City of Fallen Souls: A LitRPG Adventure (UnderVerse Book 3) by Jez Cajiao (fb2 epub reader .txt) 📕

that fucking tiny passageway! We were always going to steal a pair of warships; now we’re just going to steal more, that’s all!”

“They don’t just leave 'em fuckin' runnin' and ready to go!” Mal snarled. “They’re heavily guarded… the engineers shut the engines down when they’re on the ground. They take ages to restart!”

“Then that’s even better!” I said, grinning. “All we have to do is steal the fucking manastones from the ships we’re not going to be taking, and then they can’t chase us.”

“No, but the ones up there can!” Mal snarled, pointing at the ceiling, and I grinned at him. “What? Why are you smiling?”

“Remember I said we needed to take out the Skyking?” I asked him, and he nodded, frowning.

“That’s because I’m going to take his place, and free those he’s enslaved. I’m betting the chance to be free trumps fucking with us for the Imps, when we kill their captors for them. The Djinn already offered me a contract if I free them, as well. Add into the mix, the Legion fliers?”

“Damn…” Mal said after a few seconds of thought. “Augustus, will they do it?” he asked. “Will the Legion follow him? Will they steal the ships?”

“No,” Augustus said flatly. “The Legionnaires are not thieves; we won’t steal anything.” He clipped the words harshly, then let the silence linger before rubbing his chin in thought. “Buuuut… as the rightful Lord of Dravith has declared war on the city, he would have the right to order any spoils of battle to be used for the Empire…”

“You fucker,” I said, shaking my head. “I nearly redecorated my trousers there.”

“Well, it was probably worth it,” he said, winking.

“Probably,” I agreed. “I’ll still get you back, though…” I winked in return.

“Right. Let’s stop everything, right now.” Soween said, holding her hands up and becoming the center of attention immediately. “These plans keep changing, because we’re all doing things, making little changes,” she glared at me, “and others are making…not so little…changes. So, let’s just lay it all out here and now, make sure we all agree, and then that’s it. We don’t have time to change anything else, not if we’re going to make our deadline.”

I nodded, the others doing the same, and Soween started to pace the room, the focus of all our eyes.

“So, tomorrow night, instead of Augustus, Jax will fight. He’ll face the creatures and higher-leveled gang members, one by one. The point of this is threefold: it keeps them from attacking the arena to get at the Legionnaires who are sheltering here by making them think we’ve captured them; it provides money and experience; and it lets us bleed the gangs without going to war with them.”

I nodded, thinking about the fights to come. I wasn’t happy about the changes, nor about the fact that they’d be sending their top killers after me, but alternatively, they were gangs. They weren’t monsters out there, just existing; these were scum that preyed on the innocent of the city. It’d be hard, but I had confidence I could do it… somehow.

“While Jax is fighting, we continue bringing in the people from the list. Some, we hide in the Cloudring, while others go back to work and keep quiet. Maybe a few more, we can assist to get jobs with the shipyards to 'help out’ on the battleship. Either way, we continue recruiting and preparing, as well as scouting out the stockpile in preparation to raid it.”

“About that…” I said, and immediately, half the room glared at me. “Whoa, whoa, guys, relax!” I held my hands up defensively.

“That…that right there, is why we’re doing this,” Soween said, rubbing her forehead. “Okay, go on. How are you going to make my life harder now?”

“Uh, I just wanted to ask about the raiding side of things… I know we’re going to get the manastones from the stockpile, but we need food and building materials as well, sooo…”

“All kept there,” Mal said brusquely. “And it’ll be considerably less well guarded than the stones.”

“Okay; can we add in another location to be raided?” I asked hopefully, wincing as more people glared at me.

“Why?” Soween voiced warily for the group.

“Because I’m thinking that there has to be a location with Skill or Spellbooks here, right?”

“No.” Mal said firmly, raising a hand to forestall any objections. “You’re talkin' about raidin' the Emporium. It’s not gonna happen. We’d lose people by the dozen. It can’t be done, not without weeks of preparation. At least at the stockpile, we’ll only have guards to deal with. There, they have Golems and magical shit. Not gonna happen.”

“Golems?” I perked up, an evil smile coming to my lips.

“Yeah, great big stone fuckers. They’ve got six of 'em, from what I heard, and I only know of one time that someone got the better of one Golem. The second Golem turned him into a smear on the floor. So no, we’re not gonna just stop off and rob the place on the way past. And why the hell are you smilin' like that?!”

“Oracle?” I asked, and she nodded slowly.

“They could be, if the Emporium is built on a location which they were ordered to protect, and someone found out how to charge them…”

“Where is the Emporium?” I asked Mal, and his scowl deepened.

“Nowhere you’re going fuckin' near. You agreed, you don’t leave the arena!”

“I’m just curious…”

“I could go, check it out…” Oracle said hesitantly, and I frowned at her, shaking my head.

“No! Definitely not. Not after the Drow.”

“Mal, you could take me, right? With some guards?” Oracle said, and I turned to glare daggers at him as he looked from me to her.

“If one of you has to go, it’s not gonna  be you, son,” he said flatly. “I can take a coach through the city. It’s not cheap, a couple of gold, but it’ll make sure she’s there and back safe, and I’d be with her.”

“I don’t like it,” I argued, shaking my head. “There’s too much that could go wrong…”

“That’s