He tapped his heel against it, hearing the ring of metal. There was something beneath him. Something that likely had to do with his quest. Gone were the days of easy System handouts in terms of Tower quests. All of them had layers now, and deep ones at that.
Sam closed his eyes, and felt through the metal below with his Dao senses, searching for a resonance spot to teleport. There was a massive cavity just five feet beneath the surface, filled with clouds of the Dao. For the first time, Sam applied his mind fully to registering the patterns that he saw, realizing that there was far more to it than simply seeing particles of different concepts. Some of them were moving, and in regular patterns, roughly shaped like people. Most of the time, Sam’s sight was narrowed down to a single target, a spot of conceptual energy aligned with his own. Now though, he was actively searching through the world, guided by his own insights.
You have gained a skill!
Worldsense: Mythical
The Dao is not merely an expression of reality. For better or for worse, it is reality. Now that you have reached a greater level of attunement to your Dao, you have consequently increased your attunement to the world itself. Read the very warp and weft of existence with your sight.
Sam read the message in between teleports, appearing on a metal walkway suspended by steel cables from the exterior of the asteroid. Within it, hundreds of people milled around, working and talking to one another. Tables covered in equipment lined a large platform floating in the center of the asteroid, with dozens of people in lab coats tinkering with various experiments. Most of them were at least vaguely human, but some were completely different to Sam’s ideas of normal life. Creatures made of concentric rings of light, and floating clouds of code worked alongside the others. He took this to mean that he was in a Multiverse somewhere between his own and Vallenar’s in terms of evolution.
Guards stood by them, holding energy rifles tightly in their hands. Judging by the way some of the scientists flashed the heavily armed warriors with fear filled glances, they were there to prevent escape, rather than as protection. Most importantly, all of them were E Rankers.
As soon as Sam stepped foot into their domain, the eyes of the Enlightened Tier cultivators snapped up to him, instantly recognizing his presence. Without warning, a dozen of them teleported, appearing before him on the walkway, causing it to sway slightly.
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“How did you find this place? Are you a spy of the Blacktusks?” One of them roared, leveling his gun at Sam’s head. The guard was around level 200, and quite powerful for his level. Though, none of the group seemed a match for Sam. “Are you deaf?” He shouted again. “Answer me!”
“I just found this place by teleporting,” Sam replied with a shrug. “It wasn’t my intention. Though, what exactly is going on here? It looks like you have a group of slaves working for you.”
“And?” The guard replied. “What about it? Last I checked, ain’t nobody coming around here to check. You fancy yourself a hero, boy?”
Sam nodded. “And what if I do? Are you going to stop me?”
The guard sighed, and pulled the trigger, a bolt of concentrated mana shooting out like a bolt of lightning. Sam merely reached up and grabbed it with a hand covered in the light of his Dao, canceling out the attack. Then he teleported next to him and punched the guard in the face. There was a crack as his armor broke, and a squelch as his head was pulped in an instant, a shockwave of red and blue energy racing through his body to finish the job.
The others immediately teleported back, trying to make room between themselves and Sam. With a sigh, he locked down space, and teleported to meet them, watching as they twitched, trying to escape. There was no succor in the world of the Dao however, Sam’s superior mastery preventing them from teleporting.
His hammer swept through their ranks a moment later, blasting aside hastily raised defences, and claiming almost half of their lives. A few tried to parry him, but in the face of overwhelming might, there was no way out.
“I would have talked, you know,” Sam said matter of factly. “You could have made this whole thing a lot more pleasant. But no, you just had to attack me.”
“You won’t make it out of here alive,” one of the survivors hissed, even as she crawled away, her leg a length of twisted flesh. “This asteroid belt is the domain of Abrinadus, a True Dragon. He will come for you, and rip the cost of our lives from your pathetic hide!”
Sam simply scoffed, and obliterated the guard with a backhanded blow, before dodging under a strike from behind, reaching up with his free hand, and throwing his assailant over his shoulder.
As the guard slammed face first into the metal walkway, San raised his hammer, and brought it down, claiming another life. He walked along the metal platform, and teleported down into the lower recesses of the asteroid, emerging by the scientists. They looked at him with hope in their eyes, and Sam noticed something disturbing. Most of them had barely concealed wounds all over their bodies, visible beneath their clothes. Sam saw the implements used to inflict them hanging from the guards’ belts, viciously curved knives and electric batons.
His lip curled in anger, and even as more E Rankers poured out of the recesses of the asteroid, he killed them with ease, teleporting around faster than they could even react. Dozens died within a minute, the ground soon covered in exotic shades of blood. Only then did Sam return to the central platform, where the slaves were held.
