The Machine God Chapter 222 - Trustworthy

Chapter 222

Trustworthy

Alexander lay on the bio-engineered lichen and moss and looked up at the sky.

He stared up at the deford potato that was Deimos. Or Phobos. He didn’t know which. What he did know was that the blue-white star glowing in the distance was Earth.

The world from which he’d orchestrated the theft of an entire city.

By accident.

He sighed. There was no way he was going to live that one down.

Alexander turned his head and glanced at Maximilian, who stood staring out across the red desert of Mars, doing a great take on the whole brooding noble Dragon Lord thing.

They’d been idling for the past five minutes.

He’d quickly confird with the others on the active channel that everyone was alive, and there was nothing ‘urgent-urgent’ that needed their input. Of course, reading between the lines ant there was sothing urgent, just not ti-sensitive.

They’d muted the channel anyway. Both of them needed ti to recover, and there was sothing more important to address right here.

Alexander sighed again. Then pulled up the notifications that confird their fears and reviewed his status.

—

Awakened Divinity: Machine God

Claid Divinity: Prophet of the Lost

Converted Divinity: Prophet of the Lost → Fragnt of Divinity: Sovereign Blood

Cultivator’s Core has adapted to Sovereign Blood

—

Divinity: Machine God

Description: You are the God of all that is Machine. Blessed are your favored by all machines.

—

Fragnt: Sovereign Blood

Description: You have slain the Prophet of the Lost and claid a Fragnt of Divinity. Your blood is inviolable.

—

[ACHIEVENT UNLOCKED]

Divine Slayer

You have defended your Dream against another Divine.

Reward: Continue the Dream II → Continue the Dream III

—

[STATUS]

Alexander Rooke

| Alias: Machine God

| Guild: Grimnir (Leader)

| Alliances: The Royals (Defensive, Formal) | Throne of Scales (Defensive [Partial], Formal)

| Designation: ???

| Bounty: 2,415,000 → 5,150,000 credits

| Rankings: Universe_1: 58 → 23, Unified: 684 → 312

| Evaluation: Tier 2 (38% → 45%) — Class A

ASCENSION POTENTIAL INDEX (API)

Physical Attributes

| Strength — 81% → 83%

| Endurance ✧ 142 → 160

| Constitution ✧ 129 → 144

| Dexterity — 95% → 96%

| Agility — 86% → 88%

Cognitive Attributes

| Intelligence ✧ 171 → 185

| Processing Speed ✧ 154 → 161

| Perception ✧ 162 → 167

| Focus ✧ 161 → 170

| Willpower (Ambition) ✧ 199 → 200 ( 14)

Divine Fragnts

| Sovereign Blood

Power Manifestation

Machine God (Technopathy) | Class S, Tier 1

| Efficiency — 100%

| Control — 100%

| Output — 81% → 86%

| Adaptation — 98%

Electrokinesis | Class B, Tier 1

| Efficiency — 91% → 98%

| Control — 92% → 95%

| Output — 98% → 100%

| Adaptation — 80% → 84%

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from . Please report it.

tallokinesis | Class B , Tier 1

| Efficiency — 85% → 94%

| Control — 88% → 94%

| Output — 78% → 85%

| Adaptation — 64% → 76%

Animachina | Class S, Tier 2

| Mastery ✧ 88% → 90%

Cultivator’s Core | Class B → Class B , Tier 1

| Refinent ✧ 68% → 85%

Techniques

| Blackout

| Ensoulnt

| Soul Circuit

Skills

| Hyperawareness

| Multithreading

Achievents

| Origin 0 Soul

| Continue the Dream III

| Divine Slayer

—

Alexander closed his status sheet and sighed. Again.

Then he glanced at Maximilian.

“Hey.”

Maximilian looked over his shoulder at him. “What?”

Alexander sniffed. “Just checking if we’re going to murder each other out in the middle of the Martian desert where nobody would ever know what really happened after only one of us returns?”

Maximilian blinked. Then he turned back. “No.”

“Good.” Alexander returned to studying the stars. “I’d hate to have to kill a friend. Even if he’s a stuck-up, silver-spoon-fed, nepo-baby.”

“That assus you’d be the one walking away. You left most of your arsenal with the others.”

“I’ve got spares in the ring. And so other toys.”

“I have a dragon.”

Alexander shrugged against the ground. “So it’s sixty-forty. In my favor.”

“Delusional.” A pause. “Fifty-five to forty-five. In my favor.”

He could hear the amusent in the Dragon Lord’s voice. It was a good thing, as far as he was concerned. Because they’d both considered the implications. And while neither of them was the sort of person to be swayed by minor things like extra godhood, only an idiot wouldn’t have considered it from both perspectives.

But they’d both co to the sa conclusion. The other man was trustworthy.

“What did you get?” Alexander asked after the silence had gone on long enough.

“Dragon Blood. Enhanced healing, if my interpretation is correct.” Maximilian glanced at him again. “You?”

“Sovereign Blood. Made my blood inviolable, whatever the hell that ans.”

“Typical System.”

Alexander agreed with the sentint. “My Divinity… makes people blessed with machines or sothing.”

