Chapter 257 - Atlantian Deep Delvers!
The Atlantian army was steadily progressing through the inheritance ground, the tentacles of this overlord race slowly slithered deeper.
Their progress could only be referred to as steady and not rapid due to the natural suppression that was prevalent in every monster inheritance against variant humans, mostly Atlantians.
The fact that they were progressing was a significant feat in itself.
Most monster inheritances were created with other mutated beasts in mind to become the inheritors, variant humans were not welcome since the inheritance belonged to a deceased beast in the first place.
It was like when a predator eagle hunts to feed her young ones. This was food that was exclusive to her children, once this mother eagle finds an intruder trying to encroach and feast on the food, she retaliates furiously.
This was the situation in most monster inheritance grounds.
Due to this, most monster inheritances were extremely lethal towards variant humans. The will left by the dead predators of most inheritances mobilize all the means available to them to eliminate variant humans once they appeared.
This was the reason why the Atlantian army created the special unit of soldiers referred to as deep delvers whose only purpose of training was how to become frighteningly proficient at navigating monster inheritances.
This special unit of soldiers was not just good at navigating; their instincts were ground through rigorous training to react to all the dangers that may appear in an inheritance ground.
Also, they had specialized weapons and gadgets that were created by prominent Atlantian Professors who devoted most of their lives to deducing how to hijack monster inheritances from the wills guarding them.
This was an ambitious profession, but the fact that the profession stayed despite the competition from other professions showed that it was not baseless.
Deep Delvers were extremist Atlantians who not only abandoned family and emotions to train harder than other soldiers but had their bodies tempered with just to get more Intune with their future missions.
In most cases, they were no longer human variants, they were now something more, something more terrifying.
Each Deep Delver was unique, and they all had codenames starting with D.D for Deep Delver.
The deep delvers that were mobilized by Lieutenant Colonel Arachnid were one of the reasons why his army was able to maintain their momentum in this inheritance ground despite it belonging to a Sea King.
Though they had deep delvers, this was a Sea King inheritance whose power and hidden reserves against hostiles could not be underestimated.
Their fortune was that surprisingly, the inheritance ground did not actively go against them like in other inheritance grounds.
Unlike other monster inheritances, this Sea King Inheritance proved suspiciously generous. It did not discriminate between mutated beasts and variant humans, all were welcome, its inheritance was free for all.
The Atlantians were only confused a little by this before they continued their mission. This was because, in the history of Atlantis, the Doppelganger and Invisibility Sea King had the weirdest and most unpredictable personalities.
Instead of feeling worried, Lieutenant Colonel Arachnid was ready to take advantage of this opportunity that appeared.
Ecstatic, he enthusiastically prompted his soldiers to clear all the tests at the fastest possible speed from the first day through a one-way communication device that he had as the overall leader of this operation.
Yes, it was already a day and a half since the entrance to the inheritance ground was opened to the outside world.
Throughout this time, most predators were still stuck in the first test, more already died to their more powerful competitors, only a few genius predators and the Atlantian superiors made rapid progress.
A day and a half ago, as soon as the Atlantian army entered the inheritance ground, just like the mutated beasts, they were all separated from each other.
Despite all their methods to counter measures like this, not even the deep delvers were able to stop this. This was a Sea King Inheritance Afterall.
Though they were unable to stop the separation, the deep delvers did not panic as they reacted impeccably as was drilled into their brain through training. They reacted in an eerie manner like robots.
They were all separated, but each of the soldiers that made up this deep delver's unit did the same thing. They opened their exploration bag and brought out a strange device that looked like a slab of cow meat.
D.D 029 did the same as his other unit soldiers.
On the middle of this slab of cow meat that was brought out by D.D 029 glowed an ominous red light that gave ticking time bomb vibes, a mechanical device was attached to the middle of the meat.
Without thinking twice, D.D 029 pricked his left thumb finger with a needle before dripping his blood on the slab of meat.
After this, he raised the meat and slapped it at his chest.
Vroom!
A blue mechanical light erupted, then this slab of meat squirmed before melting into his chest. D.D 029 grabbed his head the next moment like he was in a lot of pain before dropping to his knees.
