the dark and gloomy forest. It was a bit of a joke between them, he would ask and Rui would answer with something completely ridiculous like ‘a pink panda’.

Only silence greeted him.

“Rui?” He asked again. Had the man fallen asleep? Well it would probably be a good idea to wake him up before anyone else spotted him napping at the job, such a thing would also reflect badly on him.

He glanced around to see Rui missing.

His eyes widened as he desperately looked across the dismal concrete enclosure. Where had he gone? He was here just a second ago?

He reached down to his radio.

“Sir I think we-“

But he would never finish his sentence, for with a blur of light he disappeared. Leaving only a discarded radio on the floor.

-Many Miles Away-

Under the cover of night a sleek grey drone hovered above the ground, a manipulator arcing across the ground leaving ink in it’s wake. Perhaps if the drone was aware it would have considered the wavy patterns beautiful, but it was not so it did not.

Instead it continued it’s work. Meticulous and untiring.

The line of ink eventually met another as a fellow drone completed the line of ink that the other had begun. Neither drone made note of the other but both immediately ceased once the lines connected.

Then, with not a sound, they lifted up and away. Leaving only a still and quiet forest bearing arcane and intricate markings whose purpose was still unknown.

-Alexander POV-

All drones had been completed and sent off. They numbered in the thousands, and yet despite their quantity it would take them hours to complete their role.

That was okay, it would take hours for me to finish my part to play.

I had previously stated it would take ten hours for me to complete my masterstroke, and that was true but misleading. In truth there were two parts to his work. One would only take two hours while the other would take the remaining eight hours.

Because regardless of the city, the drones or the people none would matter without real defenders. I could build the most impressive fortifications and dedicate every waking hour to improving them and there would still be a random parahuman out there with just the right power to upend all of it.

Because each and every shard was utter bullshit, I knew this because I was also bullshit.

The Entities main method of gathering data was throwing whatever they could at a bunch of primitives and seeing what happened, and that sort of methodology required a truly gargantuan number of things to try out. Each parahuman was utterly unique in their power expression, even powers that appeared similar would be highly different in their exact mechanics.

Because the entities had billions of years of data to pull from, while I didn’t. I couldn’t plug every hole, couldn’t tighten up every defence. The city I built would need to be able to fight if it came to it.

So the first part of my masterstroke would be designing their heroes.

Something that would be easier with my newest acquisition.

CyberPunk Level 1- A vision of a dystopian future focused on rapid technological change with poor living conditions and invasions into personal lives by the rush of technology. This level focuses primarily on technology that is the size of a person or smaller.

Unlike all the other Punk specialisations this one felt oddly grounded and whole, and more to the point I actually recognised some of the technology.

The Sandevistan, the Soulkiller, AI, Dragoon bodies and oodles of cybernetic enhancements.

This was all technology from the tabletop turned video game that was Cyberpunk.

Which was perfect, because now I had all I needed to turn my drones into weapons of mass destruction.

Their frames were filled out with a thought, and I painstakingly crafted their enhancements. Cybernetics reduced to a fraction of their size by my Nanopunk specialty, while the various drawbacks were resolved through the sustainable focus of SolarPunk.

No going CyberPsycho for my creations.

All throughout I whispered prayers and incantations, strengthening their forms and shielding them from esoteric vectors of attack.

When I was satisfied I was left with a dozen or so bodies that could casually achieve Mach speeds and juggle tanks with zero effort. Each possessed weapons that would match any tinkers work, and surpass it tenfold.

And yet I did not desire mere robots with the strength and speed to paste most parahumans. I wanted heroes, teachers and inspirations to the people who would grow up in the new Jinzhou. For that they needed personality and will.

I smiled as I began to sing of a Victorious Fighting Buddha, of an intelligent stone monkey that fought all of heaven. Of a being who gained immortality many times over and challenged the Buddha himself.

The idea coalesced and began to imprint upon one of the still and lifeless bodies, it jerked in place. The smooth blankness of it’s face beginning to run like water, forming monkey like features. Smooth metal giving way to thick red hair, while the twitching hands quickly grasped the staff at it’s side.

Rule number one of fighting a massive global power: don’t allow them to do shit. Cut off their logistics, hit vital areas and otherwise being the most annoying jackass you could be.

I wasn’t specialised in such a thing. I had lived a peaceful and tranquil life before all of this and even now I preferred to create instead of destroy.

So I decided to outsource the problem, and give the role to one of the most abrasive and powerful cockroaches in all of China.

Sun Wukong’s eyes snapped open.

He looked at me for a short moment, before rolling his neck.

I simply smiled, already well aware of what he was about to do.

The strike hit me in my sternum and sent me rocketing towards the wall of my cave. Dust was kicked up into the air as I landed against the cold stone floor. I looked up, only seeing a last mocking wave as the red and gold form of Sun Wukong flew through the rock and dirt ceiling as if it wasn’t even there.

I remained smiling, he would do what I wanted regardless of whatever happened.

Which was being the biggest distraction I could possibly throw at China, good luck trying to kill or control him!

I stood up and willed the dust away from my form, before stepping towards the rest of the forms to begin once again. These would not be so chaotic, they would be designed with a desire to protect Jinzhou whatever might happen.

I once more began to sing.

-Sun Wukong POV-

The monkey broke through the dirt, screaming victoriously at the rising sun. He stopped for the moment, taking in the barren land and the strange zing in the air.

Eh, whatever. He was hungry. Where could he find some decent grub around here?

The forest was clearly a non-starter, with how poisoned it was.

I sniffed the air and exhaled clouds from his nostrils, so great was his exhalation.

Sweat, blood and shit. There was a city somewhere close by, a rather rancid city by the smell of things. But it was occupied and where there were people there would be food.

‘What odd Karma that I would be burst from rock into the world once again’

He shrugged the though off, just as he shrugged off the strange being he had just encountered. Too many arms in his opinion, brought up some bad memories.

With a mere twitch of his leg he had already crossed a hundred paces. Which was a bit embarrassing, he was clearly rusty from being sealed away for so long!

He licked his lips, already smelling the boiling fat and sizzling meat wafting from the rapidly approaching city. Oddly enough he could also see some massive palace in the distance.

Well that was good fortune, kings and gods always did have the best food, even if they were always perplexingly annoyed when he chose to help himself to their pantries.

Perhaps this one wouldn’t be so rude?

He crossed into the city, throwing up dust as he rocketed through the streets. He could hear people shriek in shock before the sound was just as quickly cut off as he moved past them.

Was it just him or were these people weaker than what he was used to?

Well it’s not like he ever bothered to check how strong the average peasant was in the past, nor did he have any inclination to do so now.

The doors of the palace were now in sight, as were the people guarding it. Oddly dressed figures flew in formation around the palace while two towering giants stood on either side of the gates.

‘Ah, good. I did want exercise before my meal’ was his only thought as he rushed to meet them. Before abruptly stopping just outside the palace, his staff held high in greeting.

Bah, he was growing soft in his old age, but perhaps he should try to use his manners first?

‘Perhaps they’ll let me in without a fight?’ the thought had barely left his head when the lead guard, just now recovering from his shock, pointed his spear directly at his chest.

“Unidentified parahuman! You will surrender or you will be killed, kneel and accept the Emperor’s grace!” the man yelled.

Geez, how many times had he heard that before?

Sun Wukong merely smiled back, teeth bared in an unspoken challenge.

“Make me.”

AN: Local Endbringer doesn’t want to be an agent of chaos so he makes another agent of chaos to do that for him. (Fake) Sun Wukong is now present on Earth Bet, everybody scream.