There existed a sea funnelled by underwater streams from various sources, being so rich in resources there was an abundance. And similarly in response, the creatures living in and around the sea were some of the strongest that appeared on Sumatra.
This sea was called the Brimgan Sea, for obvious reasons of influence from the strongest force in the region.
A series of connecting mountains formed a mountain range, with their ends connected to form an enclosed space. These mountains were shaped like a lotus in full bloom, and hence named the Lotus Range.
The Lotus Range formed the border of the Brimgan Empire. And the entirety of the area within this range, a total of five million square kilometres, was part of the Empire.
Moving at breakneck speeds on the Brimgan Sea was a golden flash, from time to time unleashing mild traces of a vapour cone.
It crashed into the gates of the Brimgan Empire and crashed, revealing its appearance. The golden figure vanished, replaced by a fleshly entity that was gasping for breath. It was Brunta Brimgan, who had sent a body rushing towards the Brimgan Empire the moment he was freed by the Cooter Clan.
"REPORT!" He bellowed towards the individual responsible for the gatekeepers. The Head Gatekeeper was part of the Brimgan Royalty, responsible for both defending the Empire’s gates and quickly transmitting any information of worth to the Capital.
An Information Slip made using Rutham flew into the Head Gatekeepers’s embrace as Brunta Brimgan fainted immediately after.
"This is..." The Head Gatekeeper checked the Information Slip and was stunned for a moment. Then, he hurriedly relayed the message to the Capital and shouted, "Escort the Prince inside!"
A team of soldiers gently carried Brunta Brimgan into the Empire as the gates closed shut behind him.
...
As the fleet of five Battleships continued to move, Brunta Brimgan observed the sea, ’By now, my body should have reached the Empire.’
’I probably cannot expect his Majesty or any of the Ministers to take action personally. So, the response team wouldn’t be arriving as quickly as I hoped.’ Brunta Brimgan sighed, ’If they can send at least one more Prince, things would fare better.’
He didn’t have too much hope, for based on what he sensed before departing for his mission, the Brimgan Empire was plagued with a variety of important matters, all in similar importance or higher to what he had relayed.
As the strongest force in the region, it was targeted the most by the invaders.
While in thoughts, Brunta Brimgan noticed land across the horizon, ’Thankfully, we’ve reached the end of the Tsloch Sea.’
The five Battleships lined behind each other and entered a channel leading directly into the Dralh Sea. ’In approximately five more days, we’ll reach our destination.’
"I can only hope the situation hasn’t progressed beyond cure by then."
...
In the Trailing Waves Battleship that was moving towards the rear of the fleet, the Maintenance Crew were working nonstop.
Gong! Go-Ong!
"We have one more stretch remaining!" Inin shouted based on the horn, "We’re entering the Kappeet Channel! Hurry!"
The Kappeet Channel stretched a length of 6410 kilometres, spanning a width of two kilometres at its widest and a narrow pass of 80 metres or lower at sections. The region bordering this channel was filled with loose soil, so despite the Cooter Clan’s best efforts in widening it, the channel kept clogging up from time to time.
There were even times when the Kappeet Channel was fully blocked by a group of Pranic Beasts that intended to flood the region instead. The local ecosystem was extremely chaotic, as more than ten thousand Iron Grade Pranic Beast Races called the region their home.
The Kappeet Channel connected the Tsloch Sea to the Dralh Sea, once frequented by the Cooter Clan when they had a branch at the Dralh Sea. But since the branch’s collapse, this was their first journey.
Piltru Moss would no longer appear past the Tsloch Sea’s border. The Maintenance Crew were hurrying to scrape off the last patches before the fleet entered the Kappeet Channel.
"Rush inside! Rush it!" Inin shouted in a hurry and hurriedly propped up a barrier of water while his subordinates jumped through the sliding tunnel.
Pitter patter sounds resounded as thousands of needles bombarded the defensive barrier. Inin ejected the barrier radially, pushing away all the bombarding needles, which exploded seconds after to generate a thick, purplish cloud of smoke.
"Get inside, Boiboi!" Inin pushed Torq and followed suit, closing the hatch shut after him.
Landing within their room, he checked the condition of everyone, "Has anyone been pierced by the needles?"
