Chapter 456: The Beginning Of The End
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_
"Mayor Carmen, we are here on a very important mission. I hope you will corporate. " Dark clouds gathered on Samantha's face as she spoke.
"You humans are no fun. I thought I could play with you guys a bit longer."
Samantha and Wang Tong heard clacking noises and realized that the gates of the halls were all shut; they were trapped.
"This is mutiny!" A few words tumbled out from Samantha's clenched jaws.
"Congratulations Wang Tong, you have seen through our covers. But what are you going to do now? Oh right...you are still injured...Aw...how sad!"
Carmen waved a hand, and a few dozen soldiers swarmed into the meeting room, surrounding the visitors.
Carmen linked his hand behind his back and watched his plan unfold. "Haha, resistance is futile! All your bases belong to us! "
"Carmen, what is the meaning of this?" Samantha gathered herself and tried to reason with Carmen. Meanwhile, she readied herself for a tough fight.
"Haha, well, I guess there is no need to keep the facade anymore. But, I think you know who we are and what we want."
"So it's true. You have sold your soul to the Zergs. You are working for cockroaches!"
"NO! We work for no one but ourselves. But thanks to the Zergs, we have gained a new body. It is a gift that you can never dream of. You stinky planet dwellers never cared about us, so don't judge us. You have no idea what it was like!" Carmen's voice was filled with contempt and indignation. In the eyes of the confederation, people in the space city were second-class citizens. They wandered around from city to city, and never had a place to call home. Without a home, they were weak and exploitable.
As Carmen was still absorbed in the promise of revenge, he heard Samantha shouted out loud, "Charge!"
Samantha knew this moment would come, so she had played along Carmen's game, trying to gain more time for the Ark's forces to mobilize.
Jansining howled as he started firing at the guards that surrounded them. Meanwhile, Wang Tong cranked up his soul energy and initiated the Einherjar Lance.
Wang Tong decided to go after the head of the operation as he charged toward Carmen directly.
"Kom!"
Carmen snatched the lance right in front of him with much ease. Wang Tong was taken it back by the development. He thought the attack would be able to injure the mayor at least, if not outright killing him.
"Hehe, very impressive, young man. But, it's not enough!" Carmen said with an ugly sneer on his face.
Samantha didn't bring too many guards with her, thinking that Patroclus would be more than enough to fend off any aggression. However, the Ivantian warrior was nowhere to be seen. In less than a heartbeat, half of the guards she had brought with her were slain by the monsters that surrounded them. Bullets didn't seem to work on Carmen's soldiers, as they would stand up and fight again after being hit by a barrage of steel.
Carmen pushed the lance away, sending Wang Tong stumbling back a few feet.
"Excuse me. I haven't officially introduced myself yet. My name is Carmen, that, you already know. I am one of the eight Dharmapala of our God, like the Einherjar in your world." All the while, Carmen held a contemptuous look on his face.
Samantha's heart sank. She conceded that she had underestimated the situation and was not prepared.
"Join us, Wang Tong! Our master thinks very highly of you. You could be like Patroclus and receive a new, indestructible body. Think about the pleasure while you watch as the world crumbles beneath your feet or as your enemies are brought down to their knees. It's the law of nature that decrees humanity's perceptual evolution. So, embrace it, young man. Embrace it… or DIE!" Carmen's voice changed its tone and pitch as if more than one person were speaking through his throat—if that really was a throat in between his shoulder and neck.
"I'm not planning on becoming a bug anytime soon." Wang Tong said coldly as he inched toward Samantha. Meanwhile, he used his soul energy to call upon Mr. Wannabe. However, he got no answer.
"Call us whatever you want, but you can't change the fact that we are superior to both the Zergs and humans. By combining the two, we have transcended into godhood. If you don't believe me, ask your friend Patroclus for yourself."
"So...it is true—" Wang Tong was stunned by the revelation.
Samantha could tell that Carmen was determined to coax Wang Tong to become the next Patroclus. He must have gotten the order to recruit Wang Tong. Otherwise, he would have already killed him.
The transcendence from a mortal coil to godhood was a dangerous process, and only people such as Wang Tong and Patroclus who had impeccable physic and perfect soul energy would be able to withstand the incalculable strain. Carmen had finished half of his task with ease. However, the other half was not budging.
"And, let me remind you-you don't have a choice. There will be nowhere to go back to anyways. Hehe...your Ark will cease to exist in just a few moments."
"Patroclus?" Wang Tong looked over Carmen's shoulder as if he saw his old friend, an old trick he had learned from Old Fart.
Carmen was caught off guard, so he about turned. But, before he realized that it was a ruse, Wang Tong dashed past the mayor to Samantha.
"Follow me… CHARGE!"
"KOM!"
The ground trembled as Wang Tong finally unleashed his coup de grace.
Carrying Samantha over his shoulder, Wang Tong darted out of the room amidst the chose.
Carmen grinned and murmured, "I won't let you get away!" In a blink of eyes, Carmen had already caught up with Wang Tong. He raised a sharp blade behind Wang Tong's back and hacked.
Sensing the incoming attack, Wang Tong acted out of instinct. However, he regretted his move as soon as his lance came to contact with the blade. With Samantha on his shoulder, it was impossible to unleash his full strength. As their dire situation setting in, Wang Tong becomes increasingly worried about their safety.
The sense of urgency spurred Wang Tong to open his sea of consciousness fully. Suddenly, Jansining charged at Carmen and groped the latter's legs to hinder his movement.
"Wang Tong, take Samantha out of here! Let me handle it here!" Jansining shouted out hysterically; it was basically a suicidal move.
"Jansining—"
"Shut up and move!"
"Pest!" Carmen cursed under his breath as he hewed his blade at Jansining. The sharp edge sliced through Jansining's sword like cutting through butter, and landed on the old soldier's alloy cyborg arm. The arm was made out of special alloy, and therefore, it was able to ward off the attack, but not for too long.
Jansining tightened his grip.
"F*ck off!" Carmen struck again. Blood spilled out of Jansining's mouth, painting the ground dark-red.
Swarms of Zerg-Human hybrids surrounded Wang Tong. By then, the humanoids had taken off their disguise, revealing their true faces.
"Go, Wang Tong! Take care of my daughter!" Jansining shouted.
"Go? Where? Haha!" Carmen laughed.
"Komm!"
Wang Tong charged up his soul energy as he stormed out of the room with Samantha. He didn't have the heart to look back, but if he did, he would see that although Jansining's body had been severed into two, there was a smile hanging on his face.
Without wiping the blood off his pants, Carmen announced, "Attack the Ark!"
"Sir, the Ark is detaching from the dock."
"ATTACK, NOW!"
"Yes, sir!"
The battle ignited instantly on the dock. Soldiers of the Ark quickly noticed that they were under attack by Zergs and their humanoid counterparts. They were surprised to see the two could communicate with each other with ease, and fought side by side in the same unit.
"Captain, we are under attack. Zergs and humanoid Zergs."
"Captain, we have multiple sightings on the radar. We need to un-dock right now."
Kaost knotted his brows and announced, "Un-dock."
"But Samantha and others are still out there." One of the officers piped up.
"Do as I say!" Kaost shouted.
In the corner of the cargo storage, a container's gate swung open from the inside and unleashed a swarm of Zergs.