There was a knock on the door and Adams opened it. He looked exhausted, but rubbed his eyes and yawned rather than closing the door and returning to sleep. “What is it, Walter?” he asked.
“The conference starts in ten minutes in Paris, sir. You are the main representative from the US, so you really should be there.”
Adams nodded. “I know, I know. When are you going to advance to Nascent so you can take over for me, and I can get some sleep?” he asked jokingly.
“Probably at least a year before I reach that point, sir, and I suspect that they will still expect you to be the one to do the diplomacy.”
Adams smiled. “Not if I can convince them Lindstrom is better at it. Unfortunately he’s busy right now.”
“Yes sir.” Walter said.
They stared at each other for a few seconds before Adams spoke up. “Okay, I’ll be out in five minutes.” he said and closed the door. Four minutes and fifty seconds later Walter reached towards the door to knock again and the door opened. “See, told you I’d be ready.” he said. “I have an excellent sense of time.”
“Your tie’s crooked, sir.” Walter responded, resulting in Adams messing with it for a few seconds. He was in full military regalia, but still needed to bother with a piece of cloth around his neck. Once it was straight he notified the base commander that he would be setting off and waved his hand to open the portal. He had come back to Earth to deal with the waves of new gates, but with one still opening every few hours in the USA, not to mention the ones in the rest of the Americas, he was overworked dealing with them. If it wasn’t for the fact that most of the people coming through were level four or below he wouldn’t have even had enough time to go to the conference.
The three day conference was a combined opportunity for world leaders to discuss how to handle the invaders as well as an opportunity for military contractors and various smaller companies to show their latest products, complete with an area outside the city where product demonstrations could occur.
Adams and Walter stepped through the portal just outside the convention center where the various vendors had set up stalls. Over two thousand companies from around the world would have booths there, though level one would be where all of the top end equipment from the largest military contractors was on display. Still, Adams would try to walk by every booth if he could. There was, after all, a chance that a small vendor on the third floor might have something useful, and if nothing else they tended to sell at far more reasonable rates than typical military contractors.
After exchanging greetings with Tsiolkovsky, The Monk, and Al Sadiq, the other three Nascent souls in attendance, Adams excused himself and entered the conference hall. He released just enough of his pressure to prevent low level people from approaching him without a good reason, as that should allow him to look at the various offerings without too much disturbance.
The two most popular booths belonged to Lockheed and Springfield Armories. Lockheed would be joining the airshow on the third day in order to introduce their new E9 fighter, a plane with a built in core generator which, like the E8, could also draw on the core of the pilot. This plane boasted an impressive three hundred thousand meters per second of delta V, allowing it to not only leave the atmosphere for low orbit operations like the E7, but also carry out extensive operations in orbit. It had a variety of barrier and weapons options, from level three to level five in barriers, qi blasts, and particle beams, as well as an option for various missiles from other countries. If the weapons and barrier weren’t used the plane could accelerate at one G of thrust for eight and a half hours, letting it reach the moon in hours.
Springfield was a major gun manufacturer which made many weapons for law enforcement, most notably the FBI and Secret Service. Post qi they had gotten into the formation based weaponry market, and were the second largest manufacturer of formation bullets in North America. Their current front-line product was a new energy rifle. They had miniaturized the Particle beam array that had been used in the recent orbital defense weapons that were being launched and placed it in a rifle body. The rifle could either take up the role of a sniper rifle, with PLQ based cartridges that could fire up to thirty times per cartridge, firing every two seconds, or take up the role of a heavy infantry rifle with a Core based cartridge that allowed it to fire twice per second and fire over a thousand attacks before the power cartridge needed to be replaced. It also had impressive power, being designed to fire a middle level four attack, with an option to add a level five selection option which used ten times the energy and took ten times as long to fire an initial level five attack.
