Chapter 1172: Change of Plans

When I heard about the migration of the ninjas to Chelsea’s inner world, I had to admit that I was impressed by the idea. Not to mention, she was already suggesting new technologies to her research team based on what she had observed from the inner world’s development. With this, I could imagine another technological boom on the horizon.

As I was thinking about that, a message window appeared in front of me, alerting me that Alkahest was trying to contact me. With a small nod, I accepted the conversation invitation, and another window appeared before me.

Alkahest: Sorry it took me so long to get in touch. I’ve been busy with some work in my world. It looks like you’ve already caught up to the fifth rank?

EarthForceOne: Seems that way. And don’t worry, I didn’t think that I had anything you’d be interested in for the trade, either way.

Alkahest: You never know. You’ve almost hit the peak of Keepers already, so you might have something surprisingly useful. Not to mention, I heard that new streaming system came from one of your people?

EarthForceOne: How did you find out about that?

Alkahest: I recognized her, since she’s always walking around with the group that comes in with you.

EarthForceOne: Right… but what do you mean, almost at the peak? There are still two full ranks left to go, so I wouldn’t say I’m even close yet.

Alkahest: Ah, nobody’s explained it to you, then?

I blinked in confusion, wondering what he could have been talking about there. To the best of my knowledge, I still had a long way to go before I could be considered to be at the ‘peak’ of being a Keeper.

EarthForceOne: I’m not sure what should have been explained to me, so I am guessing no?

Alkahest: Well, there are seven ranks for Keepers, but in reality, most people see the sixth as the peak.

EarthForceOne: How does that make sense?

Alkahest: To put it simply, there are only ever three Keepers at the seventh rank. This is the minimum number necessary to keep the regular invasion schedule. The only way for someone to get promoted from the sixth to the seventh rank is if one of the three at the top are killed. But, none of the big three are willing to invest enough resources to make that happen and leave themselves vulnerable for the next guy.

EarthForceOne: So… there are Keepers in the sixth rank that are stronger than those in the seventh?

Alkahest: It’s possible. Since there’s never a clash between them, it’s really hard to say. Either way, unless one of the big three get taken down, the sixth rank is the highest anyone can reach for. I’ve only seen the seventh rank change once in my lifetime, and that was a long time ago.

This… complicated things. Originally, I had assumed that the fifth rank was more of an introduction rank for Keepers to start developing their Origins. Then, after they get a few Origins and the means to kill them, they would be promoted to the sixth rank. After that, maybe getting tens of thousands of Origins would allow someone to enter the seventh rank.

However, if the fifth rank was the penultimate rank that a Keeper could hope to achieve, that would mean that there could be Keepers with hundreds, maybe even thousands of Origins sitting at that rank.

EarthForceOne: Right… while I have you here, can you tell me if you know what the reward is for reaching the sixth rank without resetting? I’ve already gotten the rewards from the fourth and fifth rank.

Alkahest: Hmm? Oh, right, I guess you wouldn’t have reset if you made it this far, this fast. I think everyone that came in at the same time as you has already reset at least once. From what I heard, SentinelSeven was the last to reset after a particularly harsh invasion just last month. She called us up to ask if we had any way to fix her ruined worlds, but there wasn’t anything cost effective that wouldn’t do more harm than good.

EarthForceOne: Really? She hadn’t told me about that. Anyways, do you know what the reward is?

Alkahest: Sorry, but I can’t help you with that. I’ve never heard of anyone that made it all the way to the sixth rank without resetting at least once.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

That was frustrating. Both the fact that there was no information available, as well as the knowledge that Kathy had been forced to reset. Going by the process of the last two ‘hardcore’ rewards, I really couldn’t think of what came next. One allowed me to bring people to the Admin Room, and the other allowed me to essentially banish people from it.

EarthForceOne: Right… I guess I’ll find out eventually, if nothing goes wrong.

Alkahest: That’s the spirit! It takes a lot of good luck to get to your level without needing to reset. I can only imagine what sort of calamities have spread through different invasions. Either way, if you could send me a trade list, that would be appreciated. I’ll look through it when I get the chance.

I nodded, sending a mental message to Ryone to ask her to compile the list. She and Ashley were more up to date on what we had in my world than I was, so it was better to let them handle it. After promising that I would send the list to him once I had it compiled, the two of us ended the conversation. I had to speak with Chelsea rather urgently now…

Chelsea was sitting at her desk, in the midst of drawing up blueprints for an interstellar railgun that she found in her inner world. It opened portals to distant targets, before firing a high-velocity iron rod through a number of electromagnetic accelerators. This weapon wasn’t meant to destroy entire planets, but could decimate cities with pinpoint accuracy. It was one of the many weapons that the ninjas had designed to target the Tuskens.

