“Leeroy Jenkins, twin-tailed anime girl, Sauron... I think I know what kind of guy I’m dealing with.”

  After watching the recordings of a certain individual, Cedric explained to Freya. While she was thinking, she received another report from HQ.

  “The cultists have entered the third floor.”

  Freya was aware of the plan about containing the breach at the fourth floor’s entrance. She thought it was reasonable. The nature of the third would dissuade the infiltrators from staying there. What was the optimal move to be made here for her team?

  “We need to secure our guide. He’s being kept on the third floor,” Freya said. No matter what happened here, they still had a mission to find a missing Cardinal.

  “Meanwhile, I’ll go find that guy and have a talk.”

  “Are you certain?” Freya asked. “This is no ordinary foe you’re against.”

  “Wow, underestimate me much?” Cedric shrugged his shoulders. “I’ll feel him out. See his core. Although seeing him acting with the cultists, I don't know if he’s redeemable. If we go after him together, we might drive him away like a cornered animal.”

  “...Be careful then. Good luck.”

  “To us both.”

  ***

  Tanael didn't expect the third floor to be an urban area.

  He explored the place with fascination. It was no modern Tokyo’s downtown but it was somewhat packed. No skyscrapers but there were plenty of five-story buildings.

  There was a fake sky here too and it was night.

  While traversing the alleys, Tanael saw the locals. They were also not quite what he expected. The prisoners on the third floor were acting like zombies.

  They were not dead, nor were they rotting. They didn't charge at Tanael to eat his brain when he walked close to them. The prisoners were very much alive but the way they acted was like the dead in zombie movies, without the aggression or primal hunger.

  With curiosity, Tanael went into a big building where a lot of the blank-eyed prisoners went. They were walking like they were programmed to. Inside, he saw the prisoners were making clothes. Just ordinary prisoner clothes that they all wore and some minor varieties like socks. The scene was not unlike the workers of a sweatshop in a third-world country back on Earth.

  There were a few prison guards watching them, which reminded Tanael where this was.

  The factory next door grows food for consumption. Guess the third floor is where the living necessities of the Tower come from.

  As he went to a different area, he saw a living district for the prison guards and their families, some houses even had children. Of course, they were not like the zombie prisoners and were living normally.

  Fascinating... The third floor is aptly named, Excess Deprivation.

  It was like the prisoners got detached from their desire. They work because the prison guards told them to. They even ate not because they wanted to but because they were told to. The prisoners were turned into worker ants.

  Or perhaps they were like the lower middle-class workers from Earth? Working day in day out with souls hollowing out more each day until they live for work instead of the opposite? I suppose so. Comparing them to industrious ants would be insulting Anthony and the Colony.

  Tanael’s mind didn't connect a few similarities about the whole situation with his own Biome that was run by the free labor of Pukupukus.

  He watched the floor from the top of the tallest place in the area, with the moon as his backdrop, like Batman.

  How many prisoners are inside those houses? Hundreds of thousands.

  The scale was mind-boggling and that was not the only horror that he saw. The metal collars and manacles each prisoner had, they drained their Victa.

  Tanael saw the prisoners remove the collars after they were full and place a new one that was empty under the watchful eyes of guards almost robotically. The guards then processed the energy into their arrays and machinery. For lights, water filtration, air purifiers, and so on. Perhaps even to other floors.

  Not only are they zombie workers, but they are also human batteries, like in the Matrix? Gotta hand it to you, Estellian Church, this is pretty hardcore.

  Granted, only the worst of the worst criminals were sent here, but it was no less shocking. For an organization that wore the face of Absolute Good, this was something that the public would never know of.

  How much blood was in the Church’s hand? Was it any less than the cults?

  Well, I won't argue the morality of it. Not my problem.

  Tanael felt the floor was trying to suck a bit of his own Victa, even though he was not wearing the suction collar like the prisoners. The guards and their families must be exempted somehow. He did not want to stay here for long even though he prevented any leak.

  Explosions and sirens cut Tanael’s musings short. He followed the noise and smoke, finding an ongoing battle.

  I’m pretty sure that’s Norgard the Gourmand. His weight gave him away.

  A big man who looked like the fat Godskin Duo from Elden Ring was fighting the prison guards. He was assisted by his fellow Death Society cultists. Despite his size, Norgard could move pretty fast when he needed to dodge attacks. Although, it was clear that was not his preference. He normally moved like a lumbering lump of fat.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Just like his moniker, Norgard was a cannibal. He ate people, dead or alive, sometimes without spitting their bones. Tanael had the pleasure of seeing this act. Although the villain wasn't the squeamish sort, it was unpleasant to see.

  With plentiful prisoner zombies out and about, the third floor must have looked like an all-you-can-eat buffet for the guy. Why, the live food didn't even run away or scream while seeing their fellow food being eaten right in front of them.

  Huh. No doubt Norgard would do well with a little Excess Deprivation.

  Eating habits aside, the guy was powerful. The prison guards were assisted by elementals and tamed monsters -some of the Tower of Remorse’s security measures- but failed to contain the glutton. The fat man’s defense was exceedingly high. Even when he got hit, he didn't seem to be injured.

  Higher defense than Boram... Well, he’s a Level 4 while Boram’s still Level 3 so that’s not strange.

  Tanael sensed a strong aura quickly approaching, who should be the Guard Chief of the third floor. He was tempted to stay and watch the battle, to compare one of the rising stars from a devil cult against him. After all, Tanael completely owned the Guard Chief of the first floor. The fight could be a decent gauge.

