Chapter 151: Early Results
Early Results
Some time later.
’... Hm.’ Sunny Nerevas looked at the map and frowned.
’That’s not right.’ In front of him, the holographic map showed the different flag markers under the control of the different Apex heirs.
Between the 4 heirs, each chose a color to signify who owned what. Sunny’s flags were orange, Namor’s were purple, Kim’s were blue, and Seth’s were black.
Sunny consistently monitored the activities of the flags, taking note of which ones got captured by his people, or which of his got taken away.
However, what he was looking at now made him frown. That was because between now and the last time he’d checked, the number of flags he’d lost had increased sharply, by at least 20%.
Rather than panicking, though, he started to analyze the situation.
’Considering the new distribution of flags, the ones I lost were somehow split evenly between the other three. This could mean they entered an alliance to take me out of the picture quickly. The issue with that is that neither my spies or scouts have reported any of such activity. Everyone seems to be attacking each other normally thus far, so this leaves two possible.’ He started chewing his fingernail as he watched the constantly shifting map.
’Either there was a meet up that happened in secret... Or there was a third party involved.’ Sunny was inclined to believe the latter, and that was for one reason.
’Those three wouldn’t ally even if their lives depended on it. Well, I’m much the same, so it’s not surprising. Which begs the question, which third party could be responsible for this...’ As he was considering this, one of his subordinates suddenly ran up to him.
"Mister Sunny, there’s urgent news!" He glanced at the student who seemed to be a scout, and he gestured for him to speak. After a moment, they explained.
"The ones you told us to be on a lookout for, Kris and his group. They’ve made their move. Reports of them going around and capturing flags have been circulating." He explained quickly, and Sunny nodded, not surprised.
’I knew it, it was them.’ However, he noticed the scout still had something to say, so he gestured for him to speak.
"I... There’s something else." They continued with a slightly fearful look on their face.
"It seems like... they have someone else assisting them." That made Sunny raise a brow.
"Oh? Who is it?" At that, the scout shook his head.
"That’s the problem. We have no clue who it is. The visor of their helmet is transparent, so we can’t see their face. It wouldn’t be an issue... but we have no information on their ability either." Now that made Sunny pause.
"Explain." Hearing this, the scout quickly relayed all the information to him, and Sunny’s expression turned increasingly solemn.
’Someone with a transformation type ability we haven’t seen in our year. Strong enough to take out entire squads and more in just a few seconds. Who could that be? And how did those three get themselves such a powerful helper?’ He started biting his fingernail again, the sound stark. But he quickly calmed down.
’It’s fine their plan is obvious enough. They are trying to sow discord between the four of us. Considering we’ve already engaged each other, they most likely see it as a chance to remain low key and earn points, probably hoping we weaken each other when the inevitable final confrontation happens.’ He exhaled.
’Not a bad plan, all things considered. But we aren’t fools. I’m sure the others would have noticed as well. A well-placed trap ought to do the job. The problem is this new person. They are an unaccounted factor. I don’t like that.’ After a moment of consideration, he looked to the scout and gave an order.
***
’That makes the twelfth group.’ Mike stretched a little as he quickly retreated from the group of students he’d more or less wiped out.
When he was a sufficient distance away, he quickly canceled his Partial transformation, activated his aura at low output, and started jumping between trees towards a specific destination.
A few minutes later, he arrived at the agreed spot where Kris and Theresa lay in hiding.
It was the location where he and Kris had fought the Rat King. A small crevice near the large hole Kris had created to draw it into the lava lake.
Suppressing his presence, Mike crawled into the crevice that was just large enough for a few people to stand in, and there, Kris and Theresa were sitting, clearly waiting for him.
"Hey." He greeted simply, the helmet of his armor retracting. Kris just waved, and Theresa—whose eyes had been closed—opened, and she looked right at him.
"How was it?" She asked, and Mike also sat down.
"Sunny’s forces are starting to withdraw from where we were active. He should be preparing the preliminary bait for us now." He explained, and the other two nodded.
"The other three also seem to have realized a bit of what was going on. Their forces are converging in a roundabout manner. They’ve also split some of the people they wanted to use and attack the giant flower. Things are moving like you said." Kris also spoke.
"Then there’s the chaos you caused with your other ’persona’. People believe we have a powerful helper, so the three of them are wary to commit fully. From what I’ve noticed, that preliminary trap you mentioned was to gauge the capabilities of this ’persona’ so they know how to proceed from then on." Mike smiled at that.
With that, the scrutiny on him lessened significantly, as a lot of attention was now on his ’persona’. Meaning he had far more room to act.
’In terms of threat assessment, I’m the most underestimated due to my background as well as the timeliness of my getting my abilities. The only reason there is so much attention on me is due to Namor essentially placing a bounty on my head. With this, I’ve successfully reduced that scrutiny by a significant amount. Not even Namor will overlook this new variable if it can affect his plans. Now the question is what comes after...’ At this, Kris spoke.
"I’ve mapped out roughly 30% of the map by using my chains to burrow into the ground. And so far, I’ve spotted three locations that would be great for an ambush. The issue now is drawing them into any of those three spots." As he said this, Kris pulled up the map and pointed at three areas.
Theresa and Mike looked on with interest as he explained.
"The first location is here," He pointed to a spot that immediately made Theresa and Mike hesitate.
It was a large ravine that would make for an excellent ambush location if one succeeded in getting their target in it. The issue was...
"That’s barely a few kilometers from the giant flower. An altercation of that scale would absolutely draw it’s attention." Theresa said with a small frown, and Mike nodded in agreement. If that happened, they were under just as much threat of getting wiped out as everyone else.
Kris didn’t agree or disagree. Instead, he pointed to another location, which was right where they were.
"We have the advantage of knowing this place quite well, considering we are the reason it’s like this." He said simply, and this time, Mike and Theresa seemed a bit more receptive.
"The amount of remnant heat emanating from the lava below ground would amp my abilities considerably. And like you said, we have the advantage of knowing the terrain well." Theresa offered, but Mike seemed less keen.
"Issue with this option is that there aren’t that many positions for you to stay so you can use your archery effectively. Sure, you could just stay in another part of the map and snipe from there, but then you’d lose the heat advantage. Moreover, if your sister is among the attacking force, she will absolutely receive a buff from the heat as well." He explained, and Theresa fell silent as she mused that point.
Kris then pointed to the third location, and it was one Mike knew well.
"This is the forest Mike said he fought in a few days ago. Not only does he know it well, it provides a lot of coverage and spots to hide as well as ambush from. It’s a telltale perfect location to pull off something like this." Kris hummed, but Theresa wasn’t convinced.
"But?" She pressed, and Kris just looked at Mike who had an unreadable expression on his face.
’It is indeed a great spot. I can attest to that, since I spent over a day ambushing the Greenback Gorillas there.’ He frowned slightly. ’The issue is that I’ve already ’dealt’ with them. Even if we don’t attack them directly, the damage caused by an altercation of that scale is bound to affect the remnants. I’d rather not hurt the remains of prey I’ve already hunted.’ He shook his head.
Call him hypocritical, considering his hunting patterns, but the idea of causing harm to a target he’d already attacked and subdued once made him feel uncomfortable.
Seeing this, Kris and Theresa didn’t ask any questions and simply moved on.
