New Game+

Chapter 188 - Over The Waters

The stormy clouds were thick, dark, and brought terror on those who looked at it from above. They were being diving at a distance nearing the eye of the storm itself.

The team braced themselves for what was about to happen. As they were about to touch the clouds, everyone was praying the same thing. 

"Alright, gang! Let's just hope lightning won't strike us!"

The insane plan of jumping into a storm would have its dangers. Although the storm that New Great Britain deployed wasn't a storm that would produce thunderstorms, the science of weather control wasn't so precise that it would ensure no thunderstorms.

The group fell through the clouds with their stomachs clenched. Yet again, their fears broke through and engulfed them once more as fact drove their feelings to shake.

Dara and Stanley were paralyzed at the drop. Cliff did his best to aid these two and Gardo even started to joke around. Only Danny and the soldiers were able to laugh this time.

Soon the clouds parted and a terrifying gust of wind blew around them separating the groups.

"Keep calm guys!" Cliff called out.

The darkness around them grew darker and darker. The bright stars and moon were enough for them to have good vision when they were falling, but now as they penetrated deeper to the clouds, the pitch darkness was all that they could see.

"Guys! Where are you?! I can't see you! Cliff! Cliff!" Dara started panicking and flailing around.

The howls of the wind were so loud and with Dara panicking, she couldn't hear the calls of the rest who managed to retain their calm.

Soon, several others, including members of Cliff's Drug Dealers started to panic.

"Gardo! Can you get to them?!" Cliff cried out urgently.

"Only a few! I lost track of the rest!"

"Get what you can!" Cliff ordered as he rushed towards those at the furthest.

The mission was now taking a dangerous turn. Even with their unlocking, the disorientation brought by the darkness who was so disoriented by the wind that they started to spin around. They couldn't tell up from down anymore and their senses brought them to panic.

Cliff was angry. They lost their cool so easily.

"You cowards!" Cliff shouted as he zoomed towards two members of his group and gave them a powerful slap.

"That's down! And this is up!" Cliff shouted as he slapped them on the direction he called out.

"Calm down! Don't give in to the fear! Calmly face it! If this can kill you, you're no use in this mission!" Cliff chastised his underlings who calmed down and quietly adjusted their positions to the right places.

Cliff then moved upwards, following the cries that he could hear.

"You maniac! What the hell are you touching!" One of the panicked cries suddenly became an angry roar.

"Who the hell groped my balls!" Another angry cry resounded.

"I will molest and touch those who panic!" A dignified shout was heard. It was from Gardo.

"What's this? I hear another panicked shout nearby!" Gardo cried once more.

"No please! Please! I'm calm! I'm calm!" Stanley shouted with all his might.

Cliff was shocked at the way Gardo dealt with this issue.

"Whatever works I guess," Cliff mumbled.

"Everyone! Wait for my signal!" Cliff shouted. 

All throughout the fall, Cliff had always been counting. With his memory of looking at an atomic clock count for hours, he could easily make an accurate counting as to how long they had been falling.

Of the many things that he was told, the exact time of when they would hit the ocean was among them. 

"It's almost time…" Cliff continued to count. A part of him was starting to shake in fear. What if the estimates were wrong? What if they would hit the ocean sooner than calculated?

He started to grip his fists to contain his fear.

The urge to give the command to start puffing up their suits drew nearer and nearer but this would increase the possibility of being detected. 

"The smaller we are, the less likely we'll be detected." Cliff chanted again and again.

Soon, he was nearing the estimated time where they should puff up their suits.

"Now! Maintain your positions! Feet first and remember to roll!" Cliff ordered.

Everyone started puffing their suits.

"Gomu-Gomu no…. F?sen!" A shout was heard and everyone was desperately blowing through the small port on their thumbs.

With the stronger lung capacity and the capability to blow air about three to four times stronger than a regular adult, the team's suit started to quickly enlarge itself. The suit grew to about twice as big as themselves. Soon the inner layer of their suit had all the air it can handle and the outer layer of the suit started to puff up. 

The outer layer started to grow larger and larger. Right at every one's back is a small cylinder that was protected and wrapped around the two layers of air chambers.

Two levels of balloons were soon formed. Their heads remained exposed but two big balloons covered their bodies starting from the neck down to their feet. They looked like a big balloon with a small head protruding outside.

All that was left was to brace for impact.

And the moment came.

The outer balloon came into contact with the water. Falling from the high distance and traveling at such intense speed, the stop would have killed every human. The balloon absorbed the shock and with their enhanced perception of time, the team started to adjust their position and prepare to roll when the pressure was allowing their bodies to move and not take the full impact.

