A Sinner's Eden-Chapter 189 - EVO

A Sinner's Eden-Chapter 189 - EVO

***Tirnanog, The Kingdom***
***Magnus***
We appeared at the same arena-like space we were already familiar with, only that this time we didn’t wait for the local welcoming party to extend their greetings.
As soon as I regained my orientation, I flash-stepped straight up to the top of the wall above the central entrance, finding myself with a good overview of the area.
Just as expected, we were right inside the kingdom’s capital city. Not knowing what to expect exactly, I had imagined some medieval setup, but except for the people using local materials like wood and stone to build their homes, it looked strangely suburban and peaceful. It was a stark contrast to the clan settlements I had seen so far. This was a society which managed to push the troubles of immediate survival so far away from their homes that they could afford a certain amount of leniency when it came to settlement protection and defensive infrastructure.
Having lived with Tirnanog’s violent biosphere, I couldn’t ignore the worry of what would happen if the kingdom’s outer perimeter ever got breached. Would any predatory wildlife which made it past the defenders rampage unchallenged through the countryside until someone put it down?
The horrifying thought made me wonder as I scanned the sky for a brief moment. Were there no relevant aerial predators on this continent? Or had the people learned how to deal with the local nuisances? Had these people truly pacified the area to such an extent that not even the nighttime predators were of concern?
Returning my attention to my surroundings, I noted that I was inside a walled-off compound. The walled-in arrival zone was flanked by a set of multi-story buildings, likely housing for the stationed guards and new exiles. Everything was then walled off by a second, lower wall.
The intention was clearly not to keep out monsters, but to contain the newly arrived exiles.
Looking down, I found a soldier running away from the other side of the entrance gate while others readied themselves to hold it.
It was exactly as our prisoners described. There was a spyhole on the gate, allowing the guards on duty to react as soon as the wormhole was done deporting the exiles.
If Earth was up to the same kind of assholery as at the Old Camp, they would drop the exiles from an elevated position so that there was a reduced risk of someone trying to use the wormhole in the other direction. Once they could be sure that nobody would be dropped on their heads, the kingdom guards could then swoop in and take control.
My attention returned to the soldier who was already halfway over the inner courtyard of the barracks. He was running for his life, but he was no speedster.
I sighed and flash stepped again, appearing right in front of him while holding up an outstretched arm.
“Stop!”
He didn’t react in time and barrelled chest-first into my palm, which resulted in his legs keeping going while his upper body was forced to stay still as inertia claimed its tribute. Decked out in full armour, I was the one with much more mass between the two of us.
The guard went down hard with the air having been forced out of his chest due to the sudden compression, and he showed no immediate sign of getting back up.
Half of the other guards who were protecting the gateway to the arena turned their attention to me, and weapons were pointed in my direction.
“Oh, I am not your problem,” I chuckled.
Right at that moment, Ahmad and Savannah Gentry broke through the door behind them and began disabling the local defenders. Jeng’s two head paladins were like walking tanks. The heavy door, which was more than enough to stop newly arrived exiles, was nothing more than papier mâché to them.
The guards gave everything they had, but they were like toddlers compared to Clan Jeng's new leaders. Spear-tips slid off iobeetle carapace without leaving so much as a scratch. Two kingdom guards even had shotguns, but what should have been devastating medium-range weaponry only left powder residue on otherwise immaculate armour.
I decided to ignore the unfair fight and hauled the guard I had stopped to his feet.
These men and women were more than enough to take care of newly arrived exiles without a single mutation, but against our elite, they were utterly outmatched.
More of our people came through the gateway as the transport orb transferred them in groups of six.
I shoved my captive towards a growing pile of incapacitated guards, which was in the process of stacking up as the two paladins went about their work.
"I suggest you join them and play dead if you don't want to get hurt."
Surprisingly, the guard did exactly as told, going so far as to throw himself amongst his comrades as if I had struck him. I honestly expected this whole affair to be more difficult, but so far it has been going pretty well.
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More of our people swarmed out, taking over the compound with little to no resistance.
Vanya sauntered out of the gateway as soon as the two paladins were done beating any resistance out of the locals. With the two menacing and quite inhuman-looking murder machines at her side, the guards who were left conscious didn't dare to question her authority.
"Is there anyone with authority I can speak with?" she asked.
One of the guards shook his head. "Our commander is Nikos Demi, but he disappeared two days ago, together with a bunch of other guards. So far, we haven't heard about any replacements."
Vanya frowned and clicked her tongue. "And the disappearance of your superior officer didn't warrant any reaction?"
The guard shrugged. "We sent the message up the chain of command, but so far we haven't gotten any reaction. Though we expected an investigation as soon as someone with influence visits us."
He sounded like he expected this to happen soon, and that we would get our asses kicked once one of their higher-ups showed up.
