Chapter 288: The Congo Basin
The Nyiragongo shard had fostered an enormous settlement within its territory. Over the course of the assimilation, its original residents had been bolstered by massive migrations of people, the extent to which Coop would have had trouble imagining them. They mostly came from the nearer portions of West Africa, before and after the Siege Event, where an insufficient number of civilization shards to represent the human population had appeared.
The survivors from nations all the way to the Atlantic Coast followed news that flowed out from the central rainforests, carried by people using their newly granted abilities to navigate enormous log rafts up and down the Congo River drainage basin. Flotillas of logs, once simple timber, had transformed into floating fortresses that were near impossible for the Primal Constructs to properly contest. The vessels were moving reinforced strongholds, actively protected by squads of warriors as they explored the vast network of rivers and tributaries, carrying news and rescuing survivors.
The second largest rainforest on the planet was reinvigorated by mana, countering the degradation caused by logging and climate change, but unlike the untamed Central American forests, the distribution of rivers prevented the local people from being locked down and picked off.
Those who were ferried by the floating citadels combined with other groups of people displaced by the flooding of the Saharan Sea to form a super settlement that rivaled the Yucatan for its individual prominence. People from a thousand miles away had settled around the civilization shard in Nyiragongo, joining the local population. Together, they formed one of the largest settlements on the planet.
Nyiragongo also had close neighbors to its east, unlike how the Yucatan had been completely isolated. Many of those neighboring civilization shards also held populations that exceeded all but the largest settlements in the world. East Africa as a whole had allied early in the assimilation, embracing a little talked about advantage that they all shared. Places like Ghost Reef, The Heartland, and Punihuil had also been supported by the same resource. It was one brought by non-human animals being empowered by mana just as much as humans, bolstering the overall power of the settlements as a whole.
Coop only heard rumors of powerhouses that many still believed could best him in a duel, but had remained on the surface. Overtime, he had come to the conclusion that titles like The Pride of Kenya and the King of Africa weren’t actually nicknames so much as they were descriptors of leveled up lions. Perhaps it was for the best that he didn’t get to meet them. Jett would have no reason to be upset with him when he made it home this time around.
Either way, as a result of the consolidation of people in Nyiragongo, and the various factors that enabled their survival, Coop had the cleanest grind of the Underlayer Event. The local army was busy fighting Primal Constructs elsewhere, leaving the ultimate prize of their little race all to the ravenous Champion of Ghost Reef.
Coop dove in, enjoying his gigantic advantage in levels, compounded by the escalating pool of stats granted by his progression. Was his current position within the assimilation completely unfair? Yes, yes it was. Did he feel any hesitance in leveraging his position against the system limited opponents?
“Absolutely not.” Coop declared to himself in the middle of the biggest grind session of his life. He was reaping the benefits of his earlier investments into his build, and in doing so, he was investing further into his own progression. The snowballing effect of his path had become a positive feedback loop, and for as long as he was able, he needed to keep it going.
The specific processes of the assimilation were unknown to the extent that things could drastically change tomorrow and Coop could find himself facing what might be insurmountable challenges. The islands of Ghost Reef had graced him with the chance to grow strong, and if there was anything he learned as time went on, it was that they had to seize the opportunities as they appeared.
The Underlayer Event had become a chance for all of Ghost Reef’s residents to capitalize on their experience during the Siege Event and beyond, though he doubted there was anyone among his companions that would enjoy themselves to the same extent as the Champion himself.
Coop had his foot on the throat of the Primal Constructs, and he intended to keep pressing. Metaphorically speaking, at least. In reality, it was his ethereal weapons at their throats. He carved his way through their forces in a blitz, his concentration bolstered by the pressure of competition from the assembled army of humans elsewhere in the Underlayer.