Ch 155

  Matt found that time passed a bit awkwardly for him as he watched it slip away and yet felt like it was magnified several times over between all his selves. Deciding that he needed to take some risks, Matt was currently maintaining nine selves. There was the main one that remained disconnected from everything, which he looked at as both the most and least real version of himself, as it was the one that was never assimilated and never in control of a physical body. After that, there was the owl-man, whom Matt was only monitoring and supporting currently as he studied what was possible with this new form of control. Then there was his puppet that was working directly with Greg and the others, which had grown to full size and reached 34% of Matt's total stats. Finally, there was Matt's main body and the five puppets that he was preparing for the plan he was making with Rudan.

  There were many issues with the plan as things currently were, and Matt doubted that it was a very good idea, but it also wasn't the worst idea either, as it posed practically no risk to him. Even if all five of the puppets failed and died, it would be no worse for him than the dozens of times he had killed a puppet facing that mass of writhing tentacles. Better yet, with all of those five puppets reaching 50% of his max stats, he figured that they could do some real damage if given an opportunity—and that was exactly what they would all have.

  Though it seemed that 50% had been the highest they could reach, there was another thing that Matt had learned at that point. His puppets could actually enhance his physical stats if they truly exerted themselves, and with Rudan’s assistance, that was exactly what they all were doing continuously. While there hadn’t been enough to max out every stat, the 50 base stat points he had gained in both strength and dexterity, along with the 20 points in durability, provided a significant boost for him.

  With just five Earth days remaining before the end of the penalty period, when Matt would be compelled to return to Earth, it was time to take action. Fortunately, simply laying low and staying within the confines of Rudan’s compound after Radoznaormr's departure had been enough to avoid further issues from the locals. Not that there weren’t whispers about one last attempt before Matt could slip through their grasp, which were being reported to Rudan. Still, once the plan was executed, at least Rudan would likely be beyond their reach, regardless of any other developments, and hopefully able to reach a place they would never expect him to go. Plus, the chaos should last long enough for Matt to be sent back to Earth at the very least.

  "Are you certain about the assignments?" asked Rudan one last time as they stood before the inactive teleportation gate. "If they have guards on the other side of this gate, or if they’ve deactivated it on their end as well, all of this effort will be in vain."

  "Do you really think they would have thought to do either of those things?" asked Matt, already knowing the answer from earlier discussions. "You mentioned it yourself—they likely expect you to come and plead for them to cut your head off once the penalty period is over and I am back on my home world."

  "More like beg for my life, or at least the lives of my children," retorted Rudan. "This plan may jeopardize their lives as well."

  "Which is precisely why they are all in the dungeon right now, leveling up and pushing deeper each day," stated Matt. "Heading there to kill them would probably just trigger another penalty period if done too soon after the current one, assuming what you've said is accurate."

  Rudan simply nodded as Matt picked up the backpack he would be wearing for the plan. It was unique yet similar to the five that all of his puppets wore as they prepared to sprint. These backpacks were ingeniously designed so that with a strong pull, they would split in two, allowing one half to be dropped on each side of a portal. Once this occurred, the coordinates for both sides should get scrambled or something, from what Rudan had explained.

  The fact that such items existed, and that Rudan had access to them while stuck on such a backwater world, had surprised Matt. That was until Rudan explained it had more to do with portals of any kind being inherently complicated and easily disrupted than with what they were using being rare. The truly rare part was having access of any kind to a teleportation network and being able to get close enough to use such items. Especially since the items needed to be dropped within three seconds of each other—and being dropped was key, as they needed to be touching the ground directly next to both sides of the gate to work properly.

  How they worked was beyond Matt's ability to understand, at least without some major lessons on how it was possible to connect two points in space, light-years apart, in the first place. The real kicker for their plan was the fact that each gate would find a new gate to randomly connect to, and those gates would then be matched to the ones that had been split. This was the real element of chaos and had been a tactic used by organizations in the past that thought they were the strongest. That was until they managed to connect to a portion of the universe that was completely unknown to them and were forced back and consumed by the very organization they tried to invade—their own tactic had been turned against them in a way that made one believe in karma.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Matt wasn't sure if that was a real story, or just what they told everyone powerful enough to do what Matt and Rudan were intending to do. Even if they only managed to hit two gates, it would still be a major blow to Godfrey Enterprises, or a major victory depending on exactly how things turned out. At the same time, it was sure to piss off major players who were sure to lose contact with one of their worlds, if they only had a single networked gate on it, which was common on most minor worlds. Though most major worlds would have at least two gates to avoid exactly what Matt and Rudan were planning. That was why all of the targets were worlds where the highest any natives could reach without leaving would be the peak of B rank, or the very bottom of A rank if they really pushed themselves to their limits.