"Me," One of the crew raised a hand and pointed at a spot on their rib where a needle was poking through. He seemed fine at first glance, but was faintly sweating.
"Don’t rip it out." Inin warned in a hurry, rushed towards the wall where a metallic pipe had been installed and gushed in a stream of mist through it. This mist flowed through the tube and made a series of sounds, which alerted the concerned personnel.
Within the next twenty seconds, a team of five Cooter Clansmen rushed in and stabbed a thin needle of water into the affected crewman. A couple seconds later, the Clansman spoke curtly, "It will hurt for an instant."
And then, he ripped apart the needle with force, yanking out a network of fibrous root system stretching from under the needle, possibly having drilled into the organs. Now, a thin layer of water covered the root system, which was how it had been separated from the organs.
It was a Skill requiring precision and finesse. Not many Cooter Clansmen reached such a level, which is why dedicated teams existed for every purpose.
The crewman hollered in pain but not a single droplet of blood dripped out of his wound. Even with his meagre strength, his wounds healed in a matter of seconds once the needle had been ripped out.
The roots of the needle wriggled like a leech’s upper body seeking warm blood, phobia triggering.
Torq eyed the needle that was promptly crushed into a paste by the Cooter Clansman. A couple seconds later, once the response team exited the room, he asked Inin, "What was that needle?"
"A torture device," Inin snorted, "This region is dominated by Iron Grade Pranic Beasts that have been in war with each other for thousands of years."
"They’ve manufactured countless means to kill their enemies, to the extent the region had been gradually terraformed by them over the millennia to be extremely ruthless." Inin sighed, "That needle is just grass native to this place."
"Once it stabs you, its roots will rapidly burrow into your body and wind around the organs to make extraction tough." He shook his head in horror, "Leave it be, and the grass will cover your body in a matter of hours, leaving you writhing in excruciating pain until death that accompanies decades later."
"Decades?" Torq frowned, "Not hours or days?"
"No, this grass isn’t lethal." Inin shook his head, "It’ll merely use its target as a pot of nutrients to grow. The pain is merely a result of the substances it secretes to proliferate its kind."
"Then, can’t we use it against our enemies?" Torq wondered, "We can collect a batch and..."
"This grass is native to the region. And once plucked and launched into the air, it’ll explode in a matter of seconds, unless it stabs into a target and takes root." Inin chuckled helplessly, "It cannot survive outside this region."
"We researched it in the past." Inin patted Torq and let out a sigh, "Grass like this is extremely common here. However, they all are extremely fragile and can only survive here."
"The needles that had been launched at us don’t even have a name. That’s how common and numerous these things are here."
"I see," Torq nodded and didn’t comment much on the matter. He was indeed curious about a lot of things, like how the needles reached all the way to their altitude without enough speed to be considered dangerous.
While in thought, he approached his berth and drank medicines like usual. As everyone extracted their fat deposits, Torq sneakily drank medicine from his personal stock. And using the Prana generated in response, he was charging up the Narlakk Pet.
Swoosh!
After being at the task for close to twenty days, he was almost done. And now, he seeped in the last stretch of Prana, fully charging up the Pet.
The Narlakk Pet was still rolled up within the container in his possession. It maintained the same shape as before, the only difference being it had now become a Pet, capable of using its powers.
If Torq were to transform into the Pet, he could harness Narlakk Nirrkarrlarr’s power. But doing so was risky, since he couldn’t just disappear from his spot. Instead, he simply intended to use it as a Spirit Weapon, which was extremely easy.
At his command, the Narlakk Pet swiftly rushed into the sleeves of his robe and mimicked the dress. Once it had assumed his robe and perfected its design, colour, texture, and even weight, Torq eyed his surroundings and subtly removed his existing clothes.
Now, the Narlakk would serve as his clothes, giving him defensive strength on par with a Gold Grade Pranic Beast.
As for the mass it had lost to match the robe’s weight? There was a swirl of pollen in the room, which entered the bodies of all the Maintenance Crew.
’Now, time to act.’ Torq revealed a smile and got up, for the Maintenance Crew, from now onwards, would never question his actions, since they were already under his influence. ’I’ll take control of this place before the day ends!’