266: Wildcard Seeds

Wildcard Seeds

The world was in chaos. Aside from the sudden attack in Australia, many other incidents occurred that made every news channel report different things.

There was a battle in Pangea which raced for more than a hundred kilometers also occurred. The news reports of strange techs that erupted and would disappear and suddenly explode out tens and twenty kilometers away were heard. The panic in Pangea even caused the different armies to enter the city warily.

Civilian casualties were plenty, and all of Pangea was in a state of strict military control.

Half-way around the world, Africa and the Caliphates also had a skirmish that caused tremendous shockwaves in the Middle East. Several battles occurred within the city, and the two armies fought on several fronts between the places.

An Atlantis and a Kraken have surfaced nearby New Great Britain causing tensions in the region. Rumors of several war zones erupted in the fringe floating cities of New Great Britain. Many artificial islands were evacuated because of this.

As for Australia, the battle in the shores had already caused several prominent cities to fall. New Birth Forth faced three armies and was able to fend off the attackers but at high costs.

Way out in the central regions, the Realm King awoke.

"Oh. So you were telling the truth." The Realm King immediately replied.

He was in one of the Armored Carriers that attacked the city.

"Good evening, Master." Seeker greeted. He wore various prosthetics to make up for the missing limbs he lost on the last battle. But other than that, Seeker looked alright.

"Impressive. A prosthetic that actually moves according to the monstrous growth of your body."

"Not my design. Lennox made it. Master, do forgive me for plugging you in all that. I still had to do that just in case you'd go all crazy." Seeker smiled.

The Realm King had various devices planted on him. With a quick scan, he noticed that many were bombs that would immediately explode. Aside from that, many parts of his body were only functioning due to his devices. Without it, he would have died.

"As you can see, I temporarily disabled several of your organs so you would listen to what I have to say."

"You really act like a disciple of mine." The Realm King laughed.

"Now that it's safe to talk to you, allow me to make a quick summary of who I am and who your enemies were."

Seeker then began his tale from what he learned from Nogard. The stories about the Progenitor and soon, Seeker revealed the existence of the Aragarians.

"Aliens? So the Progenitor was an alien too… From what I saw, it does make sense." The Realm King laughed.

"Well… I know a lot about these aliens, going by what we found out on this timeline and even my own. But honestly, we are not too sure just how much we know. So let me start with my future." Seeker told of his tale and how the world fell into chaos when the Aragarians revealed themselves. But Seeker skipped many details as to what the battles were, which country fell first. Seeker primarily talked about what groups were formed in his alternate future and the Paths that were revealed. And after detailing this, Seeker went straight to his death and his resurrection.

"It sounds impossible, but with what you can do, you have to admit, my reincarnation seems possible considering you could already stop space and time along with it." Seeker laughed.

The Realm King's expression was complicated. He was in deep thought and listened at Seeker's long tale without interrupting him.

"Please ask if you have anything to clarify," Seeker added.

"So you're saying that the Unlocking was the key to all this. And that those six Exoskeletons and even the Twelve that fought them are Unlocked?"

"Yes. In this timeline, we have advanced to create a drug that could breach a soldier into Inhuman. Right now, the effort is to create a Ranked Heroes body for the many teams that are preparing for the future battle."

"How many Seeds of the Progenitor have you found?"

"Confirmed Seeds include Nogard and Meng's groups, Rosa's family, Empress Everhiss of the WGP, the vampire, the werewolf, the Void Assassin of EAA, the Dalisay family of Pangea. And recently, Lynd is fighting against three potential candidates who belong to suspected families. There are other unconfirmed groups such as Lennox, Eagle, Richie, and of course, me."

The Realm King fell into deep thought. Seeker ignored him and continued to sit down and have a strange expression.

"Hrm? Are you playing a game?" The Realm King frowned.

"Master, you are still in the process of figuring things out. Can't a guy play?"

"Is it that Pokemon Emerald that you showed me back then?"

"Yeah. Lennox was somehow able to program his thoughts, and it was as if my brain downloaded it. I guess he was experimenting with it. Think of how this may be weaponized in the future!" Seeker smiled.

