The boat ride was... Quite uneventful. I expected to be attacked by pirates, at the very least, but no. The most dangerous thing that happened to me was this drunk old woman who tried to flirt with me. To be fair, she didn't try to flirt with me per se, but with anything that looked human.

That poor hatstand is never gonna be the same, trust me. At the very least, I managed to turn her down - the thing couldn't, by vertue of not being alive and sentient.

So, I was relatively unscarred and well when I got out of the yacht. After 3 days of sailing the sea (read, being a lazy bum in my assigned room in a fancy ship), I was, at last, in Lastation. And boy, was it different from Leanbox.

Leanbox seemed like it tried its best to keep nature safe. Trees in the street, absolutely no smoke in the sky, everything seemed clean. What was my first feeling at seeing Lastation? I'm back home, but somehow it's worse.

Factories everywhere, so much smoke several chunks of the sky are missing, no colors in the street... It was almost as if I looked at a picture of England in the 1800's. Well, not quite - it seemed a bit more moderate here, the air was clean enough to breathe without masks. Still... Yeah, I was not a big fan of Lastation.

It was time to start my mission. Project "possibly bring unwanted doom to an entire nation for no reasons concerning me particularly" start!

I decided that the best way to do my job was to get enough money to live in Lastation for several days. So, after exploring the city a bit, I went to Lastation's Guild to get an easy quest, and luckily there were a bit more choice than in Leanbox. I had a choice between several - killing some "hoinins", whatever they are, or things that are probably robots - but in the end, I choose a quest that asked me to kill several "babyvaders", for two reasons : one, it was the one that gave the most money, and two, the guild clerc told me it was an invasion happening in a resort, called "Rebeat Resort" - and, in my galactic sized brain, I knew I'd have free access there, as long as I completed the quest.

And, with the things I need to do, it's better that I get the best of this world before I can't anymore.

I sound like I'm going to get executed. It's probably true, though - if the Oracle didn't lie to me, then this "Primal Sharicite" is quite important for the survival of everything. I'd better make sure that, even should I manage, somehow, to get to that big crystal, I wouldn't take to much of it. Which brings me back to money, actually : I need to buy the tools to cut a tiny part of a valuable crystal. Like a chisel, or maybe some metal pole and a hammer. I still don't know what to take.

You know what? I'll just explore the city, see if I can find any of my objectives. Like the Basilicom, maybe. I mean, Leanbox's Basilicom was a giant box that screamed "I'm an important building". Lastation's can't be that much different. Maybe a giant metal tower, with the aesthetics of the city. I just hope it's not a bunker of sorts.

After an hour or two exploring the city, I came upon a jewelry shop, and I didn't hesitate one second to enter. I decided to look around, to get a feel for the place. It looked quite classy, like 'I have an infinite supply of cash and I am not afraid to use it' kind of classy. The jewelry looked nice, but pretty simple overall - no crazy shapes, no giant diamonds on a tiny golden ring... If it wasn't another world, I'd say this shop is there to scam tourists. Luckily I'm not here to get pretty rocks, but the mean towards breaking them.

So I just walk up to the clerk. "Hello there, sir. Would you be willing to tell me the price of a chisel? Or really, anything that would help in the cutting of a jewel, I am not picky."

The clerk only raised an eyebrow, before he snarled. "And why, pray tell, should I lent you one of the tools of my beautiful shop? Do you think this is any common jewelry? Do you not know where you are, boy?"

Oh joy. He's a pompous jerk. Abort the mission. New Side Objective, be as disrespectful as possible.

"You know what, you're right. I'll find another shop better suited to my tastes. Everything in here seems... Lacking. From both the products and the owner."

You know what? I think I nailed it.

