Chapter 601: I Don’t Wanna Do This Shit

Grey was already eager to get started, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt like three days should be enough if he really put his head down.

A Command Class Vessel for Prometheus would finally give his oldest companion a proper home and let its Class start moving forward, while a Dominus Class mech for the Mechanical Jaw Spirit would knock out the second requirement at the same time.

Once those two were done, Grey had a feeling the last two legs of the quest would become a lot less ridiculous. With two perfectly compatible Spirits and mechs of that level, who the fuck was going to stop him?

Grey was still smiling at the thought when his feet touched the ground, only for him to look up and find what felt like half the political leadership of Melix staring back at him.

Elowen, Mauve, Brad, Amunet, Xerchen, and the same collection of former monarchs from the throne room had all come outside after the hurricane, and judging by the way several of them were looking at him, they expected something. Grey’s lip twitched as a terrible realization slowly settled over him.

He had responsibilities now.

"Fuck."

Grey pursed his lips, scratched the back of his head, then groaned like someone had just told him he had to work a double shift. His eyes suddenly brightened, though, and he slapped a fist into his palm before turning toward Mauve and Elowen with a wide grin.

"You two got this, right?"

The two women blinked, then looked at one another before their lips twitched almost at the exact same time. Grey had been unconscious for two weeks, had woken up less than an hour ago, and hadn’t done a single piece of actual administrative work since opening his eyes. Yet somehow, he already sounded like they had been working him to the bone.

Brad chuckled from the side. "I doubt anybody’s going to get too many ideas after you just ass-blasted a hurricane out of existence."

"See?" Grey pointed at him. "My work here is done."

Then his gaze landed on Amunet and something clicked in his head. "Right, what happened with the other participants?"

Amunet’s expression turned slightly bitter. "Not much. Thi Lan had her people and her own responsibilities, Amara is, well," Amunet looked toward a beautiful dark skinned beauty in the distance and was immediately annoyed when Grey’s eyes lit up, "and Erik was obviously no longer an option by the time I left."

Grey nodded along. That left one.

"The fist guy?"

"He was actually willing. Mensah, they call him."

Grey raised his eyebrows.

Amunet folded her arms. "I found him three Zones later, explained the situation, and he agreed almost immediately. Then, while we were walking toward the outpost, he tried to grab my ass."

Grey sputtered.

Amunet’s eyes sharpened.

He turned the laugh into an extremely fake cough, then cleared his throat and straightened his expression. "Right, right, not funny at all. Terrible, actually. I hope you chopped his hand off."

"No, I kicked him in the balls."

Grey’s mouth twitched.

"Don’t."

"I’m not doing anything."

"I left him there afterward," Amunet continued. "Told him if he still wanted to come, he could figure out how to get here himself. If not, fuck him."

"Reasonable."

Amunet stared at him for a moment, clearly waiting for another joke, but Grey wisely looked away. He had already died enough times recently and didn’t feel like finding out whether getting stabbed through the dick qualified for Prometheus’ rebirth.

Elowen stepped in before the conversation could deteriorate any further. "After Amunet returned, I also sent orders to the satellite cities. We’re beginning preparations to migrate their populations toward the capital."

Grey’s brows immediately furrowed. "Is there enough room for that?"

"No," Elowen admitted, "but we need to expand regardless. Between the former Territories joining us, their noble families, and the people already coming here for protection, we’re in the middle of planning an expansion of the capital."

She gestured toward the city behind them as she explained that Melix’s population wasn’t actually dense enough for consolidation itself to be a problem. The Fog of Chaos had forced settlements to scatter across huge areas to maintain access to resources and safe ground, but now that the Fog could no longer exist within their protected borders, those reasons no longer mattered as much.

Gathering everyone would make supplying them easier, defending them easier, and shrinking the formation’s active border afterward would concentrate the Holy Energy into a much smaller area.

In theory, it sounded pretty damn good.

Grey’s frown only deepened.

"No."

Elowen paused. "No?"

"We can’t do it like that."

Grey rubbed his forehead as the formation’s structure appeared in his mind, those enormous pathways he had once pieced together from little more than a map becoming clearer the longer he thought about them.

The capital wasn’t the only important location inside the Territory, and the formation wasn’t some giant dome with its important parts safely tucked beneath the Palace. Its pathways stretched outward for a reason.

"There need to be cities protecting the catacombs."

Several of the former rulers stiffened at the word.

Grey pointed toward the horizon. "If everyone piles into the capital and we pull the active formation inward, we’re basically leaving the important parts of the actual machinery sitting out there with their asses hanging in the wind. Someone gets underneath one of those cities, screws with the catacombs, and suddenly we’re dealing with the same kind of shit that probably happened the first time this whole place got compromised."

Elowen’s expression changed as she followed his reasoning.

Grey’s gaze shifted across the gathered nobles, then stopped.

His eyes lit up.

"Them."

Several former monarchs frowned.

Grey pointed directly at them. "It’ll have to be them."

Mauve’s eyes narrowed slightly as she understood where his thoughts were going, while Grey’s mind was already racing ahead. If each former Territory’s ruling family was going to live under Melix anyway, there was no reason to cram every last one of them into the capital and let them spend their days bullying Elowen over seating arrangements and titles.

Give them cities. Give them responsibility.

More importantly, put their strength exactly where the formation needed protection. Plus, if he could instantly teleport anywhere now... well, good luck trying to fuck with him.

Grey exhaled through his nose and looked toward the people he had just threatened to bury six feet deep not long ago.

"Alright, change of plans."

He really didn’t have the patience for this shit.