It was complicated to orient oneself on B842, since most of the Oracle Cities to which the Yellow Cubes led had no names. It was simpler when it was a floating island like New Earth, but most of the time, you had to have a clear idea of the destination for the Oracle System to do its job.
Generating Paths to find a specific person or place ensured that you would arrive safely. Otherwise, one would either have to follow a person showing the way or wander from Oracle Cities to Oracle Cities via the Orange Cubes until finding the desired city.
When a faction became sufficiently influential or a tacit agreement was found between the different species inhabiting an Oracle City or Shelter, a city name was decided upon, making these cities official, but above all easily detectable. It was a choice that had both pros and cons.
Thanks to his cousin Anya, Jake had no trouble reaching the Oracle City of his family where his grandfather had built his fiefdom. According to his cousin, their grandfather was as impressive and stern as he was before the apocalypse, controlling all the Wilderths with an iron fist.
He was a prodigious businessman in his day, but he had never been involved or interested in politics or the army. Regardless, he was a strict man with an exemplary lifestyle bearing the pride of the Wilderths. He never demanded of anyone something that he was not prepared to do himself, and therefore had a physique as sharp as any martial arts expert, despite his almost 75 years of age.
Appearing in front of another Yellow Cube, on top of a skyscraper very similar to the one in New Earth that the duo had just left, his cousin turned to him with a serious expression.
"I know you don't like anyone but Uncle Kalen, but try to stay cool after what I'm about to tell you. "She warned him in a very solemn tone. "A number of our family members are dead or missing, so this is not the time to seek conflict or create tension.
" But... To my knowledge, you were one of the few Wilderths with me and Uncle Kalen who didn't know about New Earth. Although it was not possible for those in high government positions to reveal the truth directly to the rest of the family, it is a fact that most Wilderths hold important positions. Somehow they managed to get the information in advance enough to prepare properly."
Jake remained silent, but his pursed lips betrayed his disapproval and resentment. He knew Anya had only recently learned the truth and hadn't been given leave to meet him and take him back with her.
Uncle Kalen had learned the truth a month or two earlier by using his old connections from his days in the army, but the spatial distortions caused by the assimilation of the Earth had prevented his uncle from informing him.
The fact that the only way to inform a person in advance of the Mirror Universe was to take them to B842 or to raise their Oracle Rank to level 1 greatly complicated the task.
Nevertheless, Jake was not so naive as to think that he, his cousin and uncle could not have been informed in advance. He didn't think their grandfather was responsible for this, since the old man was a upright man working for the future of the Wilderths, but the same was not true for all members of his family.
Despite the apparent solidarity within the family, it was an extremely competitive environment, the spontaneous consequence of which was that subgroups had formed within the Wilderths.
Aside from attending family meals organized at bi-annual gatherings, Jake had rarely met the rest of his family on other occasions. Except for a few cousins like Charles, he knew the rest of them by name only.
The Oracle City in which they had just appeared looked like the Oracle Playground that Jake and his friends were used to. It seemed that all the Oracle Cities built by the Oracle System were built according to the same design.
The group, guided by Anya, climbed down to the foot of the skyscraper by taking the elevator, and found a place absolutely identical to the one where they had enjoyed a drink earlier with Alima and Patrick. Even the front of the tavern and the arrangement of the tables and chairs were more or less identical.
When Jake noticed the direction Anya was heading, he easily recognized the three-story mansion at the end of the paved street. The mansion was again very similar to their own Oracle Playground and he remembered this building because according to Will it was the residence where the Korean Cho Min-Ho had established his headquarters.
The mansion was less than 300 meters away from the Yellow Cube and was perfectly suited for use as an administrative center, guild hall or residence. It was also ideal for monitoring the entries and exits of the Oracle City.
Such a mansion was currently costing the modest sum of 50 million Aether points for anyone willing to buy it directly or 1,000,000 points per month. This may not seem like much compared to the price of Aether Skills or a Bloodline in the Oracle Store, but the price was constantly rising.
Given the limited number of residences in an Oracle City, the price of real estate on B842 was bound to rise in the medium term. According to her cousin, these residences were much cheaper when the Earth Government first arrived on this planet.
In the long run, the most pessimistic analysts were considering two possibilities. Either human species would prosper and prices would continue to rise because of increased demand. Or human species would be threatened with extinction because they could not adapt quickly enough, and these residences would become their only refuge, since the human Floating Islands would have long since been destroyed. In this case, property prices would also continue to rise.
Of course, none of this had anything to do with Jake at the moment. As he walked towards the mansion, his face stiffened more and more as his body became tense and rigid. As he clenched his teeth, sharp, crystalline canines revealed their tips. He looked like a lonely old wolf entering a sheepfold. Or a lion approaching the territory of a hyena pack.
It was hard to believe that Jake was actually nervous. He dreaded seeing again the family he hated, but his Myrtharian lineage regarded this forced reunion as a challenge. Instead of being depressed and stressed he was paradoxically excited, but cold-hearted.
The rest of his group could sense his abnormal state, and his irises shining with a sinister golden and silver glow didn't help. His Warrior and Spiritual Myrtharian Trance was active as well as his Spiritual Golden Eyes.
Upon arriving at the foot of the manor, two heavily armed bodyguards blocked their way by pushing them away with the tip of their spears. These weapons were two meters long, forged from a single piece of metal, and Oraclean inscriptions covered the handle and blade at the head of the weapon.
"Identity, motive for coming. " One of the Evolvers, a young Caucasian man with black hair and a short beard, spoke out of routine. Seeing their lack of reaction, he repeated his sentence a second time.
"Anya Wilderth. I'm here to see Grandpa with my cousin Jake." The young woman, still wearing her military uniform, pointed her thumb at Jake to his right.
The Evolver followed her thumb and crossed her irises with a mysterious golden and silver glow as deep as a sea of stars and couldn't help but shudder. Forcing himself to stand aloof, the guard questioned her again as if nothing had happened,
"What about the others behind? "
"Friends of my cousin. "Anya explained succinctly with a polite smile.
The guard looked at them one by one before nodding to his colleague. The guard disappeared inside the mansion, only to return a few seconds later with a man in his fifties wearing a spotless suit.
"Daddy!"Anya shouted as she waved her hand at him.
Jake was also overwhelmed by a brief burst of emotion when he saw his uncle again. He hadn't changed and was still wearing the same suits he'd worn when he was still involved in politics on Earth a few months earlier.
Seeing his short hair and impeccably trimmed grey beard, his golden Rolex and orange tan a la Donald Trump, Jake was speechless.
" What the fuck have I been worrying about all this time..."