When the presentation was over Adams spoke up. “You said this was based on the particle beam emitters of the orbital defense weapons?” The presenter agreed. “Then will beam attenuation also be a problem with this weapon?” One of the main reasons that the orbital platforms weren’t used more extensively to deal with the invaders is that if the angle of attack is more than five degrees off of being directly above the target the beam would pass below the threshold for level five levels of damage due to atmospheric scattering, allowing the enemy to largely ignore it. When it did hit it was barely initial level five despite leaving the satellite at middle level five in strength.
“No, sir.” the presenter said, apparently expecting the question. “While we have sacrificed part of the beam focusing array to lessen the size of the weapon, it only needs to fire over two or three kilometers of distance at most, so the beam will lose less than half of its strength even at extreme range.”
Adams nodded. While these weapons had impressive specs, their price point was considerably less impressive, at one hundred and seventy thousand USD per rifle, two hundred and ten thousand each with the level five selector option. It was low enough that the weapons might see some use in special forces or rapid response units, but far too high for an infantry rifle, even a heavy infantry rifle. Adams would consider purchasing a few thousand units with the level five option for distribution to the various city protectors scattered around the USA, taking five hundred back to the other world for use in the battle field. He couldn’t recommend using them as infantry weapons, though, as level four ammunition was cheaper in most situations. Even the initial level four .223 caliber and early level four 5.56mm ammo that Federal Ammunition introduced ten days ago at thirty or fifty dollars per bullet when purchased in bulk, would require that each soldier fire thousands of rounds before they cost as much as a single rifle of this type.
Eventually, near sunset, Adams was visiting the last of the booths on the third story. These were all small companies with only a few minor products for sale, from Satiation pills meant to replace military rations and various alchemical medicines based on or even imported from the other world, to those that manufactured basic equipment like storage bags and canteens that held fifty liters of water. While they would be nice to have, they weren’t really needed either here or in the other world where they were defending a base.
One of the last booths had a black man in a two piece business suit sitting behind it. “Colonel Adams?” the man said in surprise, standing up quickly. Adams looked at him surprised. The man was only in the late second level, but was able to talk to him as if Adams wasn’t projecting a slight suppression field. That either meant that he was strong willed or had a strong spirit root, possibly both. “Sorry, sir. I meant General Adams, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ll have to apologize for the mistake, sir. I didn’t mean to insult you, I’m just from Junction City, so I spent six years hearing you addressed as Colonel Adams before your promotion.”
Adams smiled and nodded. “Understandable. So, Good and Taylor Cultivation?” he asked looking at the sign behind the booth. “Why does that sound familiar?”
“The air purifier in your office was made by them, sir.” said Walter, carrying several documents despite having a storage bag inside his suit jacket.
“Right. Good product. Never had any issues with it. Since you obviously know my name, I feel it’s only right to ask yours.”
“David Lively, sir.” he said. “Researcher and product designer for Good and Taylor Cultivation.”
Adams looked like he realized something. “Lively? As in Lively Pharmaceuticals? They had a booth on the second level.”
“Yes sir,” Dave said. “I don’t work for my father’s company at the moment, though. Instead I’m using my degree in formation design to help Good and Taylor design new products.”
Adams nodded. “In that case, can I ask why a home goods company has come to this expo? It doesn’t seem like the best location to find new customers.”
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Dave nodded. “Actually, we have been designing two new products that we thought could be of use in the current situation.” He motioned to the first display. “This is a gas mask that uses our air purifier technology to clean the air before you breathe it. Our internal tests show that it outperforms modern filter based gas masks, lowering the levels of contaminants to less than 40% of that of the standard masks even in extreme levels of air pollution, such as inside tear gas clouds. With multiple gates letting through poison cultivators or having poison cultivators on the other side, including the gate here in Paris and the one in Junction City, we believe that it could be quite useful to some clients.”
Adams nodded. “The Azure Cloud Sect did use a large number of poison gas attacks in the last battle, so I can see how it could be useful.” he said. “I’ll have to go back and crunch some numbers to see if it is worth ordering them.”