  Matt was still thinking over all the possibilities when Rudan activated the teleportation gate with a series of practiced hand movements across the control panel. Without even waiting for confirmation, all seven of them stepped through the shimmering blue portal. Matt's main body went last as he stepped through before dropping the first half of his backpack and stepping back through to the world he had been on, where he immediately dropped the second half. Seeing the half of the backpack on his side implode before being sucked into the teleportation gate was disconcerting—the gate flickered for a second, pulsing with crimson light before reconnecting with a major burst of energy that sent ripples through the air. Matt winced, knowing that such a disturbance was something no one in the vicinity would miss.

  Sure enough, it was only a few seconds later that two heavily armored guards, who looked more like golems due to the eerie red glow of their eyes, stepped through the gate before him. Knowing that they were likely to be very angry, Matt swallowed hard, feeling relieved that they hadn’t immediately resorted to attacking. This was another key reason they had chosen to act five days early—it would allow enough time for all the affected parties to make plans before a full-blown intergalactic war broke out. This strategic move would likely save countless lives on the seven planets that had once been under Godfrey Enterprises' control and were now sure to struggle against their new masters. Yet, this did little to calm Matt’s nerves as he worried that the two guards might be mindless golems who would disregard the penalty period entirely.

  Meanwhile, the Matts with Rudan all cursed under their breath as they felt the unexpected burst of power behind them. If they had anticipated it, they would have had the main body wait until they were out of sight to act, but it was too late to dwell on that now. Hopefully, when Rudan rushed out of the tunnel, it would be assumed that he had instigated something, and the focus would shift to him as he dashed toward his target. Judging by the speed with which he moved after the surge of energy hit them, it seemed Rudan decided he needed to hurry up and complete his task.

  Rudan ran as if his life depended on it, bursting into the main area of the teleportation hub and immediately capturing the full attention of everyone who had turned to look at the tunnel he had just exited. Few, if any, of them understood what they had just felt, but they knew enough to recognize that Rudan's frantic movement was far from normal. However, only a few had time to react before he was sprinting away at his maximum speed, needing to cover the greatest distance to reach his target. Fortunately, his target required him to turn away from the direction where those powerful enough to capture him would be stationed, giving him a chance to escape. In fact, he was beginning to think that things might work out for the best, as the extra noise might cause them to pursue him even more quickly than usual, potentially increasing the odds of success for Matt's puppets.

  So, when Rudan saw a familiar face blocking his path forward, his heart sank. They weren't supposed to be there. No, they must have just been passing through, and all of this was merely bad timing. Rudan headed straight towards them, only to dodge at the last second and move directly through the nearest gate, not even pausing to verify where he was headed. He dropped the first half of his package and saw the familiar figure following him through. Rudan released the second package the moment he emerged on the other side and continued moving as his pursuer failed to realize what had happened until the burst of energy swept over him.

  This caused him to pause just long enough for Rudan to create significant distance. As he ran, Rudan's heart dropped even more. He recognized where he was, and of all the places he could have ended up, it was by far the most ironic as it was essentially a prison world. While most of those whom Godfrey Enterprises found guilty of a crime could expect to pay with their gold or their life, there were still millions who were too valuable to just kill. Most of these were A ranks that were near enough to the peak that they held value in experience for those who had just reached S rank. They would be forced to fight and die against whoever Godfrey Enterprises decided would receive said experience, their deaths serving as stepping stones for the elite.

  However, there were also many hostages kept to ensure that more problematic S rank members stayed in line. While there were only around a million such prisoners and most of them weren't even under heavy guard, the real issue was that all of them would receive regular monitored visits as rewards for good behavior. Thus, it was safe to say that out of every world that Godfrey Enterprises controlled, this one likely had the highest average power level and the least harmonious group on it. Though it was also the only A-ranked world controlled by Godfrey Enterprises that also only one off-world teleportation gate, making it a perfect bottleneck.

  "Stop right there and state your business!" shouted an A-ranked guard as Rudan exited the tunnel with the teleportation gate in it and found himself looking at a steel box designed to hold back even S ranks for a few minutes. The walls gleamed with rune-inscribed metal, humming with contained power. Feeling like he was the butt of a cruel joke, Rudan couldn't help but laugh as the figure that had chased him arrived a moment later. Surely this was the end for him, at least it would have been if not for the group that arrived just a few moments later. Namely, four very dangerous men, all of which showed ancestry of insects with their chitinous exoskeletons and compound eyes, which likely meant that the world had been connected to a swarm organization and simply surviving them would be all that anyone cared about.