Chapter 956: Wake Me Up, Before You Go Go

My first nap as a tier seven, a deep and satisfying torpor that I luxuriate in. Indeed, life is only complete when one gets their eight hours! I"ve been flat out for way too long, to the point I"ve started to worry that the Torpor Police might disappear me.

That would have caused quite a stir, I"ve no doubt.

They do an incredible job of hiding, those little ninjants, but ever since I picked up the Vestibule, it"s been impossible for them to conceal themselves from me.

Unlike my bodyguards. Whatever it is that they use to create the strange forgetful effect was powerful enough to give me trouble for a little while. Ever since my evolution, though….

I reach out with one leg and poke at the air.

….

I poke again.

….

Another poke, harder this time.

"... Is that really necessary, Eldest?" Protectant complains.

Gweheheheh.

"I just find it fun, how easily I can spot you now."

The guard smells decidedly unhappy about it.

"We would like to know how you do it," she grumbles, "out of professional courtesy."

"No way. You"d just try and find a way around it."

Not that there is one. As far as I can tell, as long as they"re ants who believe in me, they will provide me with Will. As long as the energy is flowing, they"ll be lit up like a christmas tree, regardless of what they do to hide.

It"s kind of interesting, actually. The organ that causes me to "forget" or "ignore" their presence still works on my other senses when they actively try to conceal themselves. I can"t see Protectant with my eyes, or even feel it when I poke her with my leg, or detect the scent when the guards communicate with each other, despite knowing for a fact exactly where they are.

The level of stealth they"ve achieved is absurd. They"re like ghosts.

Which is why it"s so fun to prod at them. Poke. Poke. Poke.

"Eldest. Please stop it," Guardiant complains.

Heheheheheh.

"Now that I"m tier seven, you all need to make the push to tier six," I tell the invisible squad of babysitters. "If I"m going to be rumbling with tier eight enemies, you"ll be flattened just by being near me if you don"t measure up."

"Maybe if we evolve, we"ll be able to hide from you again…" Protectant mumbles.

I whip around and poke her again, with both antennae this time.

"Don"t be stupid! You can hide from everything you need to hide from already. You need to seriously b.u.mp up your stats and combat prowess. That concealment organ has soaked up way too much evolutionary energy, don"t waste the next evolution on something you don"t need!"

"Alright, alright! Just stop poking me!"

One more prod, just to drive home the point, then I turn to Crinis and the others for a quick meeting.

[Alright, gang. We"re fresh, we"re ready for action and we need to get some Levels into you, p.r.o.nto. Hunting in the fourth stratum is likely to be our best bet, but at the same time, we need to be on standby in case they need us in the third. There"s some funky business going down up there, and we may need to elevate up in order to get to the bottom of it.]

The three of them nod in unison. It"s rewarding having an audience of active listeners.

[So we"ll hunt and gather Bioma.s.s. I need a fair bit to get my mutations ticking along, but we should make sure to contribute to the Colony stockpile, since you three are all maxed out. Let"s go see what we can find.]

Hopefully we run into a few of those diamond centipede nests. My rage won"t abate until I wipe that species from the Dungeon! As it turns out, we don"t even make our way out of the tunnels before someone finds us with an urgent message.

"Eldest!" the scout calls to me and I stop to let her catch up. "Eldest. They want to see you down on the sh.o.r.eline. It"s about something centipede-related."

d.a.m.n centipedes! They"re my highest priority on this stratum, I won"t let them get a foothold. I rumble down to the sh.o.r.eline, my friends in tow, only to find the mercenaries from earlier have returned.

The three of them stand awkwardly, surrounded by a host of ants that watch their every move with preternatural stillness. The leader, a fairly burly-looking golgari, almost seems happy when he notices my approach, even as he winces under the effect of my aura.

Gweheheheh. It"s nice to have my strength radiate out around me like this. Weaker enemies can"t even stand up to me!

I spin together a mind bridge and latch onto the mercenary, then I bring his two followers into the conversation as well.

[Back again so soon,] I greet them. [Excellent, excellent. I suppose your hunt was successful?]

The three of them grimace as the force of my mind impacts onto their own, and I make a conscious effort to tone it down. I can"t be scaring away our potential partners in claw-centipede eradication.

In response to my question, the three of them begin unloading the cargo in their boat, depositing a dozen of the offensively glittering and shiny sc.u.m onto the sh.o.r.e.

[We found them pretty quickly, all things considered,] the leader grunted warily. [The Dungeon seems to be spitting them out at quite a rapid clip. We sailed two mountains west and tried our luck, ran into a nest almost immediately.]

Stupid Gandalf and his love of centipedes. They"re probably being spammed everywhere on this level of the Dungeon. New sp.a.w.n points will be popping up all over the place!

[Well done,] I tell them. [Keep up the good work, and spread the word. As long as people bring in these… things,] I kick at the merchandise, [then we will be willing to pay.]

"Can someone pay these guys?" I ask the nearby ants.

One of them quickly steps forward and drops off a pile of cores, and after a moment of nervously eyeballing me, the mercenaries step forward to collect them.

[Will you be back tomorrow?] I ask.

The golgari hesitates.

[We will probably return home and resupply. We lost a team member and have been… drained, by the events that took place here. After some time to rest and regroup, we will return.]

I"m a little disappointed, but I can understand where they"re coming from.

[Make sure you spread the word,] I remind them. [We"ll accept any and all who are willing to work with us. In fact, we should probably build a permanent setup for making exchanges with you guys.]

"Can we get someone on that?" I ask a nearby carver.

"Sure thing, Eldest," she says, "we don"t have much else to do around here, after all."

Alright, ouch.

"It"s not a priority," I reply defensively, "but it"s something we"re going to need eventually."

"I"ll put it on the list," the little ant sighs before rushing off to speak with her comrades.

The mercenaries hurriedly pack their boat and sail away, heading back to wherever the heck they launched from. I look positively on this development. Soon, there will be an army of hungry mercenaries knocking on our door, ready to hunt the foul enemy to the ends of the Dungeon.

[All right then,] I turn and tell the others, [let"s get to hunting!]