"You know, I would normally just kill these guys, toss their bodies into the lake and watch the fishes eat them...but this is more fun."
"I told you so."
"MMMMMPH!!!"
"Shut up, or I am actually throwing you to the sea monsters!"
’Mmm..."
...
[Milord, did your side of the family recently provide the main branch with a tad sea monster?]
’I don’t know...’
[Because the alternative is that your tattooed relative just...keeps wild monsters near the manor...in a densely populated city...]
’Let’s...let’s not think about the implications too deeply.’
...
At this mont in ti, Zhen Liu and the kaijin were busy preparing special boxes that were designed to keep people who were Aether Lords and below sealed until a certain condition was t. And as he was building stuff, Matriarch Zhen Xun Tian was currently "entertaining" the Plague Bird assassins that the kaijin had captured.
And by "entertaining", Zhen Xun Tian was tattooing tramp stamps on their backs whether or not they were conscious.
Why?
So that they could shove the Plague Bird assassins into them and send them back to their masters, buck naked save for that tattoo on their asses telling them to go and eat shit, alongside a note that said if they tried anything again, they would send the next batch back in coffins and urns.
It was crude, crass and against every convention of aether warrior culture that most other people would think Zhen Liu insane.
Not Zhen Xun Tian though.
When Zhen Liu asked his great aunt what she wanted to do with the Plague Bird assassins, she had initially wanted to just kill them. But then, she asked Zhen Liu what he would do in her situation.
What ca from his mouth was a plan that flew right in the face of the term, "death before dishonor".
"Personally? Strip them down, send them back and warn them that any future attempts will end in scorched earth."
At the ti, Zhen Liu expected that his rather vicious great grandaunt would’ve thought it was too ridiculous to let such vicious assassins live, since most other aether warriors preferred it if their problems were nipped in the bud.
After hearing his plan though, Zhen Xun Tian actually roared with laughter at the thought.
"HAHAHAHA! That’s brilliant! I kill them, they’re martyrs and those fucking birds will try to use them as justification for war. But if I do this, they can’t justify going to war and I still get to humiliate them...BAHAHAHAHAH!"
Once more, Zhen Liu couldn’t help but to wonder if his choices as of late could be attributed to his genetics or not.
Regardless, once Zhen Xun Tian was given the inkling on what to do with her new captives/victims/playthings, she imdiately had Zhen Liu accompany her as she borrowed a treasure from the clan’s vault.
It wasn’t anything incredibly fancy, her words, but it was also radiating enough power to cause his usually rowdy kaijin to step back out of instinctual fear.
Thankfully(?), he had Logos and Pathos to explain why.
...
’The what?’
=It’s a Gold tiered aether treasure that can seal people into specially marked items. It’s that thing you’ve been carving into these red treasure boxes.=
’Huh...makes sense to .’
’Why do you say that?’
’Oh, bah! Death before dishonor, but redemption before death. They started it, I’ll end it my way.’
=Spoken like a true kaijin lord.=
’Besides, there are probably worse influences out there than .’
_______anwhile at a location with an actually terrible influence involved..._______
"You know...I never thought it was possible for the [Abyssal Lands] to be creepier...but here we fucking are...wait, why am I talking in such a crude manner?"
"Haha! Sa thing happened to when I first arrived. That’s the effect of [Chaos] in high enough concentrations," War Elder Gao Ao Long inford his matriarch. "Believe , the vocal effects will get worse the closer we get."
"The fuck you an? Oh..."
A few days after a disastrous diplomatic eting with the gatekeeper of the fabled Undertow Kingdom, thanks to a certain inked gigabitch of a matriarch of the Zhen Clan, the Fallen Clan had taken the [Darkshell Citadel] to a location that none of them save the War Elder had been to before.
To be more precise, the first ti here was when he got his arm grafted on.
"Huh…this place appears to be a bit bigger than I was last here...stickier too."
