Chapter 94 – Headquarters

“Master!” said Shiny. He and a group of imps were chattering excitedly, each pointing at the changed feeding pit. “It grew! Look so… New!”

Kairon had insisted on personally seeing it. It just wasn’t the same with Sovereign Eye. Up close, the difference was incredible.

“As I was just telling Sythara,” he began, glancing in the other direction. She’d opted to stay by the industrializer and take measurements with her shapes. “That’s because the feeding pit has been brought up from the cozy but rather crude age of the rest of our city to the industrial. We have our new ally to thank for that.” The demon waved back to where they had come from. The Infernal Industrializer was still there, little wisps of smoke puffing into the air.

As far as he could tell, it seemed content to sit and wait.

For now.

Unable to help himself, he turned his attention back to the altered feeding pit. What had once been a stone maw was all but gone.

In its place, a metallic jaw of black steel reached from the ground, its throat laid open for the world to see. It still felt of brood—of hunger and consumption—but it had a decidedly envious tint of forge to its presence.

However, it wasn’t just the metal it was made from that had shifted. It was also the structure itself. Where before it had just been a circular pit loosely inspired by a mouth, it now was far more pronounced and even had an enormous snout with nostrils. Nostrils that gentle tendrils of smoke were wafting from.

“Are those smokestacks? Yes. Yes I believe they are.” It brought Kairon a surprising sense of nostalgia.

But the true change was the input method. Up until now, Shiny had organized crews to maintain the pit’s input and outputs. Something that might no longer be necessary.

Two crude conveyor belts had been made that led to and from twin loading basins near the pit. One going in, the other out.

“Shiny! Fill that first basin right there with some of today’s ashroot supply. I want to test this.”

“Yes master! You! You! Put in!” Shiny began disseminating orders, coaxing the brood to fill up the bucket with bundles of ashroot.

As they did so, a little chute opened up beneath the loading bin and one by one the ashroot began to be funneled straight onto the input conveyor belt.

And it moved. The conveyor moved. Kairon didn’t know why it surprised him, but it did. Seeing it be there was one thing, but seeing it actually work was entirely another. The sight of it all was almost mind-boggling. Here he was, surrounded by a medieval demonic city, and an actual working conveyor belt was moving ashroot one by one into a massive metal feeding pit.

With each little food piece that plopped into its gullet, Shiny’s eyes went wider and wider.

“It… Hungry,” breathed Shiny.

When it got to twenty-five—the usual limit—Kairon let out a sharp grin. It wasn’t stopping.

“Master… It supposed to be full?” asked Shiny.

“Normally. But this is the industrial era, Shiny. Apparently that included not just an upgrade to how we feed the pit, but how much our new hungry building can eat at once.”

A minute later there was a soft clank. A noise that presumably signaled the pit’s satisfaction. Then, with a clamor of metal and bone, the enormous jaw shut.

An orange and green light ebbed within it, before the chewing started. A soft rumble filled the area—one that felt part artificial, and part alive.

The nostril smokestacks began puffing out black, smoggy smoke that began to collect above the feeding pit. Kairon winced a bit at that. “As exciting as this is, that might be another emissions issue. I’ll need to add this to the list.”

All the while, Kairon had counted each ashroot that went in, but just to be sure he drew his connection to the upgraded pit.

The fact the city interface actually referred to the building as an Industrial feeding pit was interesting. Details like that mattered, especially to someone like Kairon.

But what mattered far more?

“This new pit has double the capacity, and based on prior batches, processes twice as fast.” Kairon giggled, nearly choking. “Twice! I mean I know that the external change was a boon, but this. This is a true game changer.”

Shiny glanced at both his claws, holding up one, then the other. “Twice… Master, but that… That throws off plan!”

“Yes, yes.” Wiping his eye, Kairon took in a deep breath. “It does.” He did some quick math before shaking his head in wonder. “Shiny. This means our new industrial pit effectively processes the same amount as four other normal feeding pits. Four! From seventy-five input units a day to three hundred!”

The nearby brood imps all started clapping their claws.