The Realm King shook his head in irritation and continued to wander in the many possibilities and traps of everything Seeker just explained.

"Ugh. No matter how I see it, I just can't seem to find a flaw in your words, and that damned ability to make people trust you is really irritating me!" The Realm King cursed.

"Wke what you said fit the last actions of the Lost Primordial or the Progenitor. I was a special case. Just like Nogard, I am someone who the Progenitor assigned with a specific task. Most likely, the mysterious Paths of Richie, Eagle, and Lennox spring from that era."

"That era?" Seeker stopped playing and began to pay attention.

"The Seeds of the Progenitor was not just in the form of Technological Possibilities granted to special groups of people. Sometimes, the Progenitor gave some people a strange bracelet that merged with their bodies. I had the same. It isn't something that even our most advanced technology could understand. Most families have this tech. They pass on their bloodlines from one person to another. That's how people like me have this ability without having an army to back us up like the Dragon."

"Gardo vaguely explained this. They have techs that only their bodies had. So I assumed it would be something passed from one generation to another."

"Yes. So the Progenitor gave Technological Possibilities to some groups, and they made families, organizations, and even nations out of it. I had vaguely sensed the battles that occurred in the Kraken and many of those who appeared there had what I had. Let's call them Direct Legacies. There is, however, a third group."

"A third group? So this explains everyone who does not fall into those two categories?"

"Correct. It was a wildcard group that the Progenitor made. When you explained the Aragarians and how they might lust after these techs, it finally made sense to me. The Progenitor had to bury his seed and even make these seeds so small to hide it from the Aragarians."

"Right. Otherwise, it would draw attention and call out the powerful higher-ranking groups of the Aragarians. I can't imagine what it would be like if those that defeated the Progenitor would attack us. They would probably harvest all the sciences the Progenitor made. Even now, one Presider is acting according to our plan because of the temptation of the Progenitor's techs."

"That's how powerful the Progenitor's Seeds are. And so, to minimize the chances of the Aragarian's acquiring these groups, rather than plainly give it like he did to the rest of the group, he made these Wildcards."

"So what exactly is this wildcard group?"

"Call it evolution, call it a mutation, call it growth. The Progenitor took advantage of a certain period in our history create a large group of people that had the potential to develop these powers that you call Paths. I believe that it was at that time that the people who can achieve the Unlocking was formed."

"A large group of people? If it's in our past, then could it be the time when factory-produced humans lived?" Seeker asked.

"Exactly. At that time, the WGP needed to deal with the population problem and expended most of their resources to create humans. With the chaotic environment, manual labor was the most needed group. And so, those factory-humans were created. You may recall that they have a lower lifespan, and in most cases, many would only live until their thirties or early forties."

"Wait a minute. It can't be! The lower lifespan was because they had the potential of the Unlocking, and it was eating them up?!"

"Yes. The Progenitor was so powerful that he could go anywhere at that time, and he must have modified the creation process of these humans. But they had a low lifespan due to the power of the Unlocking. It increased their catabolism as a side effect. The only way to stop it was to make these humans breed with other humans."

"What an impressive plan. A wildcard gamble seems risky. But I think I get it. If any of those wildcards allies with the enemy, they won't have a chance of breaking the Unlocking. Only those who would risk their lives and face impossible odds would be unlocked."

"Right. Besides, the sons and daughters of those who were the result of this mix were naturally geared to have a culture that would value familial ties. What was the stigma for these factory produced humans?"

"Low chance of successful procreation. And their kids would have a high chance of having a lower lifespan." Seeker answered as he knew his history. These people suffered a lot and received discrimination because of the many complications they had, not only with their life but because they had a low birthrate.

"Wait a minute… Did the Progenitor foresee this?" Seeker exclaimed.

"You noticed, huh? The stigma, suffering that these people had made them turn to religion. These people were despised and feared, used by the world to be their bond slaves and labor workers. And it was these groups that became the primary population of religion, particularly Christianity. They believed the hopeful nonsense that this religion implies. A hope of future heaven, second life, a Kingdom, and so on. So tell me, what exactly happened in the future that made religion important?"