Maximilian was quiet for a while. “Mine gives them an aspect of the dragon.”

Alexander nodded. Then sighed. Yet again. “So many people are going to want to kill us once they learn about this.”

“Yep.”

“This sucks.”

“Yep.”

“Instead, we’re going to have to kill so many assholes.”

“Yep.”

Alexander frowned. “Do you know how to say anything else?”

A pause. Then. “Yep.”

“Son of a—” Alexander pulsed tallokinesis and floated to his feet. “When did you develop a sense of humor?”

Maximilian shrugged. “Must have inherited it from the Lost Prophet.”

Alexander stared at him for a mont, then snorted. “I doubt it.”

“ too.” The Dragon Lord turned and t his gaze. “How do you think we gain the threads? Besides killing each other. And what do they represent?”

That was the real question.

The Lost Prophet had given them insight into what he believed the red threads were. Fear and terror. Maybe even anger and hatred. And if what Gabriel had told him was true, there were two thods to achieving Divinity.

But from his count, there appeared to be a third.

Unless killing a Divine didn’t achieve it, and instead was more an act of theft.

Alexander shook his head. “Best guess? Worship maybe.” He made a face at that. It reminded him of the feeling the machines had toward him. “They felt like… trust. I think that’s the best word I have for it.”

Maximilian nodded. “Belief was what I settled on. Could also be admiration or aspiration.”

“Makes sense if what the Lost Prophet said was true, and the red threads represented things like fear and dread.”

“Helplessness.”

Alexander threw back his head and groaned. “I don’t want to be a priest or a ssiah or whatever.”

Maximilian chuckled. “I don’t think we need to be.” Then he turned serious. “But we need to keep it a secret as long as we can.”

Alexander imdiately disliked the idea. Keeping secrets from his friends wasn’t how he did things. He’d always shared the truth with them, even if he realized that would need to change now that the guild was growing. That he’d have to maintain a tighter circle of trust.

“I’m going to tell my guild. So of them, at least.”

Maximilian studied him for a mont. “I will probably do the sa. Once I’ve had ti to wrap my head around it.”

“Plus, they can help us figure out how it works, too.” Alexander patted red dirt from his pants. “Ready to head back?”

Maximilian nodded, then turned toward his dragon, which had been quietly waiting.

Alexander stopped him, pulling a black card from his ring. He grinned. “Shortcut.”

“Good idea.”

“I have a lot of those.”

“Sure you do.”

Alexander made the call and watched the doorway manifest.

***

Marcus Thorne gripped the overhead handle and stared out the open side door of the shuttle.

Below, the desert stretched in every direction. Flat, featureless sand broken only by the occasional rocky formation. Moonlight painted everything in pale silver, and the stars were bright enough to read by.

He checked the coordinates on the display panel beside the door for the third ti. Then a fourth.

“Are you sure the coordinates are correct?” he called to the pilot.

“Yes, sir.” The woman’s voice carried back from the cockpit, professional but strained. “I’ve verified them twice. Dubai should be right below us.”

Marcus leaned further out, one hand white-knuckled on the handle. Nothing but sand and rock in every direction. No skyline. No lights. No roads. No vehicles. No people. Not even foundations or rubble. Just desert, as if nothing had ever been built there at all.

“Then where the hell is it?”

Guang stood at the opposite edge of the open door, tablet in hand, feet planted at the very lip of the deck. He wasn’t holding onto anything. The wind whipping through the cabin at altitude didn’t seem to bother him.

“It looks like the city disappeared shortly after Executor Jacobs revealed himself at the press conference,” Guang said, scrolling. His tone carried the sa flat calm he used for mission briefings.

Marcus waited. Guang kept reading.

“The current leading theory is that the Machine God...” Guang paused. Looked at the tablet again, as if double-checking. “...stole the city.”

Marcus gaped at him.

“How do you steal an entire city?!” he shouted.

Guang shrugged. He glanced up from the tablet. “It seems the Throne of Scales assisted them. The two guilds, along with the Royals, apparently used their combined superpowers to kidnap all of Dubai.” He looked back down and kept scrolling, as if the next paragraph might contain sothing that made more sense.

It didn’t.

Behind them, Hahn shifted in his seat. His wounded arm was wrapped in fresh bandages. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again.

Marcus sank into the nearest seat.

He’d redirected the shuttle to Dubai to help fight a vampire. Instead, he was hovering over a hole in the world.

“What about the Executor?” he said quietly.

“There’s so good news there,” Guang replied. “The infected are still running rampant, but the infection itself has stopped.”

Marcus sighed. “That is good news.”

Guang tossed the tablet onto a seat. “What now, sir?”

Marcus hit the control to close the door and called to the pilot. “Take to Pri Orbital. And get the Fleet Admiral on the line.”

The pilot didn’t argue. The shuttle climbed.

“The Fleet Admiral, sir?” Guang asked, arms crossed.

“An entire city doesn’t just disappear. It’s here, sowhere.” Marcus leaned back. “We just need to find it. Besides, the superheroes of the fleet can’t act without orders. And I might be the only one left who can give them.”