The Children of Zegandaria - Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov, Atanas Marinov (world best books to read txt) 📗

Time seemed to have stood still. Sasia watched him intently, not fully understanding what he was saying to her. To her he was almost a mythical figure

- Almost nonexistent, or more accurately existing, but perhaps only in his own reality.

He guessed and softened his tone.

- "That's not your fault here - I had a score to settle with that," scoundrel the Archist. "But sometimes innocеnt victims fall. Your friend was clearly meant to be one of them. Yes, he was my master, but he will never own my soul - no matter how much money he has and no matter how much he lies and deceives everyone. The time had come for the whole truth to come out."

CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE: THE CITY OF LIGHT

Few had heard of such a place, and almost no one had ever been there. There every sick, infirm, unhappy, and weary veteran, or even the commonest beggar, could find a piece of bread and a safe shelter. There was no place for politics, gene experimentation, or perverted and super-evolved forms of virtual reality in this city. This city was a reality unto itself.

Sasia was amazed that they had even revealed to her the existence of such a place. Yes, she'd gotten developments on the secret Area Nine that they'd never been able to find.

The "City of Light" offered hope of salvation to so many tormented souls - it was where they would find peace, and it was likely that this place would be their last refuge.

No one had any idea who had erected it, nor where its exact location was.

The dreadful post apocalyptic feel was repeated for so many that some even preferred to go to this place much earlier.

The cyberpunk atmosphere hadn't even passed a place like this by. There were strange neon green signs and beautiful copper glare covered super tall buildings reaching up to a kilometer tall. The emphasis here wasn't on capitalism or spirituality, but on forgiveness.

Sasia was amazed at the terrible turn of events - with the Archistratus killed - it meant his cousin would soon be okay too. The imperious overlord of Learnia would soon lose her vast and boundless power - it was only a matter of time. She would also be stripped of the vast territories of her domain of nearly three million scintillaters. It would have been a severe blow to her psyche.

Special creatures - dargons[44] - looked after those in need. They were made of fine matter and could only exist in this reality.

There were people who stayed here all their lives simply because they had no other idea where they could survive in this way. Here they were happy and could enjoy fleeting attention. Here was their home - forever.

Sasia couldn't believe her eyes, but after Von Blask had shown her around, she found that this place was not subject to any physical laws - it was completely self-sufficient.

- "Why don't people want to accept reality?," she asked somewhat innocеntly.

- "Well, first because some of them can't fit into it and it upsets them. I think there should be a place where all of us can let go," he told her.

Sasia saw Von Blask for what he was. A wise warrior, but also a pleasant merrymaker. He'd liquidated his own boss's men like dickheads - they couldn't hang around Synthros - or their heads would just explode.

The "City of Light" was not actually located in some off-planet place, but was located deep beneath the surface. People Apparently couldn't get away from the idea of living underground - they felt completely safe there. Many even forgot who they were right here. No one cared about anything here.

Von Blask had brought Sasia to this very place for the simple reason that word of the Archist's murder would soon get out. Synthros wasn't that far away, and there were ears and eyes everywhere.

Von Blask knew that he had gotten revenge for all of his former boss's misdeeds. Sasia, however, was seeing a man she barely knew who had been the cause of Mark's death. So she still felt ambivalEnt about him.

Von Blask seemed to guess her thoughts.

- In this world, my girl, nothing is only black or white. It is only a fleeting episode that we witness. I may not be alive tomorrow, but something tells me that Hans didn't exactly have those intentions when he opened the portal. It will all fall into place eventually - there will be no doubt - he coughs.

- "Okay," was Sasia's terse reply. "And how do all these people here support themselves, where do they eat?"

- "Well that's a bit hard to explain," Von Blask told her, "you need to spend a bit more time here and see it with your own your own eyes. A lot of people can't even get used to the "City of Light“, which is downright pathetic if you ask me. I'm an old warrior - I want at least a bit of a break. That's it. And politics is not for me!"