“Ooooooh.”

“Four!”

“Eat more!”

“Eat! Eat! Eat!”

Shiny waved his claws, trying to quiet the growing crowd down. More and more of the brood imps had approached. Nod must have allowed them to leave the citadel area—which made sense. Kairon assumed the DR manager was quite relieved his brood imps weren’t heading to the forge district.

“Master!” said Shiny. “This good. Very good. Can make more? The brood hungers. And pit make more food!”

Humming thoughtfully, the city lord redid the numbers in his head. He didn’t have his Gantt charts handy, but he’d see to them shortly. “Let me consider our new options. This changes much. And it’s not just in the ways you’re thinking. Come. It’s time we explore this new tower—once we have everyone together there, I’ll explain what I mean.”

All in all, he was really starting to like this new Industrializer he’d been pacted with.

Before, the citadel’s interior chamber was a simple affair. The tower he’d entered this world with had but one room. In it had sat the crystal pedestal, the vault, and the golden grates of source energy.

Just like the feeding pit, it had gone through an entire transformation—only instead of being due to the Infernal Industrializer, it was from the third ring ritual.

To start, the original chamber was now a proper entryway, with multiple passageways on either side. Around the room, five ornate torches with gemstones now glowed. One for each aspected district, save universal. Orange, blue, red, green, and purple.

The windows too had grown, becoming far taller and much more carefully crafted. Natural daylight spilled into the tower, filling it with a much more cozy atmosphere.

However, there were three notable absences.

“Veron, the golden grates, and the vault are all gone…” That was concerning. But Kairon had a hunch what was going on. So, instead of panicking, he surveyed the room, taking in every detail.

Despite the changes, one thing remained the same. A noticeable lack of any true furnishings.

“Maybe The Plane took them upon reshaping the tower?” asked Vorathrex. The giant was studying the area too, his features scrunched. “Although the new tower it created does look bigger. The other was too small for a proper warrior.”

Meanwhile, Sythara let out a shriek. “Forget that! Where is my research subject?! And the golden substance?” Barreling through the room, she began running her pale fingers and tentacles over the stone flooring and wall. “Child! They are gone! What do we do?!”

“So greedy. Did you not just get an oversized new sapient furnace to research, my dear?” All the while, Kairon had let his senses spread out, driving his awareness outwards on instinct. Like sonar, a chime pinged in his vision. A trail of source energy he came upon.

“Ah hah! No need to worry yourself. They aren’t gone. They’re simply somewhere else. Our domain has grown, and with it so too has our seat of power. This way—I can feel it.”

A train of demons in his wake, he hobbled forward into the rightmost passage. The one with a tiny string of golden energy snaking its way around the corner. Energy none but Kairon could see.

Vorathrex nudged him with a massive fist as they walked. “Fledgling. Are you sure about that building? If The Creator made a sapient contraption, will he not be furious that you have it?”

“Like I just told you earlier. That’s only if he finds out. Besides, The Plane’s really to blame for this. But you are right. Precautions will need to be made.”

“Yes. Do so, fledgling. For all of our sakes,” said Vorathrex.

So on they walked, this time in silence and contemplation. While they continued onwards, they didn’t find a vault, but rooms. More and more of them.

“Nod. See to putting together a map of our new residences, would you? You have fifteen minutes to finish it while I track down the vault. Go.”

“What about the infernal… infernal… litigator!” he spat. “It nightmare?” Nod had his claws squeezed at his side. “Did you even see? Was spewing molten—”

“Yes, yes. Shortly, Nod. I promise. For now, the map. Please.”

“Hmph! Fine master! Don’t say I not warn!” The DR team shot off, leaving Kairon, Shiny, and the other demons to continue on.

The expanded citadel had stone passageways lit by those same multi-colored gems, with slotted windows here and there. He paused by one, glancing out at the city. From here, the industrial maw looked even more impressive, its smoke beginning to gather in bulk around the brood district.

Imps were pointing and watching it curiously. He’d considered sending them off to work, but decided a bit longer for them to rest and enjoy the changes was in order.