Dave nodded, then pointed to the other side of the booth, where a mannequin was set up, wearing black armor. The armor consisted of a black body suit and had dozens of armored plates attached to it, covering as much of the body as possible while remaining flexible enough to not restrict movement more than a pair of jeans. “This is a new lightweight armor we are designing. At the moment it only weighs three kilograms and is rated 2B. We did recently design a new plate that would add about two kilos to the weight to increase that to 2D. While the armor was originally intended for civilian use in police or private security, we also offer a heat resistant version for firefighters, which can have a helmet with built in gas mask added for full body protection. This heat resistant model is meant for firefighters.” The new rating system for armor used the level number followed by the letter which represented the sub level, from A for initial to E for Peak.
Adams nodded. “Barriers are the current industry standard for protective equipment due to low weight and superior coverage. Barriers also recover if breached, whereas armor doesn’t. All of that makes it a bit underwhelming.”
“I understand, sir. Our main target are the militaries of smaller nations who want to equip their people for low cost. Unlike barriers, which would cost around two to five thousand for the same protection as our light and heavy options, this basic suit only costs eight hundred USD and the improved version only costs twelve hundred. We hope to improve its performance in the future as well. There are a few theoretical means of improving it to 3A or 3B, we just haven’t had a chance to test them as of yet.”
Adams nodded. “For troops leaving or in basic training it would make a good, low cost, body armor, but for armor deployed into the field it doesn’t quite meet our needs. That said, once the war is over on the other side of the Junction City gate the locals will go mad for it.” Dave nodded and Adams left for the next table. There were only a few left for them to visit, and the meeting with the government officials from around the world would start in just over an hour.
---
Rather than break through that night, which would prevent me from entering the gate, I chose to make talismans. I handed some of my level three papers to Randy, as I couldn’t make level three talismans, and he, Mike, and Greg promised to learn the basic talisman making technique and make them for the group. Mike said that they should just get materials from Shmidt, as he also had them, but as we only had one hundred and forty papers combined he eventually accepted that all of the papers should be used. He would just have Shmidt or Perry make more level three paper to replace it while I was gone.
That night I used what late level two Vrooshkin papers I had to produce Fire and Metal barriers for the disciples, one for each element. At 60% effectiveness for the level one cultivators due to the amount of qi in the paper, it should be able to protect against most dangers we would face. I also started making talismans for Paralyze and Sleep, in case we needed a non-lethal option. Around one in the morning I realized that I knew nothing about how beast taming worked, despite going with them, so I spent the next two hours going over the Average quality Beast Tamer manual that was left in my room, presumably by Randy or Mike. When I was done I produced several level two Servant and Companion contract talismans, following the instructions in the book as accurately as possible. I spent the rest of my time making various utility spells from the book which were meant to mimic animal skills without the proper companion, as well as learning the Beast variant of the shrinking technique.
This one could be used on living beings, but was difficult to use if they resisted. That’s why the sect usually knocked non-contract animals out before using it. Contracted animals would usually trust you enough to not resist.
When the sun rose I ate breakfast then followed Mike to the courtyard outside the Elder offices. There he gave a speech about how much this trip would mean to the sect and the disciples, and all that might be gained from it. I would be setting off with thirty one disciples, not including me or Chu Van. About half of them were level two, but fourteen were still level one, including the two screw-ups that had gone with Mike the day I met them. I would have to keep an eye on the group, especially them.
After the speech Mike pulled out the paper and started handing one of them to each of us. “This is an Improved Flight talisman. It should let you travel at half the speed of sound for about five minutes. That will make you faster than anything else in the realm, hopefully.”
Randy then came forward. “These are Stone Spike talismans.” he said, handing them out. “It’s a single middle level three attack you can use in an emergency. I only had time to make one for each of you, though, so don’t waste it.”
Greg then stepped forward as well. “I didn’t manage to learn the technique fast enough to make many, but I did make nine late level three Pacify talismans.” This was a common spell for beast tamers which made animals less hostile. If we used these on a beast up to middle level three it should stop attacking us as long as we aren’t actively antagonizing it.
After they were finished I stepped forward. “I also made talismans for everyone, though mine are level two. I made a fire barrier and Metal barrier for everyone, plus all of you can take two ability talismans.”
