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It began with one Underwater City.

The announcement was simple.

"We can help you trade. Make us be part of your country."

To protect themselves from any possible attack of the WGP, these Underwater Cities made alliances with each other and created a route that can allow many countries to trade with them.

Some even created an easy route headed to the Worlds Helm and the World Governing Trading Hub.

Various undercurrents were happening, and even the route in the Suez Canal was delayed as a large war occurred in the Red Sea. Several battles occurred in the Mediterranean, which delayed the ships moving in and out of it.

Many nations were moving.

In the dimensions beyond the three, a strange fortress remained floating in between several dimensions. This was the fortress of the former Presider Crostfree.

Another set of Pioneers arrived from the three-dimensional plane. And each gave their reports.

Pridgeon glanced at the reports and began to curse. Things were not going according to plan.

There were some of his Pioneers who disappeared and were not able to return. Despite the many preparations he made, he was still caught.

"Which is it? There\'s definitely someone in Mesopotamia! Is it Garenjazz? Is he setting a base there to watch me? Or is it someone else who just made a base there out of whim?" Pridgeon constantly pondered on the issue.

His attempts were now getting barred from left to right. Every movement he made would somehow be met with opposition. The alliance he was thinking of offering to Presider Andronze of Egypt fell apart when Andronze suddenly stopped communicating with him in favor of a new guest.

"Just who allied with Andronze?" Pridgeon pondered.

"Sir! We\'ve uncovered that the nation of Greece will be sending in a team of unmarked Exoskeletons with only basic techs applied to attack a certain ship that will be exiting the Suez Canal."

"This makes the fifth nation. So many nations plan on attacking but have only the most basic techs. We could use this to our advantage. I need more resources anyway. The problem will be that Presider in Egypt and in Mesopotamia! And other mid-tier Presiders may have secretly made their foundations in Greece or Rome!"

"Sir!" Another figure appeared. He was one of Crostfree\'s former Pioneers. His appearance was bloody and wounded.

"Oh? You survived, huh? I guess that means you can live. But hide any more of Crostfree\'s techs in this place, and I\'ll kill you. So count yourself lucky you survived that battle. And it\'s good I got to see the few techs Crostfree has around this ship." Pridgeon laughed.

The Pioneer knelt down.

"Please... let me live."

"Depends. What information have you gathered in Mesopotamia?"

"Project Babel One. A massive mega-fortress is being made underground and will burst into the sky. It will be an extremely massive structure that will reach space!"

"Oh? So it is a Top Tier Presider. It won\'t reach space. It will alter gravity and create a mass railway that connects it to a large orbiting satellite. Instead of creating a trade route by sea, they will make one through space. Quite ingenious." Pridgeon praised.

"There is also an elite team of one-hundred-fifty men being sent to attack the Mediterranean sea."

"What? Why would he do that?"

"A rumor. It\'s connected to the few WGP Commanders that we\'ve confirmed to be Former Fleet Admiral Magantae. It seems she was actually an Everhiss. This was part of the investigation that I found. Admiral Magantae was on the chase for Lowengren. A traitor Commander who served Magantae, Salathiel Helmsly. He was spotted in Mesopotamia searching for Lowengren." The Pioneer reported.

"It seems that this Presider knows that Lowengren is alive! Where is this Salathiel?"

"I tried to look for it, but this Commander seemed to have died from severe dehydration brought about by a strange extreme lactose intolerance."

"You can\'t be serious?"

"The enemy Presider has stopped searching for it."

"Alright. I guess that would do. Go and serve under Arbiter Madelyn, who is on her way to South America. I guess we could use your experience as the former right-hand man of Crostfree to do more. You are most experienced with dealing with Top Tier."

"You\'ll let... me live?"

"Someone like you bear a lot of resemblance to my younger years. So who knows? Maybe through your groveling, you can become a Presider?" Pridgeon laughed.

"Prep, the Assault team of Crostfree. We are to ambush them. I\'ll delay my trip to South America for this. The attack of this Presider ought to be related to Lowengren."

The Pioneers nodded and followed by preparing the team and the portal that would lead to the heart of the mountain fortress, Zion.

Back in Egypt, the entire underground fortress had just had a massacre.

General Aurom was sprinting towards the location where Major Lester was staying to demand and shout why this was so. Many of those who were killed had good working relationships with General Aurom.

"Lester!" General Aurom burst on the room.

"Do we kill the weapons research scientist?" Major Lester ignored Aurom but kept talking to the new head of human resources. Lieutenant Eclayne.

"We can kill her subordinate, which is also her concubine."

"Is that the right term? Concubine?"

"Irrelevant. Although he does embezzle and use the money and resources for whatever corrupt purposes, his effectiveness in that position makes up for it compared to the other candidates to be hired. We can have someone shadow him and learn his tasks before killing him."

"Then I guess he can live for now. General! I am pleased to report that our base is now earning more than our expenses. The estimate is at three hundred and fifty percent! We\'ve killed all those who have been secretly connected to some shady organizations and have been selling out the money and resource of this base to some Pillars. But since we are to be Pillars of our own, the most important is to have an operating base to handle." Harker explained as he showed him several files.

"Three hundred and fifty percent?!" The General was amazed.

"How is it possible to earn that much?!"