Beyond them lay the rest of his city, with the newly expanded pact and forge districts. Slots he aimed to fill, and soon. But for that, he needed to make sure his gold was safely tucked away.

Turning, he continued on.

By the time they’d found a set of ornate stairs descending downwards, Kairon had identified at least ten new rooms, several of which were even quite large. Too large for a simple bedroom.

It was impossible to be sure, however, since none of them contained any furnishings. No seats, no beds, not even a simple fur mat.

A small disappointment, but not a permanent one. They did just create a forge district after all.

For now, however, he wanted to find where the vault had moved to. Where all his gold went. An answer that came as they entered what was likely intended as the cellar of his towering citadel.

Gone was the little runic box serving as a vault within the floor grating.

Instead, an enormous, spherical chamber that was largely bare, save some large onyx black chests and a great vault on the other side of the room.

That little detail nagged at Kairon. Why did the entire castle, so far as he could tell, contain not a single piece of furniture, but this room had chests?

“Peculiar,” he muttered.

Quickly, Kairon strode directly up to the beautiful metal vault. Pressing his claw against it, he found a wisp of a connection that could be called upon.

“Whew. Okay. At least that’s safe. Shiny—we’ll need to discuss the best way to transport gold down here. I don’t want just anyone having access to this chamber. For now, let’s consider the cellar off limits for any besides management.”

“Okay, okay. Sound good.” Shiny was picking at one of his claws, lost in some sort of thought.

Unfortunately, seeing the vault readout brought back the reality. Kairon had just spent ten thousand gold, and was effectively broke. Not only that, but he also had no essence. Once Sythara completed her current research project, they would need more, and soon.

Though he had a few ideas for that.

Meanwhile, Vorathrex had ambled over to closer inspect the black chests. His great bulk easily lifted one open. Frowning, he lifted another. Then another. “Fledgling. These are all empty.”

“Hmm. Probably excess storage. We can use them if the time comes. But look at this!” Walking over to where Sythara was already peering greedily, he approached a depression in the center of the room.

At its bottom, a more ornate version of the previous grates ran. Only now, they were in a spiral. One that lit the entire area with its brilliant golden glow. The spiral itself hogged up nearly half of the central flooring, spinning around and around until it coalesced into a singular, bronze grate.

Beneath, his power awaited. Power that held all of his precious source stored away.

Kairon took it all in. The room even smelled new. Like a crisp, fresh new office. “You know, I think this will do quite nicely. Quite nicely indeed.”

“Master?” Scampering down the stairs, Bob paused, gawking at the huge room.

“Well. It’s becoming quite crowded down here.” Kairon grinned. “What is it, Bob?”

“Oh! Sorry. Master! Nod send me!”

“Did he now? Is the map complete already? We were just—”

“No. Sorry. Nod say important. You come now.”

“I see. Did Nod say why?”

Bob sucked in a thin breath. “Uh. Find… Council room!”

“Oh! That’s wonderful!” Kairon clapped his claws together. “That works perfectly actually. Though I fail to see why that’s really a problem.”

“Uh. Room not empty.”

“Really? He found furniture? That would be fantastic. Every room we’ve come through has been effectively empty—save those boxes, I suppose.”

Bob gave Kairon a weird look. “Erm. No. Well. There table! But something else.”

“A table is something, I guess.” Kairon narrowed his eyes. Something in Bob’s worried expression gave him pause. “What’s the other thing?”

Bob glanced at each of the demons, hesitating. Then, apparently deciding there was nothing to lose, he cleared his throat. “Veron!”

Sythara gasped, immediately joining the conversation. “You found my subject?! Where?! Where have you taken him!?”

Kairon held up a claw. “Sythara. Calm yourself. We’ll find out momentarily.” Giving her a stern look, he focused back on Bob. “Was he damaged in any way?”

“Ah. Not exactly… But… Master. Last time… Was Veron talk?”

“What do you mean?”

“Did he talk?”

“Well of course he did! Before the transformation, that was. Why—wait. Are you saying he was speaking?”

“Yes. He speak. And ask for you.”