Several shops later, (several failures later, really), I finally found someone willing to part with a set of stone cutting tools. For "only 5000 credits, it's a steal my boy!" And I agree with him! It's definitely a steal, because that was the cost of my travels between Leanbox and here! I swear, shopkeepers are worse thieves than thieves themselves. But whatever, I was in a hurry, so I accepted the deal and walked away - five thousand credits shorter, but one step closer to my objective.

I also found the Basilicom. I was right, about it being a tower. A military watch tower. In the middle of the city.

Whoever built it, he really liked his steam punk look. Or he wanted to subtly remind everyone that the government's a bitch. You choose what you like more.

Whatever. At least, I now know the location for my main quest.

After two hours of walking like the pleb I am, I finally arrived. Rebeat Resort. And, I won't lie, after everything I saw at Lastation, I was expecting something less... Paradisiac? Yeah, paradisiac is a good word. I kept my expectations low, and holy shit were they subverted.

The water was nice and blue, and didn't look like it was polluted. The ground was either a healthy patch of sand, or metal platings that ran around in giant circles, over the water. It didn't look like it was rusting either, meaning it was very well cared for. I could see people enjoying the Sun everywhere, children swimming without a care in the world... It didn't look like there were monsters anywhere. If I wasn't sent by the Guild, I'd say I got pranked.

But I wasn't, and I was quick to find a lifeguard pointing me to a less desirable part of the resort. And that's when I understood why the public part was so well kept. It's because they don't have a choice.

The western part of the resort was only above water, and it was a struggle to not get wet. There were chunks of ground torn apart, railings were floating in the water, and of course, monsters everywhere. I could actually see several people fighting monsters, spread out everywhere.

I decided to follow a random direction, and readied my weapon. I need to kill 12 of those "babyvaders", and it's obvious they are gonna be stronger than the average Dogoo I fought back in Leanbox. I mean, those were slimes; literally tutorial monsters. And with how much difficulty I had in clearing 10 of those... I really need to up my game.

"That takes care of them. Thanks again for the help, dude!"

I nodded, thanked him, and left with as much dignity as I could muster. He was not my first target, nor will he be my last. I decided shortly after my first fight against those monsters that there was no way I'd be able to down twelve of them alone. But if I found someone else who was struggling with his monster, I could help him and in turn, he'd be forced to help me with my monsters. Or at least, one of them.

So far, this "forced buddy system" allowed me to kill 8 Babyvaders. And if the Dogoo incident told me anything, it's that I'm gonna get jumped by a horde of them because that's how it works. I can't be allowed to finish my quest without a miniboss event.

I looked around, and my eyes fell on another babyvader. Scratch that - 5 babyvaders. Together.

"Fuck you Murphy."

I readied my lance. Like the dogoos, those things are able to function properly even with little chunks of their body torn apart. Unlike the dogoos, it's not exactly easy to tear them apart.

The babyvaders get in position, and one of them jumps me. I dodge to its left, and bring my knee to its body - it may be harder than a slime, but it's still soft enough for the blow to not knock my bones out.

The hit send the monster away, and the four others decides to attack me together. I back away as much as I can, but am stopped by the railings. Somehow, I managed to get surrounded within 30 seconds of the fight.

So I improvise. As one of those babyvaders jump at me, I grab it, and throw it into the water - and take full advantage of the opening to run and position myself away from the railings. The babyvader will drown and die, but sadly that means it doesn't count towards the total for my quest, as I can't take his antennaes.

The three healthy babyvaders decide, once again, to attack - however, only two of them jump at me. The third seems to open his mouth, and scream at me, as white waves comes out of its mouth. A second later, I feel something, as if I was punched in my stomach, and I'm thrown away, before falling to the ground harshly.

I get back up with difficulty, before blindly swiping in front of me with my lance - which turned out to be a good decision, as the two babyvaders were still trying to tackle me. Unfortunately for me, they managed to dodge my attack, and went back to their positions - and the one I knocked away at the beginning of the battle was standing with them. I briefly looked behind me, but the drowning monster didn't come out of the water.