"We\'ve always been earning that much. But it\'s just that the illegal and secret activities have been halting our performance. Now, with fear in place and how we killed many of those leaking our resources elsewhere, we could bring this base to new heights! You are a future Pillar! You need a place to become your base of operations! But now, they promoted you to have this! We can create both military and commercial products and sell them off to the cities underground and above ground. By the end of this year, I should have enough funds to start a new base under your command. You will then become Pillar Aurom, the first Commodore of the Underground!" Harker explained.

"Co-Commodore! But that\'s-! No General ever commands two bases! And we still report to Pillar Norweskov!"

"But why? You are already a Pillar. Why not just become one! Claim this base as your own. Besides, in terms of importance, Major Lester is far more important than Norweskov." Lowengren, who had been listening to the side, spoke.

"This is the fruit of our labor," Lowengren revealed a small flask.

"Inside this is a new liquid metal developed by a certain organization. Our mission was to retrieve this and introduce this tech to Egypt. We have it and have already sent samples to the Sun God." Lowengren then poured the metal on his hands.

The water began to cover Lowengren\'s arm as if it became a glove.

Lowengren moved his arm, and the liquid metal followed as if it was cloth.

All of a sudden, Lowengren punched the nearby steel wall.

PENG!

A dent was left.

"As flexible as cloth, but harder than most alloys. Perfect for war. We\'ve already given this to the research team to create a few samples for Exoskeletons." Lowengren smiled.

"We can gain and earn much with this."

"Earn? Why are we so focused on earning?"

"Because we are Pillars." Harker explained.

"General, you have to think like a Pillar now. This is why I urged you to go and amass war contributions. There is a reason why the Sun God created this setup. Mobile bases are set to patrol the entire region of Egypt. Each mobile base acts as a beacon for education, arts, sciences, and whatever. It is the instrument used to support and protect the people. But each base was allowed to grow for the earnings of each Pillar. Have you gone through the details of what a Pillar is?" 

"N-No. I haven\'t finished it. It talked about so many details and protocols."

"Understandable. It\'s been hours since you received it. To put it simply, the Sun God wants Egypt to grow by being various nations in its own right. Each Pillar is a nation with its own resources, science, and while we use the same money, it is unequally distributed among Pillars. The Sun God doesn\'t just want us to be protectors, but he wants us to be pioneers and leaders in pushing Egypt to a higher place. That is why being a Pillar is practically impossible."

"Then the Pillar Games..."

"Right. It\'s time to prove which of the Pillars are better and more well-equipped. It is also a place where we showcase our research and development to impress the Sun God. The Sun God created an environment of constant competition for glory, service, and development. As the newest Pillar, we are the weakest. We are tasked to make our own country. And it was improper to use this base as our own since it belongs to Pillar Norweskov. That\'s why the attack in the Mediterranean is important. We ransack the supplies there and trade them to him. We buy out this base from him." Arthur explained.

General Aurom was amazed.

"Attack and ransack the trade ships?! That will put Egypt in a very critical position! War will break out!"

"It will work even without us. We have spied on the ship. They will start an attack from that ship to Egypt, giving us the perfect excuse to attack and defend ourselves. And our information indicates that an Anonymous War will happen." Arthur answered.

"An Anonymous War? What\'s that?"

"A war with blank soldiers. They won\'t show their countries but will try to attack and steal the items inside those ships." Arthur explained.

Harker finally stood up.

"General. Forgive me for all the cloak and dagger. I not only hid my real identity, but I also hid my plan. The reason is that this base is still under the control of Pillar Norweskov and others who are called Pioneers. You will understand if you go through the materials that explain what Pillars are. I can go with you to explain things stated and recorded in those materials they sent." Harker offered.

"I guess. So, in short... you guys have everything under control?"

"Yes. These two people..." Harker began.

"We are Major Lester\'s subordinates." Lowengren continued.

"We have been since we were on the Caliphate region. You can count on us, General!" Lowengren then promised.

"Al-alright. I guess it makes sense. Lester, explain to me how those massacres have helped us. And if you have any allegations, you better have explanations and evidence for them."

"We have... over three thousand five hundred proofs for all involved personnel. No worries! I can explain all to you, General."

"That\'s good. Just give me the major proofs..." General Aurom sighed as he left.

Only Lowengren and Arthur remained.

"I have to admit, this nation that the Presider made... it really is a training ground to create a weaker Presider. No wonder he sealed the entire country."

"Right. He even gave opportunities to humans and not just Aragarians. Regardless, this environment is suited for us."

"Tell me of the wildcard you were waiting for." Lowengren then asked.

"They would be my former butler, Admiral Auvendise. If he can break through the Spanish Galleons, he can help us against the Hermes and Akasha. There is also the wandering Unlocked that is serving Seeker. Oark, Madison, and Cheryl. They\'ve gone dark for nearly a month now. We have evidence to suggest that they are alive. Perhaps they were given a secret mission for Seeker to try and alter things in the future that will be everyone\'s losses and only benefit him."

"Oh? Kristine was not enough, and Seeker wanted to make or break things that will be inconvenient in the future? What a hassle!"

"I would complain. But I am bending the direction of our future just to save my sister..." Arthur shrugged.

  So you predict that they could appear there?"

"I just have a feeling. Logically, they shouldn\'t. But I\'m sure Seeker did something to help those three mercenary-turned Unlocked to hide them from my predictions."

"They were dropped in China, and they\'ll appear here? In any case, if they appear, we should use them to fight those Overcomers."

"That is my intention." Arthur smiled.