  But he shot that idea down because he came up with a better one.

  There was a guard station not far from the flashy fight. The close proximity meant the guards were dispatched and the station’s security thinned. Tanael went there, breaching from the upper floor windows.

  The station wasn't completely unmanned but he was a Pathseeker among Pathseekers, even if this clone version of him lacked the Horizon Aspect multipliers. After he cleaned the place up from enemies, Tanael was rummaging for things he needed.

  While he was doing so, the phone rang.

  “Ello?” Tanael picked up.

  “Station 3-104, we’ve lost visual on the battle. Report.”

  “Both sides suffered heavy casualties... Or so I hope. Norgard ate your men and then animated their bones to kill even more of your men. Come on, folks. You’ve gotta do better,” Tanael said while craning his neck outside the window.

  “Wha-? You-”

  Bzzzzt.

  “State your name, cultist.”

  The voice was different from the first one. An older guy with more dignity. Tanael could sense no power or see him from the voice call but that was the impression he received.

  “Yo. I'm Monkey D. Luffy, the man who will become the Pirate King.”

  Because the other side stayed silent, Tanael added a freebie.

  “Also, I’m not a cultist, but a pirate.”

  “Not a cultist? Then whose side are you on?”

  “My own, obviously. By the way, to whom am I speaking?”

  “Myers. I’m the warden of this place.”

  “Ohh. Hello, Magellan. Please tell me your affinity is poison.”

  “...It is not.”

  “Such a shame.” Tanael let the disappointment flow through the phone to the other side. “You have two horns, at least?”

  “What is your purpose here? Why are you aiding the cultists?”

  “Second question first: I’m just using them to get inside. Any aid is just a by-product. My purpose is to save Ace, my brother. I won't let you lot execute him.”

  Tanael made a hell yeah pose and stifled his chuckle. He had to sound serious on the last part. The Warden and his officers must be frantically pulling up files for prisoners with the name Ace.

  “Listen, sinner. You-”

  “Smell you later, Warden. You stay in the toilet for too long.”

  Tanael put the phone down and hummed as he walked, spinning a key to the fourth floor on his finger, brimming with good mood.

  Then he suddenly stopped.

  In the corridor of the destroyed guard station, there was a young man leaning on the wall with his arms crossed. His upper body was shrouded by shadow, mundane shadow, not magical. After seeing Tanael, he turned his head towards him and smiled.

  “Hello, fellow otherworlder. Fancy meeting you here.”

  “Oh? Are you now?”

  Internally, Tanael raised his vigilance to DEFCON 2.

  The young man approached and the shadow was now behind him. He looked European, in a Silver Legionnaire’s armor.

  “Cedric Price, pleased to meet you,” he extended his hand, speaking in English.

  “Moi Tanael. Pardon my French,” Tanael did not shake the offered hand and crossed his arms instead. He considered giving a fake name but decided against it. After all, he flaunted his otherworldly knowledge to be found.

  “Tanael...” Cedric raised an eyebrow before lowering his hand without showing anger. “Are you French?”

  He recognized me. At least he has heard the name Tanael before. Not surprising, seeing his affiliation.

  “Nope. I only know two French words: Moi and Je t'aime. You don't look like this place’s guard. Business trip?”

  “Very much so. Now then, Mister Tanael not-fake-name, as people from a more civilized age, would you be willing to take a step back and de-escalate hostilities before more innocent lives are lost? I shall do the same.”

  Tanael thought about the extended olive branch for a while.

  “I was going to say, what’s in it for me? But then, it’s not every day I get to talk with another Earthling. Why not? This way.”

  Tanael led Cedric to a less messy part of the guard station after he infiltrated it. Tanael picked a table that belonged to a boss positioned, sat on the big chair, and bid Cedric to sit across the table.

  Cedric looked at the body on the floor, which was most likely the owner of the boss chair that Tanael commandeered. He looked like he wanted to say something.

  “To be clear, I was going for the non-lethal method here. As you can no doubt realize, most of the guys in this place are only unconscious.” Tanael said while reclining on the soft chair.

  “This man’s dead.”

  “I blame incompetence. I’m pretty sure he died by his own Arte backlash. My soul pressure isn't even that strong.”

  Cedric’s face soured a bit but to his credit, mature enough to continue negotiating.

  “You know such an act will get you arrested back home, don't you?”

  “Ah, but we’re not in Kansas anymore, Mister Cedric.”

  “...I’m sure behind your mask you’re smiling. This does not paint your standing in a good light, Mister Tanael. According to this land’s law, you’re also accountable for the murder you cause, voluntary or involuntary.”

  “I don't think so, mate. I possess the licence to kill.”

  Cedric frowned. “Who can possibly grant it to you?”

  Tanael flexed his bicep. He wasn't muscular so it was a pretty pathetic flex but the gesture was the important part.

  “This further confirms my fear,” Cedric shook his head. “That you’re the type of otherworlder that the Church is wary of. Do you not realize that-”

  “Hold up. My turn to ask. What’s the name of the US President before you transmigrated here?”

  “Pretty weird question, but okay. It’s President Schwarzenegger.”

  “Hah!”

  Tanael snorted with amusement and waited for the punchline.

  “...Wait, you’re serious.”

  “I didn't lie,” Cedric looked puzzled as if what he said was totally ordinary. “What’s wrong?”

  “Interesting...” Tanael stroked his chin.

  Either Cedric came from the future, which is very unlikely, or he came from an alternate Earth. My my my.