The monsters didn't seem to have been weakened by my blows, through. They didn't even look winded, or anything. But I sure did - my back is in pain, and I can barely hold my lance steady.

Still, I need to try something. As one of the babyvaders try to scream at me again, a dumb idea comes to my mind. His shout is nothing more than sound waves mixed with magic, right? So maybe, I could try to block the attack by spinning my lance? As if I were making a shield - except it's just a spinning, pointy stick.

I try just that, hoping, praying it's going to work, and I close my eyes. I hear the monster's scream, a "Thunk!" ... And two seconds later, I feel a hard blow on my arm, making me stop my spinning, and slash wildly around me.

As I open my eyes, I see a babyvader down to the ground at my feet, and not getting back up, as the screamer babyvader tries to do it again. I don't know how, but I already knew what happened - somehow, my stupid idea worked. By spinning my lance around like a shield, I could cancel projectiles - or at least, those scream attacks made by these babyvaders.

Before I could process the information, the two idle babyvaders suddenly decided they wanted a snack, and jumps towards me. The two of them prepares a headbutt, and meanwhile, the one staying at the back prepare a scream again.

I quickly stomp the fallen babyvader that was at my feet, effectively killing him, and then extends my lance to hit one of the two that were rushing me, while trying to keep out of the other one. Surprisingly, my attack worked, and the monster just impale himself on my weapon, dying instantly. Unsurprisingly, the other babyvader manages to hit me, pushing me and making me lose my lance.

From the corners of my eyes, and because I expected it, I see the screaming babyvader launch his scream magic to kill me. I feel weak, though - to weak to properly dodge. So I grab the first thing that came into contact with me, and try to protect myself with it.

I realise a second to late that I grabbed the other babyvader - and he decides to headbutts me. The hit, plus the screaming magic, pushes me to the edge of the platform, where conveniently, there's no railings to protect me. One push, and I'm down in the water - and I am definitely not strong enough actually to swim, let alone get back up.

My ribs hurt, my arms hurt, my legs - well, my legs are fine all things considered - and I have troubles breathing. I look up, and see the two monsters getting closer to me. I manage to stand up, with several difficulties, and, as the closest monster gets close enough, I attempt to kick it midair. The monster get thrown away, far enough that I should have some time to recover.

As I look again to watch the last babyvader attack me, I realise that someone is standing where the monster was supposed to be. The figure wore a grey jacket with a somewhat mouse-inspired hood.

It turned to look at me, and I could see the figure was a girl with grey skin - and green hair, a green as wonky as Chika's.

"Dude, you really suck at this."

At her feets, I could see the last babyvader - dead. I guess I owe her one. I decide to engage the conversation, if only to be polite. "Tell me something I don't know."

We ended up gathering the spoils of war and going to a bar together, because I wanted to thank my savior, and I don't know a better way than getting her a drink. We talked a bit over a drink - mainly, why we are in Lastation - and I get the feeling the both of us are lying through our teeth, and we both know it. I mean, I know I won't tell anyone "hey I need to steal the very thing that keeps the land healthy", but I don't know why she herself is lying.

"Hey, you said you lived far away from civilisation, right?"

Oh yeah, that part of my backstory to explain why I don't know anything about the land or the world. "Yeah, why?"

"Then I guess you wouldn't know how to recognise a member of ASIC, huh."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." I think about it for a second or two. "There's a way to find them, then?"

She seems to think about it for a second, before smirking. "Well, I don't know about regular members, but I know one of their top commander is posing as a CPU Candidate, and is even able to transform like a CPU would. And there may even be more of them."

Author's footnote :

And so, the plot begins ! Linda (Underling, call her however you want) joins the story as an important character. It was obvious when you think about it (she's in the "main characters" at the summary), but then again Chika is also important and she won't really make more appearances.

Edit : Thanks to VolcanicFlare for telling me there was a bug with the posting of this chapter. Hopefully, now it'll be really online :D