The timing of their impact was clearer. Cliff had already gained the ability to slow down time up to eight times than normal. On average, everyone could do five times slower. And so, these Unlocked whose perspective could slow have started to roll. With their senses that are also stronger and their overall body control better, they began to employ the classic technique of rolling in order to break their fall. They intentionally used their suit to fall at a diagonal direction in order to do this.

At impact, the air started rushing out of several prepared ports on their suits while at the same time the two air chambers began absorbing the force of the impact. The specialized rubber suit turned the impact into vibration as it passed through the first and second chambers.

Still, with their concentration, the team managed to make the roll and dispersed the vibration. The first chamber popped at the tremendous stress and the second chamber was constricting as well

Soon another pop resounded and the rolling bodies of the unlocked plummeted down the ocean. It was as if a whiplash bomb imploded around them causing mass shock around their bodies. The rubber suits did their job in displacing the water giving time for the team to make a safer landing on water. But still, it was painful.

Blood started to come out of their nose and mouths, and others even bled through their ears. The chambers weakened their fall but the tremendous shock of the impact vibrated around them.

Most of them coughed out underwater and began to quickly resurface.

Though the darkness of the sea blinded them, the sound and sensation that allowed the team to sense things clearly even when underwater caused them to act in instinct.

Everyone started to help out whoever was nearby.

Gardo was the first to move as it swam closer towards Dara and Stanley and pulled them up as he noticed the two sinkings. 

Cliff moved next to rescue Roselyn and used Realm Somatotopy to detect the presence of his team. After confirming everyone's safety, he started to swim back to the top.

"That hurt like hell!" Tyler cursed as he resurfaced. Unlike Dara, Stanley, and Roselyn, Tyler still had several air chambers on his back protecting the cylindrical device hanging on his back.

Scribs and all the Drug Dealers had their respective devices as well.

Gardo and Cliff resurfaced carrying the others.

The rest began coughing.

"No time to relax!" Scribs shouted.

The group swam closer to each other and help those who were knocked unconscious at the impact.

"Wake up!" Cliff called out to Roselyn.

Dana and Stanley were the first to give off a cough.

They coughed the water out of their lungs through their control. Roselyn also awakened after that.

The first thing the groups did was take out a small pill in the middle of their gloves and ate it. Then they started to quietly blow on their left thumb.

The air started to run through a third chamber that was set on their foot. It soon started to puff up and slowly, the group was rising higher and higher on the water.

"Remember! Do your best to not sink! We don't know what techs they have but if you sink, there is a chance that their sonar can detect you."

With the aid of the balloon on their legs, the team managed to keep themselves afloat. While the act of maintaining their balance would be incredibly hard for humans, the unlocking allowed them to keep careful control of their muscles. The heightened control over their ears made them have better control at their equilibrium.

As the group was slowly trying their best to stand and recover from the terrifying impact, they grouped closer to each other and held hands forming a circle.

And so, an odd meeting occurred in the middle of the ocean, where great waves and wind howled.

Aside from Cliff and Gardo and Tyler, everyone had poor expressions on their faces as they were struggling to keep afloat. Their circle and formation aided them in helping each other stand firm but the damage they took on that drop still radiated over their body. Only a few barely had any damage.

"You seem pretty strong," Cliff called out to Gardo.

"The training I had was pretty rough. I am a seed of the Progenitor remember? You could say, that I was almost at the Unlocked level for years. And my training just got stranger and stranger." Gardo laughed.

"Still… that was pretty insane." Gardo laughed.

"General! Over there!" Earl pointed to the distant lights that flickered on the skies.

"Those must be some of the exoskeletons or Armors doing their routine checks. The coolant liquid that was injected to us prior to our jump should help us keep our temperature low. Remember, we are to match the temperature here to avoid being detected."

Tyler had been collecting the cylindrical tubed attached to the backs of those nearby. Others also did the same thing. Only Gardo did not have a cylinder.

"Are there any damages?"

"None. The ones Dara, Stanley, and Roselyn seemed to be alright."

The three had a strange expression on their faces.

"Don't look so down. The expectation was that all of us would fail. Don't worry. It's pretty sturdy."

"Alright. Remember the mission. If we combine all those parts, now then it will be surely detected by WGP's scanner."

"How is this plan going to work? We're just walking in a base with a weapon that could do as much damage as a weapon of mass destruction and expect the WGP to be unprotected from it?" Zidane of the drug dealers asked.

"I'm sure some protections are in place. But this is Enigmatic weapon. An Aragarian tech. Not to mention Lennox tinkered with it. So this should give us some surprises." Roselyn answered.

"But how will this work? I mean, we just carry it into the base?" Zidane asked again.

"It will," Gardo answered.

