Chapter 1199: Too Good to be True?

    The next several hours was spent in relative silence, waiting for the machines to finish optimizing the flow of my energy. I wasn’t really sure what advantage this would bring, but it was worth a test, especially since I didn’t really have anything to lose from this.

    Afterwards, I felt the machines humm to life once again, forming new energy cores within my body. One of them was in my head, near the core of my World Sight, and the other was in my abdomen. It felt... strange to have these energies taking shape without my direct control, but I was able to prevent myself from disrupting the process.

    Once it was all done, James let me know and gave me the signal to stand up. At first, I didn’t really feel any different, looking down at my hands. “Is that it?” I asked, looking up at James.

    As soon as I did, I saw a compressed bullet of ki flying at me. I didn’t see it with my eyes, but rather my more supernatural senses. The bullet was moving far beyond lightspeed, and he had clearly timed it for when I would be looking at him.

    My brain entered a brief moment of panic, realizing that this attack was faster than anything I had ever managed to dodge before. However, before I realized what had happened, I brought my hand up, intercepting the ki bullet.

    Despite its speed, the impact was little more than a puff of wind. Only then did I realize that there was no true danger behind the ‘attack’, and James was grinning knowingly in my direction. “Optimized energy flow, for a mortal, will mean that they are able to more easily activate their abilities. However, for an energy being like us, it drastically increases our reaction time. Because of this optimization, your body is currently in its peak condition, though that will slowly degrade over time if you don’t train properly. Take some time to study and adapt to the changes in your body before you start practicing with your new energies.”

    I slowly nodded my head at that, still reeling from the sudden demonstration. Admittedly, he had properly shown me the benefits of the procedure I had undergone, it just would have been a bit preferable if he had let me know about that beforehand.

    “Right. I’ll head back to Olympus to do that, then. Anything else, before I go?” I asked, and James shook his head, escorting me out of the facility.

    Jonas sat within the control room, looking up at the map that was displayed before him. According to the information that Pierce had sent him, this was the region where there would soon be some form of disturbance. Unfortunately, Jonas had absolutely no idea as to what form that disturbance would take, so he had to prepare for a few different possibilities.

    Thus, the elven man glanced over to Bria, offering a small smile. “Bria, please choose three people to send down to Sevast Pole and investigate. I’m going to work on scanning the local space for any disturbances.”

    Bria gave a quick salute, nodding her head. “I’m on it.” She said in a serious tone, quickly leaving the control room. Looking off to the other side, Jonas looked at a human woman. “Trish, can you tap into the local census and see if there is anything that stands out?”

    Trish, when she was still alive, had been a server analyst. Even after joining Jonas’s community, she had kept her talent of pouring over data faster than anyone else. Thus, she nodded her head, quickly typing on the console in front of her. “Anything in particular that I’m looking for, sir?”

    With a sigh, Jonas shook his head. “I’ve got no idea, really. This is a request from Pierce, so it’s possible that just us being present is enough to resolve the problem, or we may need to enter a full-blown battle.”

    This was why Jonas had sent an additional team down to the surface, while also having Trish check their records. Any information that they could find could help them determine what form the upcoming cataclysm would take.

    “Everyone, prepare for an imminent battle. Push our deep space scanners to the limit, look for anything abnormal.” He ordered, and everyone in the room rushed to fulfill his command.

    What’s going on? Bria asked in surprise, hearing the near panic in Jonas’s tone.

    We found a karmic nexus. Jonas explained, staring at the screens in front of him, looking for anything approaching. This probably started as a small community of people, all of whom looked out for each other. When you help someone with positive karma, your own karma increases as well.

    In very, very rare situations, this can create a feedback loop. With a large group of people, all with positive karma helping one another on a regular basis, they created a holy ground of karma. The people here aren’t suspicious, they are genuine saints. But that’s the problem. Their collective karma was so good that it would passively turn away anyone seeking to harm this place. Now, that karma is gone, replaced by the less effective Luck stat.

    Hearing that explanation, Bria was still confused. Doesn’t that do basically the same thing?

    On a small scale, yes. Jonas said with a nod, finally spotting a small blip on the scans. However, there is a difference. Luck is a passive bonus to one’s own subconscious. Your basic instincts that guide you on which action to take. It does this by making you more sensitive to information around you, putting that information together in a way that your conscious mind can’t understand.

    Karma, on the other hand, worked externally. Instead of interfering with the information you receive, it directly influences the world to enforce its own balance. With bad enough karma, new tools can break unexpectedly, monsters strike out of nowhere, or even natural energy fluctuations that give rise to dangerous effects. While the end result is similar, the process is entirely different. Their Luck stat isn’t able to protect them from external threats anymore, and they are entirely unprepared to face such threats, due to their existence as a purely good-natured community.

    “Incoming monster, sector eight!” Jonas shouted, looking around.

    “I’ve got sector six, seven sightings!”

    “Sector three, one enemy.”

    More and more reading began to appear on the radar, monsters flooding in from all directions. Thankfully, this system’s void defense barrier was still active, preventing memetic monsters from being mixed into the lot. Jonas rose to his feet, placing two fingers on his forehead and calling out with his mind.

    All combatants, this is an immediate mobilization order. The city, as well as the planet below, are being besieged from all directions. Noncombatants proceed to the secure shelters. This is not a drill. I am activating the city’s defensive turrets now. He reported, tapping into the divinity within his city. The ground shifted, and several tall structures began to rise on the outskirts of the city.

    These turrets were typically hidden underground, as they were seen as an eyesore most of the time. However, at times like now, Jonas could freely activate them. His city’s defensive barrier began to glow with a bright, golden light as he entered into battle mode. Archmage division, deploy at will! You are free to operate at maximum output! Elemental division, prepare to reinforce them after the initial volley. Martial division, watch for enemies breaking through the attacks.

    A thick swarm of bodies flew out of the city, forming organized columns that confronted the approaching monsters. This was Jonas’s strength in battle, the combined power of everyone in his community working together.