Chapter 261: Gangs of Neon Park
A crisp spring breeze carried the sweet scent of maple sap through the hilly woods. Lush greenery, freshly sprouting, decorated the damp ground. The vibrant color was punctuated with radiant wildflowers and shaded by scattered, unsullied canopies. The enveloping buzz of cicadas droned on, the insects completely indifferent toward the intruders to the area, unlike just about everything else.
There were no monsters lingering in the settlement territory, controlled as it was, nor were there any other animals. The rambunctious crowd of humans streamed between the trees of the tame forest, far too noisy for any of the local creatures to be caught by surprise.
The trail they more or less followed was well-worn, but they spilled beyond its edges, taking the moderate hike as if they were a flood of water rather than a group of people. Babbling brooks with crystal-clear water could have made the scenes picturesque if not for the company. At least the mob treated the forest like a noble place, being mostly respectful of the environment as they mostly followed the example of their gang leaders.
“Why the hell are you walking through the woods with a meat cleaver?” A mocking exclamation rose above the clamor of voices, followed by rambunctious laughter that drew even more attention. A red-haired man carrying a black-jack at his hip pointed out the aspiring butcher to all who were nearby. “You look like a damn psychopath, Tony!” He concluded with unmitigated amusement as he caught up with a familiar face, slapping his knee dramatically.
“Oh, get over it Mickey.” The cleaver-wielding man responded, not finding the jibe funny. He lifted the implement between himself and his friend before mana surged through the metal blade, demonstrating the effectiveness of his weapon as a focus for his particular set of skills. “I ain’t foolin’ around.” He added as half a dozen people jumped away in surprise at the surge of energy, stumbling into bushes and splashing into shallow water. Several other skills were immediately prepped, forming floating firebolts and lightning lances, preceding outright violence between two rival groups.
“Hey! Knock it off you goofballs!” Platinum shouted at the circling crowd, already beyond exasperated with the freaks and knuckleheads she was heading to war alongside. They couldn’t even hike through the woods without causing problems.
Despite her personal movement abilities, she had been moving with the enormous crowd of fighters, much to her own annoyance. They represented a significant portion of the entire alliance of settlements, the vast majority of which had been consistently engaged in urban warfare with Primal Constructs. Most of them had successfully avoided openly fighting with other humans, maintaining a sort of code that at least prevented battles in the streets of Neon Park. If they hadn’t, they would face the wrath of one of the many powerhouses that kept the peace within their settlements. In that sense, Platinum was among the most forgiving.
Whether the punishment for disturbing the peace came from someone like Platinum, a borough lieutenant, or a block leader didn’t really matter. It was accepted that they weren’t meant to mess around within the settlement territories. Just because they were in the woods didn’t mean they were outside of the rules.
Taking them beyond the confines of the cities was akin to chaperoning a field trip full of extraordinarily deadly middle schoolers. Their excitement was barely contained. If it wasn’t for the threat of Primal Constructs and the looming settlement event, the energy could easily grow uncontrollable. Thankfully, they didn’t need to leave their territory completely in order to reach their destination, so external threats were well-under control.
They were preparing a massive invasion of the Underlayer, but migrating the entire group into the woods within their expanded territory had been a multi-day undertaking. The settlement event hadn’t even started and Platinum was already growing exhausted.
On the bright side, she didn’t have to personally be in charge of anybody. Most of the actual powerhouses were being given plenty of leeway to actually be effective, rather than babysitting the citydwellers from several different cities as they formed one massive warband. She would be unleashed once they made it into the Underlayer.
Calling her company a crowd was actually rather generous. It was a rabble. Every block in the City had intensified its own characteristics after the assimilation began, latching onto unique personalities and amplifying them. They were like miniature societies with their own internal rules and hierarchies, and there were probably thousands of unique petri dishes developing who knows what in terms of collective identity.