"Do you think it's really easy to walk in a WGP base carrying a weapon like this? The only way it would be possible if we have been carrying various weapons and tech. But right now, we're just carrying a rubber suit that protects and covers our heat. Which we used to make a balloon and we're to run across the ocean storm in order to get to that base. That's insane. It sounds simple, but it's actually impossible." Gardo smiled.

"Exactly. This method of ours is unthinkable. We have no techs other than this rubber suit and this won't even get detected by their technology. How can a group of people enter the Kraken with no boats, no weapons, and yet deliver an EMP right in the middle of it? It's ingenious."

"I don't really get it, but I trust the boss." Zidane sighed.

"We assemble them on the way and throw it the moment we get there on top. We're about to head on the most dangerous part of this mission." Cliff reminded.

"How are we going to assemble it along the way? Shouldn't we assemble it when we get to the Kraken?" Roselyn complained.

"No. It's because of those Armors. Expect the worse. I want to deploy the bomb the moment we get up there. That is to avoid any possible ambushes in case Lowengren's info made them up to their guards. Looking at how the number of Armors patrolling it, they seemed to be on guard."

Everyone had a solemn expression.

"So how can we assemble it before we get there?"

"What if we assemble it underwater?" Stanley suggested.

"How? We need to be moving fast. We don't know how long this storm will remain." Dara shot the suggestion down.

"We can assemble it underwater." Gardo smiled.

"We can run in water, right? Two people will drag the guy assembling it underwater. His head will be underwater and I think the water would aid in masking this tech. If we don't assemble it fully, but leave it into two parts and keep it underwater, I doubt that even the tech detectors could catch that."

"So six people? Two will be carrying the third person who will be assembling one half of the bomb?"

"Yup." Gardo laughed.

"Sounds crazy and impossible. But we are Unbecoming." Tyler laughed.

"I'll assemble the first half." Earl volunteered.

"I'll do the second." Scribs smiled.

"Alright. Be careful not to drop any parts."

"Shall we?" Gardo asked.

Cliff glanced at everyone.

"Up there… we had several moments of fear." Cliff began a prepared monologue.

"I'm sure the falling sensation when we moved faster than the speed of sound may have scared you all. And when we entered those clouds and was suddenly blinded… it also got the better of many of us. Right now, we will be invading a base with complex defenses. The storm had limited the forces outside, and our EMP can disable more, but we can never underestimate them. Our assumption would be that the base won't get affected by the EMP. We will use our speed and the surprise attack to divert the direction of their forces while we rush towards the inside of the base. We follow the compass to get to our weapons." 

Everyone nodded.

"I can only hope things will go that way. But being with Seeker taught me that things won't be that easy. Some of you may die tonight. Keep in that in mind. I don't want you running there suppressing the fear and losing it when we get bombarded by the Armors. Keep that fear in mind." Cliff reminded.

Silence followed as the gamers and drug dealers started to grip their fists while holding each other to support the circle pillar that kept themselves afloat.

"You know, I joined the party a bit late… But the game has just begun. Stage one's always the easiest right?" Gardo addressed the gamers.

"He's right." Tyler laughed.

"Seeker believed in us. We have Lowengren and Arthur. They have made their plans and this is it. Trust in your bosses."

The Drug Dealers glanced at Cliff.

"Just do what I told you. We'll definitely make it out of there alive." Cliff smiled.

"Is everyone good to go?" Cliff then asked.

"Ready." They chorused.

"Let's do this!"

And so the entire team started to break from their formation and in a miraculous sight, started to over the waters.

About three nautical miles from where the group was running, the Kraken continued to brave the storm. It was like a large city with all the lights. The activity that it had didn't decrease. Armors and Exoskeletons and various aircraft were flying above it, keeping constant guard at it.

Right in the center of the Kraken, deep on the underwater city that this large floating fortress had, were Three Emperors. Among the many rooms, was a particularly active one.

Two Emperors sat down at the room that made five-star hotel rooms look common.

"Emperor. The decoys have left. Fleet Admiral assumed that you left already." A direct descendant of the WGP reported.

"Good. Now let's see… what exactly does this Fleet Admiral plan… Have you made the preparations?"

"I have told several Commanders. Anti-EMP techs have been equipped on several platforms of the Kraken without drawing attention to the Fleet Admiral. They are ready to battle and betray the General."

"Looks like the mission you gave him, on the last minute proved to be a great distraction."

"Thankfully, that naked exhibitionist would eat up most of his time." The Empress laughed.

"Let's us ready ourselves for battle as well." The Emperor suggested.

"Right." The Empress then stood up and a strange Exoskeleton suddenly appeared and covered her almost immediately.

"It is time for the Emperors to Rule."