Chapter 226 Relocation
Bran spent the next few hours explaining everything they had learned. The plan he and Sera had made months ago still needed a lot of prerequisites completed before it was ready.
Listening to him, Bea's face went reminiscent. She remembered all those times she and Sera had made plans.
Hearing this new plan brought Bea hope. She wanted to believe that she could reclaim Sera's lost memories, soul, emotions, life, and everything.
Eventually, they decided to not do anything rash, and first they would do something very important... Power up their defense systems.
In the past few months, when they had to wait for the message to reach Bea's group in that other Realm, the research facility wasn't idle.
Each of the cities under the control of the Angelic Order had a church, and below those churches were gigantic generators, which could defend a city even from a Stellar's attack.
It wasn't foolproof, and it was untested, but if their intel was correct, then the Federal Alliance's Stellars will be busy in the upcoming months.
"...So we will use the window of the United Front's large-scale assault to declare our independence? That could work, but it's very risky." said Damien while analyzing the map.
"Everything we do is risky, but this will work. The problem is that power the generators requires a lot of energy. We found a way to power it by using the souls of lower Tier Horrors, but that's not sustainable." said Melinda, while showing off the schematics of the shield generator.
James, the cyborg, was eagerly looking over it and nodding to himself. He seemed to understand a lot about it. Next to him stood Mary, who came back up after Bran requested her presence.
"What do you suggest?" asked Bea, while standing next to Bran.
They both seemed very uncomfortable by the proximity, but they pushed past their differences to help the person they love.
Mary pushed up her glasses and began pointing at the generator, explaining a few details.
"The shield generator can convert any form of energy to power the shield. What we lack of is sustainability. Even using a Transcended's power, their limited essence restricts us. For this plan to work, we need to find a way to break thermodynamics and create something that makes constant energy out of nothing!"
As she spoke, she sounded more and more excited. She loved to break the laws of the time before the Apocalypse.
They were already breaking thermodynamics by using essence as energy, but to create an environment that creates constant energy was something she always wanted to do.
Most people around the table just stared at Mary without a clue of what she was saying, but Bea seemed to get the gist of it.
"And how do we do that, exactly?"
Mary's enormous smile widened into a grin. She stared at Bea without blinking... It was very disturbing.
"With your help! I spent the past few hours analyzing and examining that tree on the other side. It creates doesn't just block out the snowfall, but controls temperature, weather and even provides food. It's truly magnificent!"
"What?! Did you go through? Why did you ask for permission?" said Leslie, the hellish knight, with annoyance and anger.
"Why? Did you plan on hiding all those people there? Please, while the Gate was opening, the machines had already counted the nearby lifeforms. They are nice people, by the way, unlike some of you!" she said while staring at Leslie.
Hearing that, Bran wasn't surprised. Mary had sent her the report before even arriving here. He just let Bea feel more comfortable by pretending to know less.
"But what does my Tree of Life have to do with constant energy generation?" said Bea, ignoring the previous conversation.
Mary's eyes snapped towards Bea. The smile on her face reappeared...
"That tree already generates a constant energy, but it's not enough. We need another piece of the puzzle for it to be complete... Bran will be our energy generator!"
Other than Bran or Melinda, everybody looked confused. They did not know what his power was, and how could it be used to generate infinite energy.
"Why is that?" asked Lucy with curiosity. She had been silent during most of the conversation, but she always loved to learn more about other people's abilities.
"My power is very simple..." said Bran while reaching towards a nearby plant. It withered and died under his hand.
"...I can take the life force of every living being and use it to strengthen myself." Continue reading on empire
Seeing this display, the room went silent. Melinda watched all their surprised expressions with glee.
Next to Bran, Bea reached out her hand and touched the dead plant, bringing it back to life with ease.
"So you want to absorb the constant energy flow from my Tree of Life, and focus it on the shield generator... Will that work?"
"Yes, it will. The only problem is that the battery that powers each generator is in New Athens, and your tree is in a different Realm. We need you to move the tree!"
As Mary spoke, she typed away on her tablet, but seeing Bea shake her head, she stopped and looked at her.
"That won't work. You cannot remove the tree once planted. I can try to plant another, but it will take months to grow to the size of the one in the Realm of Boundless Frost... I'm not comfortable letting Sera suffer for that long!"
Mary scrunched her eyebrows and was about to berate Bea, when Melinda spoke...
"We don't need that big of a tree. It would be even a waste, since Bran's area of effect wouldn't reach the tree's area of output. How big of a tree can you grow in a week?"
After her question, they spent a few more hours talking through everything. In the end, they decided to relocate everyone to New Athens, even the people who were still in the other Realm.
They were soldiers under Damien's command. They were unlucky and got stuck on the other side when the Gateway closed, and spent the past two years living with the rest of the group.
Nearly one hundred of them were present; some were Evolved, but most were Ascended. They killed a lot of monsters in the past two years, so evolving wasn't a big issue. The ones who were still Evolved choose to stay that way until they found a good monster to evolve with.
All together there were hundred and fifty people who they needed to move to the other side of the sea, which proved to be a really simple task to complete.
They all went outside and stood on a large, grassy patch. Bea stood in the front with Vicky.
The little girl knelt on the ground, and while holding a picture, she concentrated. The picture depicted a large empty training room, which was their destination.
After a few minutes, she raised her hands. She made a motion like widening a hole. Bea watched in concern as her daughter's muscles strained and she groaned in pain.
Her hands began to move, and at the same time, a hole in the fabric of reality opened. It was widening much faster than the Realm Gate, but it still took a lot of strain on Vicky.
She opened a few meters tall and wide portal, then stayed on the grass while panting.
All of her muscles ached, and sweat covered her body; but as her mother leaned down and lifted her, all her pain vanished.
Bea carried Vicky, like a princess, and the little girl snuggled close to her mother. She leaned in and gave a small kiss on her white-haired head, causing the little girl to giggle.
Hearing her child's laughter was like a melody to Bea, and she wanted to shower her in more kisses just to hear it again and again. But instead she just leaned in and whispered...
"You know, I'm really proud of you, my little angel."
Vicky's eyes opened, and her mouth turned into a bright smile...
"I love you mommy!"
She whispered back, causing Bea's eyes to turn teary. She leaned in again and gave another longer kiss on her forehead.
Behind them, the soldiers moved through the portal. They payed no heed for the mother-daughter display and just let them have their peace.
Lilith and Adam were chatting away with Faith. After they had a bit of time to talk, the three of them became best of friends. They easily bonded over their devotion to Sera.
Cass, on the other hand, spent time talking with Damien and Collins. She did not know how to get a better understanding of her powers, so she asked for their help.
Mary was walking next to James. They talked about some invention she was working on.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Will, Lucy and Melinda talked and giggled with each other. They were happily talking about some useless topic, which was unrelated to their current situation.
Close to them walked Sarah and Leslie. Neither were engaged in the conversation, but if you played close attention, you could see them listening in.
All of them moved towards the portal... All except one.
Bran stood a bit further back. He watched as Bea and Vicky were talking and giggling.
He had learned about Sera's child a long time ago, and she was okay with it. The problem was that back them Sera hadn't confessed her love to him, and now he yet again didn't know what to do.
He loved Sera with all his heart and wanted the best for her. That was the reason for his confusion…
Wouldn't it be better for Sera if she would be with her daughter and previous lover?
With these thoughts, he stared down at the ground and walked towards the portal. He wiped away his tears silently, not revealing any of his emotions to anyone else...
When everyone was through, the portal closed and the grassy field returned to normal, like nothing had happened.