"Our current plans are aimed to address that. There is something that we all need to know. We were able to gather an army of people who would side with us because of their faith. And so, it's necessary to change the worldviews of this current world."

"The Progenitor did tell my family to brush up in our Christian literature. Could it be because of this?"

"I don't know. But because we need this, Pastor Eagle will be discussing what we should do to shape this world into something that follows Christianity."

"But why Christianity? That religion is soft. This world is predominantly atheistic. Pantheism has been eliminated after the third world war. And if I were to pick sides, I'd go with Muslims. If you want to build a world using religion, you should use Muslim theology. They're the largest monotheistic group on the planet, and people won't want to mess with Muslims for the extremist tendencies. Christianity is a soft one. They'll just get bullied and pushed over."

"It's risky to use Muslims. In my future, the Aragarians used the extreme end of Muslim theology as a weapon to counter ours. The peace and camaraderie that the Jews and the Muslims now share in the Caliphates will soon be twisted. The Aragarians sent people who they called as prophets to turn many of our allies to betray us. Eagle kept talking about the hope of a coming Kingdom. It drew many, but when the Aragarians brought up certain theology in the Judeo-Christian worldview, it created a great divide and made many of our Muslim allies betray us. Of course, those that weren't deceived fought all the harder. Some of the squadrons that I led had an all-Muslim team. It was cruel faith that they would be forced to fight and kill their brothers and sisters..."

"Well, their feud goes all the way back to the Old Testament, after all. Not to mention the extreme factions of the Muslims have been around for a long time. It was not easy to mend that gap. The current peace that the Muslims have with the Jews are all but pretense. Even now, great political turmoil is happening in the Caliphates. If the Muslims and Jews had truly become friends, Israel would have long been given back." The Realm King laughed.

"Oh? It seems you know a lot about what's happening in the Caliphates."

"I have to. This was one of the many orders that the Progenitor gave me. Now tell me, you assumed that the Progenitor planned to give the wildcard seeds this pitiful life for them to turn to religion?"1

"Yes. I'm using my family as an example. My grandfather was someone who was adopted into society, but his lineage comes from the factories of the Void Century. Although he made it, he was very strict in ensuring that our family ties were followed. Not to mention, my grandfather and the side of my mom have dedicated Christians. So this is why I was naturally inclined to fight the Aragarians. I'm guessing that the Progenitor intentionally made my forefathers suffer by forcing them to follow Christianity. When the Aragarian's came, they offered an alternate lifestyle, a lifestyle of great money, power, and lifestyle but was contrary to what the Christian faith believed in. So I think he made that scenario and even provided people like Eagle to preach to increase the chances of his wildcards to side with the good guys."

"That does make sense. It answers many of my questions about the mysterious actions the Progenitor made. So, I'm inclined to believe you. But first, I'll have to grill you for what you tried to pull. If you are my disciple, you should have known the recklessness of what your actions were."

"Not on this battle. The attack on the Kraken allowed us to kill the Presider based in Australia. His forces were all taken by another Presider, and we know that Presider is headed towards the Caliphate region."

"What about the techs they have to look at our recent battle? We pulled off several crazy stunts back then."

"The city was attacked by several ranged rockets from different countries. So it's not weird for the energy signature that we released to occur. The explosions that you made were similar to nuclear energy. I doubt they'd look into that. With no Presider around this place, no one would really care to investigate. And besides, we intentionally caused or allowed several battles across the world that would cause them to prioritize those incidents over us."

"But what about the whole Lost Primordial announcement that you sent? And that attack that you used was very strange."

"As I said, it's the least of their problems. The Dragon, Lennox, and the rest have begun their movements. This includes killing Pioneers. I just read Lowengren's report and had to use my Unlocking to stop me from laughing and cause my wounds to open. That is one mad lad. His current actions alone must have taken the attention of many Presiders. Anyway, our battle was something everyone was preparing for. Efforts have been made to make this tree one in a forest of other chaos." Seeker explained.

"Alright… I guess that's good enough. The fact that you are still not being attacked proves that our fight was unnoticed. So what are your plans? What's next for us? And where do I fit in this army of yours?"

"The next step is to build the Cities of Refuge."

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