"It looks like the gears of administration are turning slowly in this so-called kingdom," Tianna commented from her position behind the Matriarch.
Vanya only shrugged and disregarded the group of prisoners. "I do not know what I was expecting. I suppose that if your people are the unquestioned rulers of your little corner of the world, there is no need for bureaucratic efficiency. This is good for us, insofar as this little fiasco likely hasn’t reached the ears of those in power, yet. So we might guide the narrative in our favour. On the other hand, I fear negotiating with these people will be a pain in the ass. Depending on how many layers of administration there are, it might take some time until we get to talk with the ‘royals’."
She turned back to the arrival area. "Do we have to do something in case new exiles arrive while we are here?"
Tianna turned to the prisoner whom Vanya was talking to earlier. "What do you do with new exiles?"
The man looked at his fellows, then shrugged and pointed at one of the larger buildings. "They normally get the standard instructions and are then incarcerated at the barracks until they can be transferred to a training camp. But since Earth is usually sending groups only once or twice a month, we aren't expecting any immediate arrivals. The last batch got sent only eight days ago, not counting that strange group which arrived recently."
The interrogation went on for a little longer, but it was obvious that these people were just mindlessly doing their jobs. It looked like the standard rule for the average kingdom’s citizen was to keep their head down, ask no questions, and do their job as efficiently as necessary to not draw the attention of anyone of higher rank.
When we abducted this facility’s leading officer, we destroyed their command structure. The guardsmen kept doing their work, but none of them bothered to do more than file a complaint and wait for a new officer to arrive.
I was torn between understanding and blatant surprise at the shown incompetence. On one hand, this facility should have been a relatively peaceful installation with a monotonous job. If I understood correctly, the local guy in charge had regarded it as his retirement post.
The system clearly worked as long as all the components were in place, so why rock the boat with unnecessary organisational hassles?
On the other hand, this facility was more than just some random civilian venture. So having at least some command structure should be expected.
“Magnus?”
“Hm?” I stopped my silent musings and turned my attention to Vanya, who quickly pointed out that some trouble was forming outside the facility and that I should go to deal with it. There was no need to involve riled-up civilians in this affair.
After looking in the indicated direction, I strolled towards the gateway which led out of the compound. It was wide enough for several wagons, and its guards had already been replaced by our people, though that hadn’t gone down without drawing the attention of the locals.
Beyond, a small crowd had formed. The subduement of their well-known kingdom guards and their speedy replacement with people in strange, foreign armour hadn’t been appreciated.
I supposed that living right next to an exile-arrival facility involved some interest in having the institution run smoothly, or the real estate value of the surrounding homes would plummet.
The crowd was trying to get some answers from our guards, but they refused to answer.
Stepping forward, I raised my voice, “Disperse! There is nothing to see here!”
“Who are you people?” one of the larger individuals asked. He looked like one of the instigators who held the mob together. From my time back on Earth, I knew a few facts about protests and unorganised mobs. One of them was that most civilians were like sheep, and that a wolf was needed to keep a group like this together.
“Investigators,” I replied calmly. “We will be gone as soon as we have our answers. In the meantime, I want this street cleared. Go about your business, and everything will be fine. Stay here, and I will start arresting people.”
“Never heard of investigators with gear like yours! Your mutations are also off!” the stubborn troublemaker replied confidently. “And I have been in the army for ten years! I have seen my share of things, including category forty elites, and none of them looked like you guys!”
I sighed inwardly and raised my hand, showing them my flat palm demonstratively before bringing it down. Along with its descent, I flash-stepped right in front of the bothersome individual.
The slap sent him face-first to the street, knocking him out cold as his head bounced off the cobblestone.
The crowd finally realised that I wasn’t some dumb official who would let himself be dragged into a senseless argument. They took a collective step backwards.
After making sure that I hadn’t accidentally killed the idiot, I looked up from the unconscious body at my feet. “Okay, so we have a winner! Who will spend the next week with him in a cell? There might even be a regretful organisational error, and he gets lopped in with the other fresh exiles to do another round of duty for our grand kingdom! So I will count to ten, and anyone who is still on the street by then might as well volunteer to join him!”
I raised my fist above my head and stretched out my index finger.
“One!”
The ring around me widened as the middle finger came up.
“Two!”
The smarter ones started running, as they realised that the 'palm of blissful unconsciousness' would be ready once more soon enough.
“Three!”
As the next finger came up, even the stupid ones got it.
“Four!”
When I reached five, the street was blissfully empty, so I grabbed the idiot by his collar and dragged him with me.
I felt no qualms about lopping him together with the other prisoners. Maybe he would get lost among the exiles for real, who knew?

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Chapter 189 - EVO