I handed out the two barriers, then pulled out an assortment of animal mimicking talismans. The other thirty two people each took two talismans, leaving me with the six remaining ones out of the seventy I made.
Once we were finished, Mike and Randy called me over. “We have two other items for you, as your aren’t a member of the sect, but still agreed to help us.” Mike said, then pulled out a large backpack. “This may not seem like much, but it allows for a much higher compression ratio than your normal bag, so theoretically you should be able to store at least ten times the corpses as you did when you were returning with us.”
I nodded. “Thanks. I was hoping to figure out a way to get more storage space, since I used all of it last time.”
Mike nodded and Randy stepped forward, handing me a bag about the size of the ones I already had. “This is a beast bag. Have you learned the beast capture technique yet?” I nodded. “Good,” he said, “This should be able to hold several cows. Just be careful which animals you combine in there if you store multiples. Some beasts will try to kill and maybe even eat the other one if you mix them wrong.”
I put on the backpack and added the other bag to my belt. With these gifts I was ready to set off. “Okay, everyone, gather around. We are going to set off.” The other thirty two people came over to where we were gathered. “We need to get there quickly, so you will have to ride on my companion.” Mike said, then held up his hand and sent a burst of qi into the sky, exploding it two hundred meters above the ground. A minute later someone noticed a bird flying in from the north, cresting over a mountain that was fifty li away.
As the bird grew nearer they were able to make out more features. It was an eagle, with gold colored feathers on its wings and the top of its head. The tips of its beak and talons glistened with a Grey metallic hue of iron, with black iron forming the base.
“Steel Eagle?” one of the disciples muttered in shock. This type of bird was extremely rare in this region, but when they did migrate here from the region five thousand li to the north they quickly used their air superiority to became the dominant predator, consuming mortal, spirit, and demonic beast alike.
A few minutes later the Eagle reached the camp and circled overhead a few times, shedding its speed. It had a wingspan of over thirty meters, making it comparable in size to a Boeing 737. After two minutes of circles it dove for the nearby open area then pulled up and flared its wings, causing a wind strong enough to knock over several of the weaker disciples.
Once it landed Mike flew over to it and petted its head, then landed and dumped a bag of demon cores on the ground containing almost one hundred low level cores. “This is my spirit beast, a late level four strong-blood Steel Eagle. Shortly after founding the sect I was flying north, scouting locations to gather spirit beasts, and this guy tried to hunt me. Thankfully I was faster and, after an hour of playing chase he calmed down. After having a telepathic chat he agreed to partner with me. His name is Golden Sky Lord.”
Upon hearing his name Golden Sky Lord let out a cry that filled the hearts of many with fear. One Early level one disciple even soiled himself. “I’m not letting a shit covered worm on my back.” a loud voice said within the mind of everyone gathered there and the worm in question quickly kowtowed to the eagle.
“I apologize, master. I will go bathe and change at once.” Sky Lord nodded and the disciple quickly ran towards his room.
“Good, now, I need some of you to put the basket on my back so that I can take you to the site of the hidden realm. It is beneath my friend Tiny Roc to do so.” With this order all of the disciples bowed and went to the nearby storage shed to grab the bus sized wheelless cart. I and Chu Van hopped on our swords and flew over, grabbing the ropes that were tied to it, then flying upwards to set it on his back.
While we did this Golden Sky Lord and Master Tiny Roc sat together, Mike bringing a chair out of his storage bag, and ate snacks. Mike refilled Sky Lord’s pile of demon cores any time it got low and Sky Lord brought out various spirit fruits he had gathered from the mountains to the far north.
Ten minutes later we had secured the basket and Mike double checked everything. “Good.” Mike said. “Now, everyone climb in.” Sky Lord laid his wing out like a ramp and we started walking up it just as a freshly washed disciple in new clothes ran up. Once we were done, Mike floated in the air and threw three talismans at the front of the carriage. “That will prevent the wind from blowing everyone out of their seats.” he said, and Golden Sky Lord flapped his wings and jumped, launching himself in the air.
