Damon's Ascension-Chapter 157: The Stakes Rise Higher

"We thank you for your kindness," Damon said casually, but his expression did not show it.

Rafia glanced around and saw that while most of the Vanguard Team were curious and somewhat welcoming of her, the Prime Representative and the woman beside him were mostly neutral. Could it be that they saw through her little scheme?

Truly deserving of the fifth ranked species, that took the universe by surprise.

’Heh, but even so, it is an open scheme.’ Rafia thought internally herself with a slight smirk.

Outwardly though, she bowed once again then took her leave, allowing the Vanguard team to re board the restocked Normandy and get ready to be on their way.

"Boss, will you tell them or should I?" Nicholas suddenly asked, steepling his fingers with a strange smile.

The rest were surprised by this and glanced at Nicholas, then Damon, who nodded. "Go ahead, it will do them good to know this ahead of time."

This made the others alert as they realized some form of scheme must have happened which they weren’t aware of.

Nicholas sighed. "My friends, it is not so complex, so don’t worry. I want to start by using Socrates method, by leading you to the answer by asking questions."

"First one question then. We are currently in a state of universal crisis, where the big ’promised land’ full of milk and honey that has influenced our universal structure so thoroughly has now had its fundamental rules changed."

"Most of them are generally fine in the short term, but one particular rule change has terrifying short term consequences, which is the loot drop rule. This has turned the Chaos Realm from a cooperative PVE campaign with minor PVP into a near battle royale PVP with minor PVE."

Nicholas glanced outwards through the porthole window at the nearby safe zone base. "With this in mind, if you were a member of the top ten races, like the Fae race who manage this base, what would be your response to this as a ruling faction? Or to put it succinctly, what do rulers crave the most in their domains?"

Bane folded his arms and grunted. "Stability."

Nicholas nodded gently. "Stability. It may sound surprising, but unless they are a particularly war-like state or race who profit off conflict, most ruling powers fear war and conflict more than their average subjects. After all, it is only through conflicts that the chessboard can shift, allowing new powers to rise and old powers to fall."

"So a situation like rule number six being added has a horrifying effect on the stability of the universe, the Grand Relay and the Safe Zones within the Chaos Realm. It is a field day for races ranked 11ths to 20ths especially, as any of them could climb into the top ten with clever maneuvers if things played out in an interesting way."

"But for us in the top ten, it is a nightmare that we wish we could wake up from and do everything in our power to avoid, especially the ninth ranked Fae race who are close to being kicked out of this exclusive group."

Nicholas leaned forward. "So why would they allow so many members of lower ranked species’ explorers and ability users to swarm into the Chaos Realm at a time like this?"

"To muddy up the waters and fish in them." Levi offered with a cold frown, understanding the ploy at work.

The faces of the entire group changed significantly, with the most shocked being the young Xela. "But that’s super dumb! What if they burn themselves using their own fire?"

Marshal folded his arms with a neutral face. "A common mistake of sapient creatures, thinking that they have the situation under control. This Rafia is playing with fire of epic proportions but likely thinks her age and power might be able to solve any problems that come her way."

Nicholas smiled wryly, his gaze focused as he addressed the group like a seasoned lecturer rather than a teammate. "It’s actually very similar to a strategy from our own human history. Think back to the time of England’s conflicts with Spain, when the seas were contested and trade routes were gold. England didn’t have the strongest navy compared to Spain’s armada at the time, so what did they do?"

Henry perked up. "They sent pirates to harass Spanish ships, right? The... um, privateers!"

He then winked towards Kyle. "I know the word thanks to AC3. Long live the Kenway family, down with the Auditores!"

"Exactly!" Nicholas confirmed with a snap of his fingers, ignoring Henry after his answer.

He then continued. "They issued letters of marque to privateers, giving them legal protection to raid Spanish ships. It allowed England to destabilize Spanish trade while maintaining plausible deniability and conserving their official navy’s resources. Spain bled, and England profited."

Felicia’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "So Rafia’s immunity is like that letter of marque, but for us. She’s basically giving us a permit to act without immediate harassment by local authorities. That means we’re her proxy force in the Realm, intentional or not."

Nicholas nodded, his expression serious. "Right. And by meeting us openly and so publicly in that docking bay—flaunting her position and our status—she’s painted a gigantic target on our backs. Every species here now knows who we are, our ship, our aura signature, our status. Even those that didn’t already know are now curious at best and tracking us at worst."

Henry’s grin faltered. "Wait, so the VIP badge she gave us is basically a giant glowing ’rob me’ sign?"

"More like a ’use me or watch me’ sign, because even if they don’t attack us outright, they’ll shadow us, hoping we’ll lead them to opportunities they couldn’t find on their own. Or that we’ll die and drop all our gear for the taking." Nicholas said, tapping his temple.

Connor’s face darkened. "So we’re bait."

"Exactly, we’re bait, but it’s worse than that." Nicholas said, his voice calm but grave.

He raised a finger. "Remember the immunity status Rafia gave us? That’s not just a shield from technology or low-level scans. It’s also a parasite."

"Parasite?" Xela asked, eyes wide.

"Yes, it’s a pseudo-tracking protocol." Nicholas confirmed.

He looked around at the vanguard Team solemnly. "Think about it. She gave it to us, and now every species that uses Safe Zone 13’s protocols knows who we are. She might not have attached a direct tracker, but she made us part of the system. Every time we pass a checkpoint, every time we use a relay, every time we transact for supplies, our data pings right back to her command center."

Felicia’s face hardened. "So the so-called immunity is actually a leash, with her holding the chain."

Nicholas nodded slowly. "Exactly. She’s done two things at once, protected us from small-time scavengers and petty thieves by giving us immunity from their tools. But at the same time, she’s made sure we’re flagged on every system tied to Safe Zone 13 and every relay it’s connected to. Even if she doesn’t personally use that data, someone else will. She’s hedging her bets."

Bane’s jaw tightened. "So she’s making sure the big fish can still bite while the small fry can’t even nibble. Smart and cunning."

Nicholas gave a small, approving nod. "The Fae are the ninth-ranked race in the universe. They didn’t get there by playing fair."

Marshal frowned, arms crossed. "So what’s the play? We just accept the leash?"

Damon finally spoke, his voice calm but the crew could detect the bone chilling coldness. "We accept it, but we don’t get comfortable. Like any chain, a leash can be cut if you find the right weak point."

His gaze drifted across the crew. "We’ll use her system to also herd those who aim to stop us in one go. By doing so, we can lead all our ambushers into a trap and take them out in one fell swoop."

Felicia nodded, her eyes flashing with cold light. "If she thinks she’s playing the game, she hasn’t met the humans who can change the board entirely."

The two shared a look and understood what the other was thinking.

In truth, Damon was not as calm as he seemed on the surface, because this entire venture held great risk. For him, there was a high risk in going to the Primordial Lake, but there was an even higher risk in coming back.

It should be obvious enough, but unlike adventures in fiction or dungeons in games, when you completed the dungeon, a shortcut back to the start or a portal that allowed you to exit wouldn’t appear here in the Chaos Realm.

However, you deep you walked into the Chaos Realm, you would have to walk that same road back. All the dangers you passed, you might have to face them again and some new ones on top.

More people likely died in the Chaos Realm due to this, rather than actually challenges faced while exploring. So in as much as they plotted a route to the Primordial Lake and hoped to get it, Damon was considering their ’gallant escape’ because the worse case scenario was that after a tough fight, they would acquire the thing they searched and be severely injured in the process.

At that time, any Tom, Dick and Harry could pop up, spout some villainous young master lines and raid them for all they had gotten.