BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM C.1072: First Night in Sleb Harbour

Night had fallen over Sleb Harbour, and Erik couldn't sleep. He had too many things going on in his mind.

While Amber, Mira, and Emily were asleep, since everything he tried to go into Morpheus's embrace failed, he decided the best thing to do was to stretch a little, and he left his bed.

The Chimaeric Demons refrained from explaining the situation to him and the others since they made a long journey to reach Sleb Harbour and didn't want to overload Erik and the rest of the group with stuff that could wait to be said.

But while Erik agreed, at the beginning, the thoughts about the situation filled his mind and made him unable to rest.

"Master, where are you going?" June asked.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't want to wake you up," Erik said. June was sleeping too, but it looked like somehow he still kept an eye on his master, or maybe he simply heard him getting up.

"I'm going to talk to the Chimaeric Demons. I need to ask them some questions."

"Then I'm coming with you, master."

"Are you sure?" Erik asked. "You made most of the muscle work on this journey. You must be pretty tired..."

"It's not a problem, Master... Besides, I had something going on in my mind, and I couldn't sleep either. Taking a walk will help me for sure."

June stood up with heavy eyes. Clearly, he lied and was sleeping well enough to live those few minutes, going from waking up to being fully awake, like hell.

But regardless of the obvious tiredness in the clone's eyes and his foggy mind, he still followed his master.

It took a little before the two found some Chimaeric Demons. The clones greeted their elder brother and their creator with nods and bows.

"What can we do for you?"

"I came to ask you about the situation here in Sleb Harbour," Erik said. "What have you learned during your time in the city?"

The Chimaeric Demons exchanged glances.

"Master, are you sure you want to talk about this now? I'm sure you are pretty tired after your journey..."

"Yes, I am..."

The Chimaeric Demon hesitated. "Well... Master, consider that we haven't been here for a lot of time, so we don't really have that much information. Most of our efforts were focused on establishing our presence here and securing this place for when you arrived."

"It doesn't matter," Erik said. "Fill me in with whatever you got."

"All right," the Chimaeric Demon said. The clone sighed. "The situation in Sleb Harbour is dire. The ongoing conflict against Frant has taken a heavy toll on the population, and most of them had been conscripted into the army. This is basically a ghost city."

"So, the city is empty?" he asked. "Weird. It didn't look like this from the outside. I saw many vehicles rushing in and out of the gate."

"Those were mainly military vehicles, and most were on autopilot. The truth is, as I said, that there are few people in the city. Tomorrow we will show you, master."

"All right. So, few people, you said?"

The Chimaeric Demon nodded. "Yes, Master. With so many of the city's inhabitants now fighting on the front lines in Frant, we have been able to move more freely through the streets. That is also the reason we had it so easy to enter and establish a place here, but this also means that we do not have many ways to get the information we need, and those few people still in the city know little."

Erik was conflicted about this situation. This was good news, he realized, but only on one hand, since having hardships in getting information could be a problem so big as to hinder or stop their plans.

But on the other side, with fewer eyes on the streets and a reduced population, they would have an easier time preparing for their attack on the blackguards if they found a way to get to the Maynard island.

"All right. It isn't a problem. With me here, things will go faster. Now, tell me, have you found a way to move our troops easily onto the island?"

The Chimaeric Demons shook their heads, their expressions apologetic. "No, Master," another one spoke up.

"The blackguards have increased security at the city's ports and airports. This makes it very difficult to bring in a large group without being noticed. We thought about attacking those places, but that would make our attack obvious."

He paused. "The alternative would be to shapeshift and head to Maynard Island, but we're not sure about the thaids between Hin and Maynard Island. People say thaids from the Mur continent might be roaming the area going from Hin to the island, so it would be pretty dangerous."

There was a pensive but uncertain look on the clone's face. "The only way to avoid them with certainty would be to take planes and get out of the flying thaids living area or take ships, but this wouldn't solve the problem at all; it would only put us at the mercy of sea thaids."

Erik sighed. "It's alright," he said. "We'll find another way if that happens."

"Yes, master, but there is another problem. Based on what the local told us," another clone said. "Security has been tightened to an extreme degree not only on Hin, but even on Maynard Island. Every member of the organization had been given Veritas Lenses."

The Veritas Lenses were a new product, but they already proved a thorn in Erik's and the Chimaeric Demons' side. Until the batch with the invisibility brain crystal power hatched, things were going to be complicated because the clones could only rely on shapeshifting for the time being.

Erik glanced over at June, who remained silent throughout the conversation. "What do you think, June?" he asked.

The Chimaeric Demons' ears perked at that. They knew June was much weaker and for sure not as smart as them, but June was an esteemed elder brother, among the oldest, but for sure the one with the most privileged position among Erik's clones, as he was his closest attendant

and helper.

"For sure, the Veritas Lenses will be a problem for our plans, but it's not like those using them will find the clones with 100% chance. The Chimaeric Demons said it themselves this evening. It is possible to sneak around turned into small creatures."

He paused. "The problem is getting those planes. We are too close to the blackguards' main base, so information will travel fast. Stealing the planes as we did with the ship will be complicated, and even if we do, the blackguards would have put whatever defense to bring down any plane approaching without authorization."

"Right," Erik said. "But this means we will be taken down, even by flying there by

shapeshifting. If we couldn't do it in Frant, we can't definitely do it here."

"Yes." June was thoughtful. "It won't be a pleasant journey," he said. "Especially for Mira, Amber, and Emily. But if we can't get the planes to reach Maynard Island, I would say we will need to prepare more Chimaeric Demons and fly there."

"You said it yourself; the clones will be killed."

"Yes..."

Silence ensued. For Erik, this wasn't a trivial matter. In truth, it wasn't even for June, but he and the Chimaeric Demons had a different perspective on things. Their only reason to exist was for them to grant Erik's wishes and help him achieve his goal. Dying was for them the greatest honor they could get, if it meant giving Erik what he wanted.

But the young man wasn't so cold as to think that was a viable solution, not even given how bizarre the Chimaeric Demons' life was.

"As for the Thaids," June said. "Most of them can be easily taken down by the Chimaeric Demons. Mur's thaids might stumble upon us, but that's just a risk."

June paused. "It's not worth to stop our operation or delay it just because of a fear. Besides, we might use the biological supercomputer to come up with something to keep them far from us. What will happen if we give powers that closely resemble the Instability brain crystal

power to them?"

June seemed pretty confident about this. "I bet that even the most powerful thaid wouldn't be able to resist a massive mental attack made by thousands of clones."

"As for the Veritas Lenses, if we fly there, hiding won't be a concern because we will simply wipe them out with a large army. I doubt the blackguards, despite the many trinkets they got from Etrium and the two or three brain crystal powers they got, will be able to pose a

problem."

Erik agreed with June's plan and thought it was clever. He nodded, seeing how good the idea

was.

Erik had faced similar problems before and had used plans like this every time, always leading to good outcomes. This made him feel confident, even if not that much.