As they were having this conversation the Dargons were tending to the wounds of some of the war veterans. The Dargons were getting through their tasks frighteningly quickly. Sasia was amazed to see their rounded bean-shaped form and thin but sturdy limbs - they looked like giant beetles with the discipline of ants. Their bodies were a coppery green and their limbs a dark blue. But most interesting were their eyes - they were not faceted like most insects. They were opaquely mirrored, and one could safely look into them, only to be confronted with one's own distorted reflection.

These strange creatures were quite frightening, but at the same time their healing powers were irresistible. Even the archaneanss paled before them.

There were many here who actually needed a lot of help. Sasia saw many mutilated and disfigured faces, torsos and limbs.

- "What if they don't get better?," she dared to ask Von Blask.

- "Well, let's not be so black-eyed," the now former ghost warrior deflected the question. "But if they don't save them, they'll just die. Worse, many will lose their last hope that a place like this exists."

As she averted her gaze, she realized that the line of needy seemed endless. There were so many different people - each of them waiting for rescue.

CHAPTER SIXTY: NEW LIFE CORPORATION

Equius Mon controlled most of the city's finances - at least those that weren’t owned by Om Gur Nal. But he had not financed his son in any way. After hearing a positive response from Gad ‘Di Enn , he realized that he could still achieve his main goal - to chip absolutely everyone. Yeah - it was going to take a hell of a lot of money. But Equius had ordered Om Gur Nal's death in his own game - it was only a matter of time before he pecked and entered the fifth level. Because there, the wily billionaire had a huge surprise in store for him.

Equius didn't trust the new orders, and he didn't understand them either - to him it was all just money, money and more money. That is, every thing that prevented him from making money was a danger and a threat. And he had to cunningly deal with it. Not alone, of course.

The assets of the empire he ran amounted to almost a hundred billion, because he had taken over a lot of government contracts from the now-deceased Gordon Elmbaum. He, of course, knew the details of his demise and was trying to avoid falling victim to the same things the Governor had fallen victim to.

It had also inquired what lay beneath the ruins of Sor In Tum Cathedral and had learned of the migration of the Myeranians. He was also clearly aware that they were never to return to this planet, or so it seemed.

All the cards were going to stack terribly slowly in his favor, but before that he had to work at least a little.

It was only a matter of time before the final outcome, and he knew that if Om Gur Nal fell from power, no one and nothing would threaten him. Such was his conception. But something could, of course, go wrong. So he tried to get the doctor on his side.

It wasn't that he despised science, but these learned sods had to understand that things didn't happen like that in his world - where the stronger ate the weaker - something infinitely natural, by the way.

The New Life Corporation was located on the site of the former Azak Intul district on a not very presentable street, but Equius didn't like attracting undue attention anyway. He believed that was far from an indication of a job done.

He had to meet with the board of directors, an utterly boring but necessary thing to do.

He knew that the trade he had taken from Gordon was now more lucrative than ever.

He couldn't stand those fools and their stupid rules. He had grown up on the streets. He knew the game practically. And they had never set foot there. They, with their dumb hypocritical morals.

Yeah, someone was going to help him, and that someone was named Doctor Gad ‘Di Enn. It had to be done - there was simply no other way.

Surely they'd want him to explain his alleged siphoning off of about a hundred and fifty million credits that had sunk I don't know where. In the pockets of Doctor Gad ‘Di Enn, in fact, who had bills to settle with Detective Boss that he had no intention of paying off at all. Never!

The scariest part was the concept of the corporation itself. Deep down, Equius knew that they weren’t aiming for the good of their clients and so forth at all. The business had a dark and even shady side. There was the rub.

Many of Equius' fellow shareholders didn't even know how deeply they were imbued with the leprosy of their so-called "business."

He had never revealed too many details to them. They didn't even need to know a tenth of the truth. They needed to be obedient puppets in the hands of this sociopath.

Equius didn't believe in the welfare system either. He despised it because, in his opinion, it created weak and depEndEnt individuals who would sooner or later sink deep into the so-called social swamp. Even, from his point of view, he was doing them some good. He was trying to give them a chance to live in