Chelsea, we need to talk. The Keeper’s voice suddenly spoke up into her mind, causing her to blink and look up from her work.

Is there another problem? She asked, and there was a moment of hesitation.

We might need to accelerate our defensive plan more than we initially thought. The Keeper informed her, which confused Chelsea. According to what I just heard, the sixth rank is the actual limit for a Keeper, with the seventh being eternally locked at three. Were you aware of that?

Chelsea’s eyes went wide, and she nearly jumped from her desk. I wasn’t, no… that was information that was never brought up while I was a system companion, so it wouldn’t have been retained. In other words, we should assume that our opponents would have the strength that was previously estimated to be above the fifth rank?

That’s what I believe to be the case. The Keeper replied in a somber tone. Origin invasions have just become far more likely.

Chelsea swallowed thickly, glancing towards her terminal. That’s not all. She responded. We have to consider Fyor. Previously, we thought that the final layer of Fyor would only be accessible to beings of the seventh rank. However, with this information, that shouldn’t be the case.

Looking back at when Lifre took Lena and the others up to the seventy-fifth floor, it could be seen that their group was in very little danger. They even made a game out of hunting a swarm-type enemy that terrorized the local residents. I would strongly advise sending Dana and Lena together to continue exploring Fyor.

There was a moment of hesitation from that, before the Keeper spoke up again. How far do you think they should explore?

As far as they feel they can with their abilities. Chelsea responded more firmly. There are only fifteen or so floors left to explore. Given their skills, it might even be possible for them to completely reach the surface of Fyor. However, for the sake of safety, I would advise that only Dana enters the surface, until such time as the conditions there have been confirmed. There is a high chance that memetic monsters would have ravaged the surface layer of Fyor.

Understood. I’ll give them a call now. The Keeper spoke up, before closing the connection. With that conversation over, Chelsea bit her lip gently, thinking about what she had just learned.

There was an ulterior motive for wanting to unlock the final layer of Fyor. If the enemy did send a substantial force in the future, there was a chance that it would end up in Fyor’s outer layer. Although that layer was so vast that it would make discovering them almost impossible, it was also bound to be incredibly dangerous. With any luck, an opponent spawning there would be killed before they could cause any significant damage.

Both Lena and her avatar clone were happily watching Lifre’s stream, taking turns between simply enjoying the content and moderating the chat. Ever since the appearance of the white-gold Engineer class, Lifre had changed the theme of her content to that of an inventor, the stream following her inventions as other people interacted with them. For instance, the ship that she created and customized to have incredibly powerful shields and weapons that could mow down well-equipped fleets. Or the autonomous drones that she deployed when she landed on a hostile world.

As they were watching the stream, the two Lenas both glanced up at the same time, having received an urgent message from the Keeper. Their brows furrowed, and they looked at one another again. “It’s been a while since Dale gave us a mission.” One of them said, causing the other to nod.

“You took care of the last one, so I’ll do it this time.” She said as she got up, equipping herself with her divine armor. “It sounds like this is going to be a more combat oriented mission, so maybe I should copy one of the others…”

The first Lena thought about that for a moment as well. “I’d say probably Accalia or Keliope. We can’t easily copy an Origin, and those two are the best pure combatants of the Greater Pantheon. I’d say to copy Lifre, but she’s a bit too reckless for what you’re going to be doing.”

The Lena preparing to leave nodded her head in agreement. “Keliope, then.” She said, before turning to leave. “I’ll be back later.”

After leaving, Lena went to the gate of Olympus, where Dana was waiting for her with a serious expression. Lena tilted her head slightly, seeming to observe Dana for a moment. “This is an avatar, isn’t it?” She asked, catching Dana by surprise.

“I didn’t think you’d be able to notice.” She said, before nodding her head. “That’s right. It’s a precaution I took a while ago. My real body won’t be leaving Olympus, but this avatar has my full combat power.”

“Got it.” Lena nodded, stepping forward. As she did, her body began to shift, growing taller while her skin darkened. Soon, Lena had turned into a perfect copy of Keliope, who popped her neck from side to side. “Let’s get this Fyor conquest started, then.” She said with a grin.

Dana simply chuckled, nodding her head in agreement. A shadow rose to envelop the two of them, quickly taking them to the seventy-fifth floor of Fyor. “Should we bring Petra along, too? This might be her chance to finally complete her world shadow.”

Lena hesitated, bringing a hand up to her chin thoughtfully, before shaking her head. “We’ll bring her through after we confirm that it’s safe to do so. There are too many memetic effects that we might have to deal with, and we don’t want to taint her world shadow.”