Once MJ finished briefing him on everything that had transpired, Jay's thoughts instinctively shifted to Urzo. His gut told him that Urzo had to be behind the ambush, pulling the strings from the shadows. Though he wasn't entirely sure—there wasn't enough concrete evidence yet—Jay's instincts rarely led him astray.
The suspicion gnawed at him, festering like an old wound. Urzo had been a persistent thorn in his side, causing problems for Jay and those under his protection ever since Day-11.
Urzo's dangerous ability to implant possession seeds, allowed him to mass control other Alpha Chosen. With that, he had found every possible way to strike at Jay, and spreading chaos.
Urzo didn't need to set foot in Jay's Trial Region to wreak havoc. Through his puppets, those infected by the possession seeds, he could orchestrate attacks from afar, causing destruction without being physically present. If left unchecked, Urzo would have torn apart Jay's Trial Region from within, destabilizing everything Jay had built.
But Jay had managed to hold his ground, thanks to one critical advantage: the Primary Authority he gained from conquering Obelisks. Possessing Primary Authority over an Obelisk was more than just abundant resources and a few benefits —it granted him full control over the respective Trial Region.
With that authority, Jay could regulate who entered and exited the region, effectively barring anyone he deemed a threat. He could banish enemies, like Urzo's puppets, by pushing them out of bounds and preventing them from crossing back in. More importantly, it provided absolute surveillance over the entire Trial Region, a crucial layer of defense.
MJ's constant monitoring of the Trial Regions under Jay's control alleviated much of his burdens. It allowed him to maintain security and respond to threats without being distracted by Urzo's relentless harassment.
Before Jay acquired that advantage, Urzo had terrorized him with attacks, including waves of suicide bombers sent to weaken Jay's forces. But with MJ overseeing surveillance, Jay no longer had to worry about such threats sneaking through. He could focus his efforts elsewhere, and those under his protection were spared from Urzo's brutal tactics.
That gave Jay a sense of confidence and allowed him to embark on more ambitious endeavors, like the expedition to the Obelisks in other Trial Regions.
During that small yet vulnerable window, Urzo had ample opportunity to launch attacks and disrupt Jay's progress. Knowing that, Jay remained cautious, taking every precaution to minimize the risks.
He ensured that the other two Raid Parties stayed together, maintaining strength in numbers. However, despite his best efforts, Urzo's puppets—those he had possessed—still managed to infiltrate and attempt to sabotage Jay's streak of Obelisk takeovers.
Fortunately, Jay wasn't completely in the dark when it came to Urzo's machinations. Zeix, someone from the same Trial Zone as Urzo, had become an unexpected ally.
Zeix possessed a Unique Innate Talent that allowed him to sense and access the hidden, intangible plane of storage space that covered as far as the entire 7th Trial Continent. That gave Urzo an extraordinary advantage; by exploiting Zeix's abilities, Urzo could spread his seeds of possession far and wide, extending his reach to nearly any Trial Region.
It was through that method Urzo had become such a persistent menace, managing to cause chaos without ever needing to be physically present.
However, what Urzo didn't know was that Zeix had secretly been sending messages to Jay through his ring's storage space. Those warnings had proven invaluable, alerting Jay to incoming attacks and allowing him to stay one step ahead of Urzo's plans. Thanks to Zeix's covert help, Jay was often prepared for Urzo's moves.
Most of the time, when Urzo attempted to control the locals and send them against Jay or his Raid Party, Shadow Leopard MJ was able to deal with the attackers swiftly and stealthily. While Jay's forces sustained injuries on occasion, they had, thus far, avoided any significant losses.
But something felt off. There had been no warning from Zeix about what was happening with the 1st Raid Party. No message had slipped into Jay's storage space, no indication of an impending attack.
That silence troubled Jay deeply. It left him wondering if something had happened to Zeix. Jay's instinct was still to suspect Urzo, but the absence of a message left him uncertain, gnawing at his confidence.
Even if Urzo wasn't involved, the situation was still dire. Jay knew that if this were just a local uprising, no matter how large the opposing forces, he would have trusted the 1st Raid Party to handle it on their own.
The Earth team, after all, was among them, and nearly all of them had reached Tier-4, vastly stronger than they had been back on Day-10. But the one leading the opposition wasn't just any local Alpha Chosen—it was Yinad, ranked 6th among the Alpha Prime Prospects, someone almost as powerful as Urzo himself.
With such a considerable threat at hand and the staggering distance separating them, Jay knew that mounting a rescue mission was out of the question. There was simply no way to reach them in time. His only option was to trust that the 1st Raid Party, would manage to deal with the situation on their own.
Exclusive artwork for every free chapter is now available on my PATRE0N page! You can find the link in my Discord server.
I'm thrilled to share that I'm taking a big leap forward! Alongside Earth's Alpha Prime, I've launched the first sub-book for EAP.
ALTER REALITY: Online
The first ten to comment for new chapter releases will get '1 ADVANCED CHAPTER' for free on Earth Alpha Prime's Discord server.
In the discord server, I opened a private channel for those Top 10 candidates, where I posted the respective Advanced Chapter.
╭── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╮
Discord Link for 'Earth's Alpha Prime' :
╰── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╯