While all these happened, the Sea King will's writing already started appearing and the first balanced test was about to begin but this Atlantian Deep Delver didn't give a damn about the damned will.
D.D 029 grabbed his head in pain for 5 seconds before it subsided, when he raised his head again, his eyes were now glowing in an ominous red color.
This soldier didn't just change in his eye, his whole body changed.
Half of this soldier's body was now a spooky mix of mechanical parts and flesh. The visible bolts and nuts, the energy flowing within, the whirring sound of mechanism, and others revealed that this soldier was no ordinary soldier.
Atlantian Deep Delvers were not normal, they were cyborgs!
As soon as the transformation of D.D 029 was complete, he now looked like the alien Transformer. His eyes scanned the battle arena where he was now, including the mutated beast that was now before him.
In his head, his powerful processors worked at high speed as they rapidly broke all the data down, including the fact that this was a virtual-reality domain.
The magic level that was required to create a virtual-reality domain like this was extremely high, but this was Atlantis, their Deep Delvers received the best of cyborg technology that this overlord race had to offer.
As soon as D.D 029's processor completed the data breakdown, his overheating brain cooled down then the cyborg soldier finally attacked.
With a fist that was covered with red magic power, blue mechanical energy, and an external boxing glove magic weapon, the cyborg punched the Crab.
Squelch!
The helpless Crab stood no chance, it died instantly.
Originally, D.D 029 had the means to directly break through the measures set up in most monster inheritances' first test, but from its data breakdown, it already deduced that breaking this domain down was beyond its ability.
This was why it attacked and killed the enemy mutated beast in the conventional way that was set up by the Sea King's will.
Deep Delvers were the nemesis of monster inheritances, but they also had limits. This Sea King Inheritance was a summit that they could not dance their way through with such ease.
They had to do it the hard way, which they did.
D.D 029 went into action, rapidly clearing the rounds of the balanced test with the advantages that were granted by his unique state.
D.D 029 was not the only pioneer; the other Deep Delvers did the same thing as they rapidly started climbing the ladder of the first test.
It took them about 12 hours of non-stop fighting before they finished this round. The subsequent rounds that followed were even easier for them, the strength test that pushed Sebastian to the edge was child's play to them.
They bulldozed through all the rounds of the 1st test till they arrived at the 2nd test. This was when their advantages became really useful.
As soon as the Deep Delvers officially stepped foot inside the catacomb, their cyborg connection was restored. Instantly, all the cyborgs knew where the other was in this huge catacomb.
With this, they quickly got an estimate of how big this inheritance domain was while also trying to draw a map of the catacomb.
While this happened, they already moved. The reaction that was drilled into their brains to react in a situation like this was to regroup.
In 10 minutes, they bulldozed through multiple halls of the catacomb, annihilating every obstacle in their way before they finally regrouped.
As soon as the 20 of them gathered again, their grouped virtual connection network increased. They were finally able to contact the Lieutenant Colonel.
Lieutenant Colonel understood the gist of the situation as soon as he was called and everything was explained. With such information as the starting point, this Atlantian Lieutenant Colonel started issuing orders to the Deep Delvers.
The Deep Delvers acknowledged the order without complaining.
Together, they bulldozed through one hall after the other. None of them cared about the rewards that were hidden in these halls, the number one priority of the Atlantians was the ultimate prize.
In 6 hours, the 20 Deep Delvers succeeded in bringing all the Atlantian soldiers that entered the inheritance ground together.
Instantly, the Atlantians got an advantage that none of the other competitors in this inheritance ground had.
Together, their strength soared, reflecting the majesty of Atlantis.
Lieutenant Colonel Arachnid hovered like a God in the water above the pile of skeletons as he overlooked his soldiers.
"Captain Omega, take the 2nd strike force and go after the Megalodon".
"Captain Naman, take the 3rd strike force and harvest any reward in these halls that are worthwhile and worthy of our attention and time".
"Captain Thiery, form a defensive perimeter with the 4th strike force".
"As for me, I'll be going after the ultimate inheritance".
"For Atlantis Domination!"
"For Atlantis Domination!"
The Atlantian plan was complete and in motion!