"Seriously? Just,,,fucking seriously? Okay, I’m getting real fucking sick of swearing every other sentence, gah!"
The location in question, from a distance, appeared to be a giant stone pillar that connected the cavern ceiling of the [Abyssal Lands] to whatever constituted a bottom in this literal ocean of darkness and evil. However,the closer one got to this particular pillar, the sooner they would notice a strange growth coming out of its side.
This growth was reminiscent of a giant wasp nest, combined with a private estate done in the Soaring Griffon architectural style, a style characterized by large open halls and hollow towers that could capture the wind for various uses. That stated, it was really fucking weird to use such an architectural design in a place with no wind.
But perhaps…it was the builder’s way of rembering better tis.
"Alright, this is close enough," War Elder Gao Ao Long told his matriarch. "We can stop the citadel here."
"Oi! Stop the fucking clam!," Matriarch Gao Shen Yuan called out to the controller of the fortress. "Okay, seriously, I’m getting really tired of all of this swearing!"
"Once we finish this eting, you’ll be swearing out of joy," Gao Ao Long teased.
"Fucking hope so…"
The [Darkshell Citadel] had actually stopped a fair distance away from the strange building.
Far enough in fact that the only way to get to the place in their current situation would be to fly over.
Perhaps this was a thod of weeding out unqualified visitors?
"Cover your ears."
"Huh?"
"Just trust ."
"Okay..."
At least, that was the impression Gao Shen Yuan had until Gao Ao Long suddenly shouted in a very strange sounding language.
[EY YO, BUZZA! ARE YOU HO?! I’M BACK WITH MY KIN THIS TI!]
Needless to say, Matriarch Gao Shen Yuan was a little shocked and angered by this sudden yell. They were in a giant subterranean ocean after all, and such places tended to be ho to big nasty monsters that reacted to sound more so than anything. Then again, it probably didn’t help that she started yelling as well.
"War Elder, what the fuck?!," Gao Shen Yuan cursed in a loud whisper. "Are you trying to attract attention from...from...from...why do I feel the shadow of death breathing down my neck?"
[Ao Long izzz that you? Been real long ti zince I heard your voice. I thought you were in the clink,] a strange buzzing voice began to say shortly after Gao Shen Yun posed her question.
This voice was the reason why her instincts were telling to run, but for the War Elder next to her, it was a good sign.
[Oh, you didn’t hear from one of your many, many ears? I got busted out by my family not too long ago.]
[Oh really? That’zzz nice. So why are ya knocking on my door? Wanting to share the good news with an old friend?]
[Because my kin wants that sa service you did when I brought this arm,] Gao Ao Long said while lifting the aforntioned arm into the air,Chaos Transplantation.]
[Ah...I will need to inzpect the crew before I can...]
[Go right ahead. Co on over.]
[Thankzzz.]
"Wait, why does it sound like you just invited soone to board without my permi-"
Bzzzz-tack!
"HOLY SHIT!"
Monts after Gao Ao Long and the strange buzzing voice finished their conversation, the owner of said voice suddenly appeared from above and landed right next to where the Matriarch and the War Elder of the Fallen were standing.
’A wasp bloodliner? Here?,’ Gao Shen Yuan thought to herself once she saw who had landed in front of her. ’Wait... sothing is off...’
The longer Gao Shen Yuan stared at the humanoid wasp, the sooner she realized that this guy wasn’t a Bloodliner at all.
The limbs looked off, the wings weren’t anatomically similar to a wasp and there was sothing about the face that threw her for a loop.
But it wasn’t just the physical traits that threw her off.
It was the fact that this guy was radiating a power that felt very similar to the War Elder’s...but felt unfathomably older.
Whover this guy was, he must’ve been an elite beyond elites.
"Now then, Matriarch, I would like you to et the one responsible for grafting my arm to . His na is Buzza."
"Pleazed to et you, Matriarch," Buzza said with a sweeping bow and a voice that was far too deep for his build. "To what do I owe the pleazzure for your visit?"
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