[[ 8 AM ]]
[[ Village of Al-Khuld ]]
[[== Zeus' Perspective ==]]
I wondered, "Should I bring digging tools for all the children, or just a few sets and have them take turns? I think I'll bring ten sets... Maybe I can give two to the stone dolls. I wonder how long it'll take them to build a house—or maybe I should have them build a palace, or a military base! Damn it, those ideas aren't impossible!"
Excitement welled up in me until Marwan's voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
(Marwan): I'm ready. Shall we go?
I looked at the massive tools warehouse in front of me and asked directly:
— Can I take ten sets of digging equipment?
(Marwan), raising his hands, surprised: Brother Zeus, take whatever you want from the warehouse. Don't ask me anymore.
I understood Marwan's good intentions and knew he meant what he said, but still, asking first was a matter of respect and communication.
I replied, — Alright then, I'll gather them. You can carry them with the Mecha, right?
(Marwan): That's no problem.
— Good, let's go then.
We left together and headed to my car, both of us getting in. We drove out of the tunnels into the central open area of the village. I steered the car up a narrow dirt path that led to a high, open space, where Marwan's beautiful Mecha came into view.
I parked the car and opened the door. Then I spoke, taking in the scent of dust under the blazing sun.
— Man, your nights are freezing compared to your hot days.
(Marwan): Welcome to the desert of the Avaroa Mountains.
Marwan walked toward the Mecha, and I called out loudly:
— Want to race?
He turned to me, laughing.
— Do you really think you're that fast? Alright then, let's give it a try.
I didn't expect to beat him in this race, but I hoped the load of water weighing down his machine might give me a chance to at least keep up.
I contacted him through the wristband and began counting to three after confirming he was ready.
— 3... 2... 1... Show me what you've got.
...
[[== General Perspective ==]]
Zeus launched forward with incredible acceleration and managed to get ahead of Marwan's Mecha, which had started moving at the same time.
Zeus kept his eyes on Marwan's Mecha behind him, noticing its speed increasing quickly. He had to push harder to make the most of his superior initial acceleration.
He didn't settle for the normal energy usage rate, which the energy runes and his body could naturally recover. Instead, he decided to burn through all his stored energy.
He also activated his focus-enhancement ability. Black veins slowly crept into his eyes, like a timer marking his limits.
With increased precision and power, Zeus delivered more effective strikes using his hooks, daggers, and the energy disc, now set to full-discharge mode, pushing his speed to the maximum.
One of the daggers attached to his back in the energy disc released all its stored energy, giving Zeus a bullet-like burst of speed. The disc rotated slightly to place the next dagger into position for the next discharge.
Marwan, shocked by Zeus' insane speed, redirected his Mecha's power to increase speed to the max, ignoring the water spraying out of the tank.
Sand was swept up in their wake as they sped over it. As they neared the mountain's center—where the camp stood—Marwan slowed slightly to angle his machine upward for the steep climb.
Zeus, on the other hand, used the full-discharge power of the movement runes in his daggers to reverse direction instantly and rocket upward without slowing.
Marwan's Mecha released a final burst of stored energy, and Zeus unleashed the remaining energy in all his other daggers, along with the rotating disc's reserve.
Suddenly, a deafening sound shook the scene, startling all the students and teachers, as man and machine shot out from below near the cliff—soaring into the sky.
Everyone fell silent. No one spoke a word.
Then, children began cheering and yelling with excitement.
(Sattam), shouting: That was amazing!!!
(Rashid), loudly: What was that!?
(Ghaith), quietly but passionately: I need to write a poem about this scene!
...
Others expressed their amazement as chatter filled the air until one of the older kids shouted:
(Suhail), panicking: They're falling! Damn it! Everyone, move away now!!
The children ran toward the second cliff near the tents, eyes locked on the falling figures.
Suddenly, Marwan's Mecha slowed its descent with incredible speed, catching Zeus in its beak-like mouth.
Its feet gently placed the water tank down, and Zeus immediately went to inspect it.
(Zeus), mockingly: You didn't just lose the race, you also lost half the water in the tank!
(Marwan), surprised: We reached the finish together. The difference was barely noticeable! We don't even know who actually won. So how did you win?
(Zeus), smiling: Didn't we agree the race would be with you carrying the water? But you spilled half of it along the way. That gave you an unfair speed boost. Without that, I clearly win.
Marwan sighed and laughed.
(Marwan): You're right. But know this—if the race were longer, I'd have beaten you. My machine hasn't even hit its top speed, and I've got more energy reserves than you.
(Zeus), laughing: Don't downplay my win, you bastard! I beat you, and even if it was a short course, it still counts. And on top of all that—I'm racing you with just my body, you damn maniac!
(Marwan), shocked: Who's the maniac here!? Me, or you—the guy racing a Mecha with nothing but his own body—and winning? That's madness, brother!
Amjad and Zahra stared with slightly open mouths, both thinking, "What a monster!"
...
(Half an hour later)
Marwan emptied the water into the ground tank and sat with Zeus, Amjad, and Khalid while Zahra brewed them tea on a wood fire.
Zeus handed out digging tools to the kids and used laser beams from his chains to clearly mark the digging boundaries.
Their mission: dig a bigger underground tank and a tunnel into the second cliff behind the tents to prepare storage rooms, following the traditional desert village style.
(Marwan): So, how's the camp doing?
(Amjad), lightly smiling: It has many benefits, and I think it'll get much better with time.
(Khalid), after some thought: We're missing a lot of things. Not urgent, but still necessary. Like first-level genetic combat suits. I know it's expensive, but if each village donates suits for their kids, that problem is solved. Also, we need more variety in food—we can't live on rice and potatoes forever.
(Zeus), loudly to the kids: Add building a chicken coop to today's training tasks. Did you hear that?
(Some children), grumbling: Yes, sir.
(Raneem and Sattam), loudly and seriously: As you command, teacher!
(Amjad): You'll get some eggs and meat. Good idea. Maybe we can dig a deep well to extract groundwater. We can install a solar system and some water pumps—we have a similar setup in our village.
(Marwan): In the future, I'll build a fortress here to be the largest academy in the entire Union.
No one opposed Marwan's dreams. Zeus, however, had other thoughts swirling in his mind.
"Maybe I won't stay with you until then... I have to grow stronger quickly. The Green Lotus Organization—that's a formidable enemy I must face sooner or later."
Suddenly, Zeus' wristband rang with a call.
He turned quickly to it and stood up, walking away before answering.
(Zeus): I'm listening.
Only two people had this number saved on his wristband ID: Beatrix and Surai.
(Surai), clearly anxious: We have a big problem...
(Zeus), calmly: What happened?
(Surai): We're coming to you. We just left my village and entered the wilderness. Zeus, listen to me carefully: the Union must not find your location, no matter what. Don't let anything capture your face. Hide it. Use voice modifiers at all times.
(Zeus), worried: Did something new happen? You've never asked me to be this cautious before.
(Surai), speaking urgently and firmly: Just do as I say. I don't have time—I'll explain when I get there. Also, destroy your SIM card. I'm breaking mine right after this call.
The line went dead.
Zeus took a deep breath, then crushed the communication bracelet in his hand from sheer, mounting anger.
Marwan and the others sensed something was wrong. Before they could say a word, Zeus launched himself at high speed toward the depths of the mountain range.