Chapter 277
After a day of relaxation and planning, Karl returns from his journey out East with a grim face. He looks utterly exhausted and his favorite leather jacket smells like a mixture of human and Beast blood, though it looks freshly washed.
"Did things go that badly?"
"That and worse. The monsters have gathered between the Great Lakes and are moving as a herd to the southeast. They’re being led by some sort of tentacle beast that nullifies everything short of Divine Energy. Without it, the cultivators are helpless, physical strength alone isn’t enough for any Mortal Realm Cultivator to take out a category 4 monster one on one. Most of what used to be Michigan has fallen now, and everything north of that was theirs to begin with. I only found a few scattered outposts like the pack here in my entire trip across to the coast."
At that point he stops to rub the bridge of his nose, relieving tension. That’s my cue, the touch of your mate calms and relaxes you, so I move forward to give him a hug, wriggling my arms under his shirt and burying my face in his chest. The sleeves of my red silk blouse are nice and soft against the skin, but the warm tingle of a mate’s body against you is always the best part of a hug in a Lycan relationship.
"Thanks. I should also tell you, the East Coast Alliance has pictures of us up everywhere. We might be the most wanted War Criminals on the planet. They’ve also recently embargoed everything coming from Arcana or the Dragons, including healers, travelers from cultivation worlds and magical ammunition. They’ll gladly shoot cultivators with regular bullets though. They’re accusing everyone who seems in any way supernatural of being an enemy soldier.
They see cultivators as an extension of their war against supernatural beings, which they doubled down on after we blew up Washington. That’s why they wouldn’t accept cultivation techniques. Most of the small groups that would have been willing to listen to reason have been wiped out, either by monsters or by humans over the last few weeks, and the delegations from the task force are dead or have fled."
That just gets worse and worse as he goes. Category 3 monsters were already outside of the capabilities of most mundane ammunition. Even the gigantic category 2 monsters that were appearing in the Deep South destroyed nearly all technological attempts to stop them.
"Is there any good news?"
"A little. Scientists out of Florida have developed a cultivation energy powered Armor Suit. It currently just walks and has an impressive plasma rifle, but they’re working on a flying version." A small smile finally spreads across Karl’s face at the thought of the armor suits.